# Constructing a woven wire field fence - PICS



## SheepGirl

Okay so not this weekend but the next we will be putting up a woven wire field fence. And my mom told me to research prices since she doesn't have time. I would prefer to go to Lowe's or Tractor Supply so we can get the military discount but if they don't have what we need we will go somewhere else.

Looking at my neighbor's fence, I know to have 4" posts in the middle and 8"+ posts on the ends/corners and where there are gates. None of my neighbor's corners are braced and they're still holding up after 30+ years so I don't think we would have to brace the posts. My neighbor also has alternating wood posts and T posts...that would be ideal (for me) but I think my mom wants all wood posts so we can eventually put boards on it, paint it white, and make it look pretty.

We're fencing in roughly two acres... which is roughly 1200 ft as the perimeter. So if the posts are 8 ft a part then we would need 150 posts, correct?

Also looking on the Southern States & Tractor Supply web sites, there are tons of options for field fencing. I just need 47" or 48" tall in 330' lengths. To me it doesn't matter if the squares are smaller at the bottom or not...my neighbor's fence squares are the same size all the way up and no lambs ever escaped...because by the time they're brave enough to be away from their mommies they're too big to fit through  So what gauge would you suggest?

Any other advice? My uncle is coming up to help, but I dunno if he has any experience building fences...but he is extra muscle so it's all good lol


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## SheepGirl

Oh yah... I would also like to add a string or two of barbed wire at the top (my neighbor's fence has one string of barbed wire at the top)... so could I get shorter woven wire fencing and then fill up the top with barbed wire?


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## Straw Hat Kikos

I would use 8' posts on the corners and I would brace them. I have put up many fences and believe me, put in the brace posts!! If you will be doing long stretches the there is NO way you can't. I have put brace posts in and still ripped posts out of the ground. If you don't have a brace post then your starting post will be crooked and will not hold up. The most expensive way to build a fence is to go cheap. Trust me. I would use either this kind of brace http://fenceworkshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/horse-fence-brace.png or this kind  
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 It would be better for the first kind but you do use alot more wood posts. Also, use 4-6 inch posts, maybe bigger on corners. I would not use wood posts for everything. By that I mean, use T-posts. They cost much less, you don't have to dig, and they are easy to put in. They are pretty strong too. Make sure to use come-alongs for stretching. Two of them is best, one at the bottom and one at the top. Use two 2x4's and bolt them together to the end of the fence. That way you can pull of that and not the fence itself. I would use the T-posts every 8' as you said. If you are doing a long stretch then I would have one or more wood posts in there just to at some strength. For the fence I personally like 4x4 goat best but it is expensive. I would use this. http://www.tractorsupply.com/genera...cal-stays-39-in-h-12-5-ga-filler-wire-3610147 It gets smaller as it goes down and it is about 170$ for 330' vs 230$ for 330' for goat or sheep fence. Of course get it 4' tall.


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## Straw Hat Kikos

SheepGirl said:
			
		

> Oh yah... I would also like to add a string or two of barbed wire at the top (my neighbor's fence has one string of barbed wire at the top)... so could I get shorter woven wire fencing and then fill up the top with barbed wire?


Do you need that? First of all, barbed wire can be an issue for the health of the animals. Do your sheep even need it? I would use electric if you really think so. My goats have never even tried to go over the fence. The reason I have electric is for the dogs.


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## aggieterpkatie

We used landscape timbers for our posts, and coated the bottoms with tar.  Believe it or not, they were cheaper than the t-posts!  They're used for the corners and gate posts as well, but those are concreted in. I think you probably wouldn't need to go as big as 8" posts.  6" would probably be fine. We put our posts about every 8' along the fence.  If you don't have high tensile fence, you probably won't need to brace the corners.  TSC has some nice "goat fence" with small squares, and Lowe's has the field fence (330' roll) with the smaller squares at the bottom and bigger at the top. We ended up buying the field fence from Lowe's because it was cheaper.  

