couple questions for Large property like more then 20 acres...

[Canamer]

"The person above me has tons of wasted space with alleys, and wasted dollars with double the fence.. I wouldn't do that, waste, IMO"

Sorry. I would disagree. Not wasted space . Common fencelines are not a good idea with horses, so do not consider it wasted $$$. Having a horse have to be put down because of improper fencing would be wasted $$$ in my opinion and irresponsible. All of our alley ways probably add up to about 1 1/2 - 2 acres - so that is one less head I can have on my land. Not that big of a deal. And they can be used for bridal paths.

I have worked and been in the horse industry for 30+ years and seen many injuries on other farms due to common fencelines between feild. It is always better to be safe than sorry.

I grew up on a cattle farm 50 head on about 200 acres of pasture and if the fence was not properly maintained they would be out in a heartbeat - that was with great grass - alfalfa/orchard/timothy, plenty of water and twice a day feed of grain. So do not skimp on fencing. Luckily a properly maintaind electric fence works wonders with most animals. Our fence cost us about $40/330 feet, so multiply that by 4 for 4 strand fence. We have used the same fence for 12 + years and moved it around three different properties. It is difficult to do that with electric wire and impossible with wood, which is one of the reasons we go with the electric braided fence. Plus it is white, looks nice and is visible. Also wouldn't recommend electric tape because it stretches in the wind.

 

[Kitdragon2000]

"Luckily a properly maintaind electric fence works wonders with most animals. Our fence cost us about $40/330 feet, so multiply that by 4 for 4 strand fence. We have used the same fence for 12 + years and moved it around three different properties. It is difficult to do that with electric wire and impossible with wood, which is one of the reasons we go with the electric braided fence. Plus it is white, looks nice and is visible. Also wouldn't recommend electric tape because it stretches in the wind.

i can totally understand about having space between the animals, i have seen to many small animals get nailed through fences, (and had to separate pets of my own. so figures i should do this with big as well. but i want to know more about the fencing. its another thing i haven't been able to get a lot of info on! so you use a 4 strand? What are you able to keep in with 4 strands?

 

[Bossroo]

Especially here in Cal, there are CC&Rs on rural lands that state that there may be only one house on the acreage ( there may be some exceptions like you may have another house, but it can NOT have a kitchen). Our area in Central Cal. is 20 acre parcels ( one neighbor has 5,000 acres) only one residence is allowed per parcel. A mother in law structure is allowed, but it can NOT have a kitchen. Check this out with your county housing officials, as many real estate people are just NOT aware of this little gem since they most often deal in city housing. You may want to purchase several adjoining acreage properties to be legal to have nearby homes with kitchens. Good luck!

 

[Kitdragon2000]

could you technically split the parcels and cheat that way, like if you got a 100 acres split it into quarters? or does a parcel go by what the state has boundary line wise? we even had the thought of doing 2 houses with a mutual kitchen and a motor home...sometimes gotta love California

 

[Canamer]

"Luckily a properly maintaind electric fence works wonders with most animals. Our fence cost us about $40/330 feet, so multiply that by 4 for 4 strand fence. We have used the same fence for 12 + years and moved it around three different properties. It is difficult to do that with electric wire and impossible with wood, which is one of the reasons we go with the electric braided fence. Plus it is white, looks nice and is visible. Also wouldn't recommend electric tape because it stretches in the wind.

i can totally understand about having space between the animals, i have seen to many small animals get nailed through fences, (and had to separate pets of my own. so figures i should do this with big as well. but i want to know more about the fencing. its another thing i haven't been able to get a lot of info on! so you use a 4 strand? What are you able to keep in with 4 strands?

Horses, cattle, donkeys. I have a friend that keeps 7 goats (large meat goats that are pets) in her 4 strand electric fence, but last year we brought my daughters show goat and it's friend home for about three weeks, put them in one of our larger paddocks (the 3/4 acre one) and they were constantly getting out and into our rose bushes. Again I don't have any, but I have a friend that keeps Alpacas and sheep in her electric fence. Now when we had a solar fence (one charger for each pasture) the cattle would go through it, and we had one pony that seemed to know it was off and she would step through the fence. We know have it plugged into the electricity at the barn. One charger runs the whole property and no one ever bothers the fence.

