# cattle fence hot wire ?



## glk83 (Feb 26, 2013)

Hello

trying my best to get a few belted galloway calves in the fall.  The fenced pasture is finished,I have a 3 wall.  I would like opinions though, the parts of the fence facing the house and the road are standard three board, the rest is high tensile 48" six wires.  My question is, as I started putting insulators up this weekend I was putting up for 3 wires all hot, one b/w the top two wires, one b/w the middle two, and one b/w the bottom two.  My father questions why I needed the bottom one, my thought was to deter them from squeezing b/w any of the wires/boards and pushing on them.  Am I wrong, is the bottom wire not needed?  I would post a pic but I am not allowed


----------



## bonbean01 (Feb 26, 2013)

I don't have cattle...but our nightime fenced area for our sheep does have two strands of hot wire on the outside all around the fence to deter predators.  We're the better safe than sorry type.


----------



## redtailgal (Feb 27, 2013)

We just run a four strand fence with all four wires being hot.

If I were to alternate, I would definitely have the bottom wire hot.


----------



## gregorylee (Feb 27, 2013)

sorry still me, I had signed up at work and couldn't remember my  password, so i signed up from home :/

we don't have much in the way of predators that would go after cattle, I am in northwest central Ohio, just yotes and (I could be wrong, but I could swear I have seen bobcat).  Understanding that while still calves the could be prey but once grown a bit they would be too big.  I was just thinking more about the fence damage by cow then keeping preds out.


----------



## redtailgal (Feb 27, 2013)

gregorylee said:
			
		

> sorry still me, I had signed up at work and couldn't remember my  password, so i signed up from home :/
> 
> we don't have much in the way of predators that would go after cattle, I am in northwest central Ohio, just yotes and (I could be wrong, but I could swear I have seen bobcat).  Understanding that while still calves the could be prey but once grown a bit they would be too big.  I was just thinking more about the fence damage by cow then keeping preds out.


yup, that's why we keep the bottom wire hot.  The cattle would bend and stretch the wire by pushing their head thru the bottom to get to that grass that's always greener than the other side.


----------



## gregorylee (Feb 27, 2013)

> grass that's always greener than the other side.


aint that the truth...

Thanks for the advice!


----------



## ourflockof4 (Feb 28, 2013)

gregorylee said:
			
		

> sorry still me, I had signed up at work and couldn't remember my  password, so i signed up from home :/
> 
> we don't have much in the way of predators that would go after cattle, I am in northwest central Ohio, just yotes and (I could be wrong, but I could swear I have seen bobcat).  Understanding that while still calves the could be prey but once grown a bit they would be too big.  I was just thinking more about the fence damage by cow then keeping preds out.


Yes there are some bobcats in the area. A 30 lb bobcat isn't really any worry for cattle though. Yotes don't usually mess with them either. There have been several mountain lion (couger) sighting in our area also, very credible sighting (myself, daughter, lots of local farmers) ODNR has confirmed them but everyone is trying to keep it hush hush it seems. There have been some confirmed livestock kills, but mostly sheep.

Anyways, I would put the 3rd hot wire on. For the little bit of cost & time it's worth it in my opinion.


----------



## goodhors (Feb 28, 2013)

The more hot wires you have, the more likely you are to keep the cattle inside and 
the UNWANTED visitors out of the field.  Locally the biggest problem would be 
free-running dogs out for a good time.  We have a VERY good County Animal
Control office, so loose dogs are not "that common" if you call it in.  

However pet owners THINK their Fluffy never leaves the yard when turned out at 
night.  They can leave them out for long times, since an energetic dog can 
travel quite a ways, cause trouble, run back home to make curfew to the owner.

That now-and-again problem can cause quite a bit of damage, always a surprise
because it is sporadic in happening.  You don't see or hear them in the dark.

We put our lambs and small cattle in the barn at night, so I didn't have any 
problems like that.  No horns on the cattle, calves for 4-H and a Dexter,
so they were little.  Sheep are helpless, so they got locked up nights too.

You may have to do some fence trimming, to keep your wires hot if the weeds
grow.  My cattle kept the fences cleaned right out, which saved me time spraying
or weed wacking it clear.  Seemed to like the weeds over the grasses at times.  Sure
made for neat fencelines in their fields!

Keep your fencer hot ALL the time, the cows can hear the electric in the wires.  
Don't teach them to even TRY the fences, learn bad things.  Do check the fences 
way out in the fields regularly, to make sure they STAY HOT.  I try to do that 
weekly on my fence walk to check wires.  Do check the fencer often, to insure
it is actually working.  We had lightning hit our fence (outside box), which killed
the fencer itself and we didn't know it until there was a fence accident from 
no power.  Changed my ways of doing things!  Fencer is checked daily,
when I check water level in the tank beside it.

And if it gets hot and dry again this summer, pour water on the ground rods to 
keep the dirt wet and working as a ground.  Dry dirt, usually means the ground
rod has poor contact with dirt and your fencer is NOT working to push power 
down the wires.


----------



## glk83 (Mar 1, 2013)

thanks for the tips, I will keep that in mind.


----------