Either type of fencing, make sure to put the wire on the inside and the posts on the outside of the pasture!  Get a couple people to pull it tight while one staples it to the posts.  Get a staple as low down at the bottom as possible.  I'm not a fan of barbed wire for anything but maybe cattle, so I don't have anything to add about that.

Good luck!


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## Straw Hat Kikos

Just found this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxUGK4agy94
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wtSI6IIw-g&feature=channel&list=UL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9k8lOaaLIc&feature=channel&list=UL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jZL4ZzFoOI&feature=channel&list=UL

And a barbed wire one. : )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOg8FJvYfyI&feature=channel&list=UL


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## SheepGirl

The only reason why we would have wood posts all along is so we can have wood boards going across in the future to look like this...






But my mom is still undecided about it. But she said absolutely not to electric.

This is what my neighbor's fence looks like (you can see the strand of barbed wire at the top..but this fence was originally built for cattle), and my mom wants to build it exactly like that (or relatively close to it) so that way it all looks the same/consistent.






The barbed wire is too high for my sheep to touch anyway (and I'm getting rid of my jumper, Paulie, when I take Billy to auction) and my neighbor also never had any issues with barbed wire & livestock. If the barbed wire were at nose or body height I would definitely be no for it too, but since my sheep can't even reach it then it's good for some predator protection.

As for how our fence will look, here is a picture...what's outlined in black will be the pasture








			
				aggieterpkatie said:
			
		

> *Either type of fencing, make sure to put the wire on the inside and the posts on the outside of the pasture!*  Get a couple people to pull it tight while one staples it to the posts.  Get a staple as low down at the bottom as possible.  I'm not a fan of barbed wire for anything but maybe cattle, so I don't have anything to add about that.
> 
> Good luck!


Oh I know  I think my grandfather may be helping, but he listens to what my uncle has to say (without arguing or yelling at us telling us we're 'wrong') so I will tell my uncle and hopefully this fence will get built right. lol


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## ksalvagno

I think you are better off getting 4' woven wire fencing and then add electric at the top if you feel you need it. Putting money into fencing and getting the right stuff is truly worth it.


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## Straw Hat Kikos

ksalvagno said:
			
		

> I think you are better off getting 4' woven wire fencing and then add electric at the top if you feel you need it. Putting money into fencing and getting the right stuff is truly worth it.


Agreed. Do not go cheap!! And having a tight, strong fence makes one ssooo happy. I am so proud of my fence. You can't even lift it up at the bottom with your foot. It is so stretched and tight. Makes me happy. lol


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## SheepGirl

Lol, I think I might've confused you guys. We aren't going to go cheap...we are going to get the best stuff we can...but if it's available at Lowe's or Tractor Supply we will get it there since we get a military discount (which is 10%). And getting the same product cheaper is always a good thing  But we are willing to shop around anywhere.

Also...as for size of the squares, I don't have any preference because my sheep have never had any issues with going through the 'regular' squares (other than lambs sticking their heads through). But I thought I would mention it in post #1 in case it was brought up.

But one of my main questions is what gauge wire should it be? There are 6 options that are 47 or 48 inches that come in a 330' roll...the main difference is in the gauge of the wire, and the price range is $169.99-$279.99 http://www.southernstates.com/catal...gesize=16&order=6&sectionids=2113,2118&list=0 Is it the same with needles where the smaller the gauge the bigger it is? And I'm guessing bigger would probably be better/stronger, correct?


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## Straw Hat Kikos

The smaller the gauge number is the bigger the wire is. I really don't know what gauge mine is but I do know that is the 170$ 330' roll, which you mentioned there. That will easily contain sheep. It's not like their gonna break it. lol 

I don't think we are saying you are going cheap, just a reminder. Some people will cut corners and the pay for it later. And I do highly recommend brace. You really can't have a strong fence without them. Oh and a post should be at least 3.5' in the ground so getting a 8' would be best. That way you can have it in 3.5' underground and 4.5' above. The fence will take up 4' of that and then you have 6" for barbed wire or whatever else you wan to put up there.


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## SheepGirl

Okay...well today we went fence shopping  We got 4 rolls of field fence, a 25 lb pack of fence staples, 150 4"x8' posts, and six 6"x8' posts. We forgot to get a gate though  But I told my mom gates were $40 cheaper at Southern States so we are just going to get our gate(s) there. We also already reserved the post pounder for next weekend, and my uncle took off work and he's bringing the whole family with him.

So my mom is going to 'lease' me the pasture so that's one more monthly bill I'll have to pay her  (Plus she's making me pay for the entire fence...when I get a job.)

I'm so excited for next weekend  (except for the part where I have to pay my mother haha)


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## SheepGirl

P.S. Thanks for all the help/suggestions/advice so far!!


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## BrownSheep

So you build and pay for a pasture. She makes you pay rent for it and then she'll have free run o it once you move away?...sigh I'm spoiled. I have a friend that ends up paying close to $600 a month to her parents. 


If you dont already have one, or if I missed it, get a fence stretcher.  The barb wire at the top is mainly used for horses and cattle. Not a 100% needed for your situation.


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## SheepGirl

haha yep  And we didn't get a fence stretcher since they didn't have one in stock at TSC so we'll be going to Southern States and getting one.


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## Straw Hat Kikos

Very neat!! Yes my gate I got from SS because was 40$ less too.


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## bonbean01

We went pretty much the route that Straw Hat Kiko posted...and I say YES to a fence stretcher...we don't have one and used ropes tied up and down and attached to the truck which I drove very slowly until I got the WHOOOOA...then attaching, and doing that again and again down the lines..big pain in the butt and we risked wrecking our pricey lovely new fencing...if we ever fence in more pasture, will be wanting a real fence stretcher for sure!  It worked and I'm super happy with our pasture fence, but it took probably ten times longer than it should have doing it our "winging" it manner.

No barbed wire here...on the night time yard lock in, we have two electric wires on the outside of the fence for predators...plus a strong light that comes on at dusk and goes off at sunrise.  During the day on the big pasture with field wire we have no electric.  We have that bottom wire down as far and as secure as possible and we're pretty happy with it.  

Fencing is expensive, but good fencing is so worth it!  Hope it all goes well


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## SheepGirl

We had all 156 posts delivered today. We didn't have a tractor to get them off the trailer so my mom just hooked her car up to a tow strap and connected it to the bundle of posts and she drove away  Took all of 20 minutes to get the 3 bundles + ~20 loose posts off. (But of course my nosey grandfather had to come out of his RV and tell us where to put them...which is the front of the yard rather than back, which is what we're fencing in  - we didn't argue with him because you could tell the delivery guy thought it was awkward when he came out yelling at us...)

I will definitely be posting pics of us putting up the fence


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## bonbean01

Good luck and hope it all goes smoothly!!!


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## SheepGirl

Well today we got 90% of the brush cleared out (we still need to take some tree limbs and vines and move them into the big pile). We rented a bush hog (or something...don't know exactly what it is) and cleared out a little bit of it, cut down trees with a chainsaw that were too big for the bush hog to handle, and then later when my neighbor (the one with the pitbull) got home from work he came over with his Cat and cleared up twice as much as we did in half as much time 

Our pile of brush though is like 15'x15' and it's taller than me, so it's gotta be at least 5'3"  We took out A LOT! But my uncle & his family will be up here tonight, around 11 pm (it's a 6 hr drive for them--but hey, he volunteered to help haha), and my mom is bringing home my cousin who lives in Rockville, so he can help, too. But we get Papa John's Pizza for dinner so it's all good  Especially since I didn't eat anything today except an oatmeal cookie and a small square slice of apple pie (both baked by my grandmother ). Papa John's Pizza actually tastes better IMO the next day when you put it in a toaster oven for 10 minutes to get the cheese gooey and the crust crispy 

BUT ANYWAY... lol we did get a gate but it completely slipped my mind to get a fence stretcher. So we'll be going to Southern States tomorrow to get it or if not we'll go to TSC on Sunday.


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## SheepGirl

We got 90% of the posts up...then we took a break for dinner and the sun set :/ We have less than 20 posts to do, so it shouldn't take long to finish it in the morning. Then we will do the wire and then my uncle has to leave to head back home.

Pics tomorrow night or Monday


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## Royd Wood

Red Brand sheep and goat wire was on sale last week at TSC $229 for a 330ft roll. (Canada) its really good quality for your dollar
Done so much fencing here cost was like crazy but 6 years later it looks great and still new. The Red Brand wire looks like I put it up yesterday shiny - no rust and made in the USA
Aggie's right 6" posts for corners and gates will do and make sure you brace - my Galloways use em as itching posts and so far still straight.
We have the wire on the outside of posts and electric on the inside mainly to stop pigs rooting the fenceline and the cows scratching on it. For sheep then you need to run it tight to the ground otherwise they will get central between two posts and lift it.


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## bonbean01

Straw posted an excellent step by step with photos on putting up a fence...it is on his journal and also in the fencing section.


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## SheepGirl

We finished everything about a half hour ago, right as the rain started coming down  I will update later with pics--we are going out to eat before my uncle leaves to go back home.


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## secuono

What is the point of you adding barbed wire???
Totally useless if you ask me. 

If it's to keep animals from leaning on it, barbed wire is worthless. I know 6 horses total that lean over barbed wire like it's not there. I put hot wire on my fence so my two won't lean on it.


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## Straw Hat Kikos

secuono said:
			
		

> What is the point of you adding barbed wire???
> Totally useless if you ask me.
> 
> If it's to keep animals from leaning on it, barbed wire is worthless. I know 6 horses total that lean over barbed wire like it's not there. I put hot wire on my fence so my two won't lean on it.


x2 Barbed wire is pretty useless, imo. It doesn't keep them off it and it can be very dangerous to them. Lots of downside and no real upside. I too see horses just lean into it or reach right over it with their heads and necks. Hot wire works best because it can not do any damage but keeps them off and it is not dangerous.


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## SheepGirl

Okay, here is the long, extensive update...

My uncle came up Friday night with the family. We stayed up late talking about where the fence is going to go and gate location, etc. He gave us lots of good advice, esp since (what I learned) he has put up 100s of acres of fencing with my great uncle (so his uncle).

Saturday morning I had a meeting with the counselor at college to discuss my classes and everything, so my mom and uncle dropped me off and then they went to go pick up the post pounder. So my grandmother came to pick me up and then we ran to the grocery store. We headed home and they had only a couple posts up. They did manage to break a couple posts from hitting rocks lol.







Soo we were still clearing some brush right along the fence line where we marked it at to make the post pounder fit better.






We got the entire back done.






Making sure the post is level...






My mom had a change of plans, so we made the fence parallel with the back of the house and then it went straight out (sorry if that doesn't make sense lol, but instead of being a rectangle, it curves a bit).

This morning we started at about 8:30 or so. The had to finish pounding in the posts this morning on the front and on some of the side. So while they were pounding in posts, my grandfather, my cousin, my brother, and I rolled out the first roll of fencing and we stretched it by hand (with hammers). It actually worked really well and it made the fence really tight. We put the top of the 47" fencing at 50" so we can have a string of barbed wire at the bottom, so that way if the sheep try to push out, they'll prick their noses on it first and they won't try to do it again. That's what my uncle suggested, so we did that. We haven't put up the barbed wire yet. But here's the portion of the fence we hand-tightened.






So by the time we nailed in the fencing, they got done pounding in the posts and my uncle brought out his fence stretcher (he brought it along so we didn't have to buy it ). We managed to put up 3 rolls of wire in less than 2 hours--course it helped that my uncle had it stretched over 6 posts and then us 6 kids all nailed in a post, so 6 posts all got nailed in in the time it takes to nail in 1-2 posts.

Here's what we did with the fence stretcher:






And here are some pictures of the finished product...

Here's how we did the corners.





There was a HUGE trench/hole with boulders in it, so instead of putting a post on either side of it (like I suggested), my mom decided she just wanted to go around it.





You can see the amount of brush we cleared.





You can see how we un-rectangle'd it here.





Here's our gate. They accidentally put the post 2.5" too far away so now there's a big gap in between the post and the gate. But it's okay, because it's too narrow for any critters to fit through. Also the chain was too short.


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## Catahoula

Nice!


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## Pearce Pastures

Wow you are good!!


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## Symphony

Nice job, its great to have so much good help.


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## bonbean01




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## SheepGirl

Thanks!

We still have to chop off the tops of some of them with a chainsaw because some of the posts couldn't go in all the way due to tree roots, rocks, or the septic tank. So right now all the posts are at different heights lol.







And we have to add the barbed wire along the bottom. The boys will be taken to auction on Tuesday and the ewes will be turned out on Wednesday after I fill 'em up on hay. Then I will be getting my new ram here in the next couple weeks


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## BrownSheep

Feel free to stop by Idaho and redo my fences... There's only an acre or 60 that need redone.
EDITTED to say soooo preeeeeety


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## aggieterpkatie

Looks great!!!


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## marlowmanor

I understand your idea with the barb wire on the bottom, but wouldn't it be an issue too that they could possible step on the barbed wire too if they got too close to the fence?

Your fence looks great!


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## bluebirdsnfur

SheepGirl said:
			
		

> Okay, here is the long, extensive update...
> 
> My uncle came up Friday night with the family. We stayed up late talking about where the fence is going to go and gate location, etc. He gave us lots of good advice, esp since (what I learned) he has put up 100s of acres of fencing with my great uncle (so his uncle).
> 
> Saturday morning I had a meeting with the counselor at college to discuss my classes and everything, so my mom and uncle dropped me off and then they went to go pick up the post pounder. So my grandmother came to pick me up and then we ran to the grocery store. We headed home and they had only a couple posts up. They did manage to break a couple posts from hitting rocks lol.
> 
> http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/uploads/4485_dscn6004.jpg
> 
> Soo we were still clearing some brush right along the fence line where we marked it at to make the post pounder fit better.
> 
> http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/uploads/4485_dscn6017.jpg
> 
> We got the entire back done.
> 
> http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/uploads/4485_dscn6036.jpg
> 
> Making sure the post is level...
> 
> http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/uploads/4485_dscn6042.jpg
> 
> My mom had a change of plans, so we made the fence parallel with the back of the house and then it went straight out (sorry if that doesn't make sense lol, but instead of being a rectangle, it curves a bit).
> 
> This morning we started at about 8:30 or so. The had to finish pounding in the posts this morning on the front and on some of the side. So while they were pounding in posts, my grandfather, my cousin, my brother, and I rolled out the first roll of fencing and we stretched it by hand (with hammers). It actually worked really well and it made the fence really tight. We put the top of the 47" fencing at 50" so we can have a string of barbed wire at the bottom, so that way if the sheep try to push out, they'll prick their noses on it first and they won't try to do it again. That's what my uncle suggested, so we did that. We haven't put up the barbed wire yet. But here's the portion of the fence we hand-tightened.
> 
> http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/uploads/4485_dscn6082.jpg
> 
> So by the time we nailed in the fencing, they got done pounding in the posts and my uncle brought out his fence stretcher (he brought it along so we didn't have to buy it ). We managed to put up 3 rolls of wire in less than 2 hours--course it helped that my uncle had it stretched over 6 posts and then us 6 kids all nailed in a post, so 6 posts all got nailed in in the time it takes to nail in 1-2 posts.
> 
> Here's what we did with the fence stretcher:
> 
> http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/uploads/4485_dscn6059.jpg
> 
> And here are some pictures of the finished product...
> 
> Here's how we did the corners.
> http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/uploads/4485_dscn6061.jpg
> 
> There was a HUGE trench/hole with boulders in it, so instead of putting a post on either side of it (like I suggested), my mom decided she just wanted to go around it.
> http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/uploads/4485_dscn6073.jpg
> 
> You can see the amount of brush we cleared.
> http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/uploads/4485_dscn6075.jpg
> 
> You can see how we un-rectangle'd it here.
> http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/uploads/4485_dscn6087.jpg
> 
> Here's our gate. They accidentally put the post 2.5" too far away so now there's a big gap in between the post and the gate. But it's okay, because it's too narrow for any critters to fit through. Also the chain was too short.
> http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/uploads/4485_dscn6088.jpg


Nice job...looks great! We used Red Brand too (made in the USA! ) but bought the woven wire no climb horse fence with smaller squares to help keep critters out. There was a large gap between our posts and gates like yours so we attached 2x4s to the posts to fill in the gaps and keep the sheep from sticking their heads thru. We also had the same wire fencing attached to the gates (we have the red gates too) to prevent any escapes that way.

Well done!


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## Roving Jacobs

What a nice looking fence! Great job and how nice to have the whole family chip in.

I would be really worried about low strands of barbed wire. Seems to me that it's just asking for baby lambs or big wooly adults trying to nibble outside the fence to get torn up or caught. That's just me though. I have goats as well as sheep so I have a hot wire on the top and at grazing level inside to keep nosy creatures from busting through.


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## Straw Hat Kikos

Roving Jacobs said:
			
		

> What a nice looking fence! Great job and how nice to have the whole family chip in.
> 
> I would be really worried about low strands of barbed wire. Seems to me that it's just asking for baby lambs or big wooly adults trying to nibble outside the fence to get torn up or caught. That's just me though. I have goats as well as sheep so I have a hot wire on the top and at grazing level inside to keep nosy creatures from busting through.


I love your avatar. Jacob sheep are so neat.


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## aggieterpkatie

Yeah, I am also a little worried about a low strand of barbed wire.  My sheep tend to get caught in things, so I can only imagine what they'd do with it.  The good news is that it'll be pulled tight, I imagine, but I still think it may not be needed.


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## SarahFair

The SO and his friend put the gate post a little too far too, to fix it they just hooped some extra fencing to close the gap


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## Bridgemoof

Looks great Sheepgirl! I love your family. That's so nice they all helped out. I can't wait to see pics of your sheep in there! They are gonna go wild!


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## SheepGirl

BrownSheep - hahahaha if I'm ever in the area, I'll let you know 

aggie - Thanks!

marlow, Roving Jacobs, and aggie - Thanks! As for the low strand, it may be an issue, but it's something I'm not to concerned about. IME, when there's plenty of grass in the pasture, the sheep don't tend to get close to the fence line at all. The only thing I'm concerned about is them trying to stick their noses under, where there is a 3" gap, trying to escape to get out (which I imagine they will try to do when they see their old barn from the pasture). My mom said absolutely not to electric, so I can't use that as an alternative to the barbed wire.

bluebirdsnfur - Yep, we used RedBrand -- TSC was the only place open on Sunday when we went shopping  We still need to go through and twist the fence a bit (like where the ^ is in the wire) to make it tight, like where there are hills and everything. I tried doing it today, but I just can't twist it as much as I need to, like how my uncle started doing it. But the 2x4 idea is great! I might try that if the gap does become an issue 

Bridgemoof - Thanks! I can't wait, either  The boys are going to auction tomorrow, so I'm going to put 5-6 lbs of hay in the feeder tomorrow night, and then add more in the morning. When I see their rumen full, I'll put them out on pasture so they won't bloat (we've had a lot of rain lately so the grass is wet, which is an ideal condition for bloating).


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## jenlynn4

I'm jealous!!!  I just know I'm going to screw mine up!  Mine will by WAY smaller and only like 1 roll of fence but I just know its going to be a mess....I can never do things the way they should be no matter how hard I try.


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## SheepGirl

I guess I never did post a picture on this thread of my sheep out in the field!

Here ya go:






You can go to my journal (pgs 18, 19, and 25) and see a bunch more pictures.


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## jenlynn4

awww how sweet!


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