Oh, and we have a T-post every 32 feet and wooden post braced in all corners and gates. All T-posts have caps on them for safety as horses are very accident prone animals.

 

[Kitdragon2000]

"Luckily a properly maintaind electric fence works wonders with most animals. Our fence cost us about $40/330 feet, so multiply that by 4 for 4 strand fence. We have used the same fence for 12 + years and moved it around three different properties. It is difficult to do that with electric wire and impossible with wood, which is one of the reasons we go with the electric braided fence. Plus it is white, looks nice and is visible. Also wouldn't recommend electric tape because it stretches in the wind.

i can totally understand about having space between the animals, i have seen to many small animals get nailed through fences, (and had to separate pets of my own. so figures i should do this with big as well. but i want to know more about the fencing. its another thing i haven't been able to get a lot of info on! so you use a 4 strand? What are you able to keep in with 4 strands?

Horses, cattle, donkeys. I have a friend that keeps 7 goats (large meat goats that are pets) in her 4 strand electric fence, but last year we brought my daughters show goat and it's friend home for about three weeks, put them in one of our larger paddocks (the 3/4 acre one) and they were constantly getting out and into our rose bushes. Again I don't have any, but I have a friend that keeps Alpacas and sheep in her electric fence. Now when we had a solar fence (one charger for each pasture) the cattle would go through it, and we had one pony that seemed to know it was off and she would step through the fence. We know have it plugged into the electricity at the barn. One charger runs the whole property and no one ever bothers the fence.

Oh, and we have a T-post every 32 feet and wooden post braced in all corners and gates. All T-posts have caps on them for safety as horses are very accident prone animals.

Thank you for the info! I was looking into electric fencing, but again wasn't sure where to start, and goats will be one of the first things we would try to keep in with it... any type in particular you recommend? fencing wise for goats?

 

[Shayanna]

Along with my mother, we have about 10 acres fenced in for a couple steers, a horse, and 7 goats. If you get cows, get some goats and vice versa. The goats eat the weeds down, which allows the nice grass to grow up for the horses and cows. Our chickens are free ranged, and since the goats/horses/cows got put in, we have had very little predator problems. (Plus we have a 20 guage shotgun that takes care of any predator problems that find their way through.) And because it is such a large area fenced in, our goats have no desire to get out, and that is with a 3 strand electric fence. At first we did need to teach them to respect it, just as we did with the horse and cows. Sounds mean, but you have to make the goat touch the fence. Sure they could run through it if they really wanted to, just like a horse or a cow could, but once you make the animal touch it and hold it there for a minute, they lose the desire to go anywhere near it. It might take a couple zaps, but they will learn.

Depending on what kind of goat you are interested in.... I would go for the large breed if you are interested in electric fence. The smaller ones are much more naughty and always seem to want to push their limits. We keep nubians and alpines. Also a benefit of electric fence, if you have goats with horns (We do, as they don't bother us any), you don't have to worry about them getting their heads stuck.

We use the fiberglass step in posts. One strand about 6 inches off the ground, another one at a foot-2 1/2, and the last one at about 3 1/2 feet. Make sure you don't skimp on the fence charger though. Just because it says horses and cows doesn't mean it is rated for goats. Goats have a much thicker coat and need a little more Umph! Also, they will tell to space the posts anywhere from 8-10 feet in the store. Don't believe it. This is just to get you to buy more posts/ insulators. If you are going acrossed a flat stretch, you can stretch it to 20 feet. Also make sure you take a weedwhacker and/or clear any sticks from where your bottom line will touch. The charger might say thick weeds are fine, but you will pack a better punch without. Also, don't skimp on grounding rods either. And keep them wet. Unless we get a good solid rain, atleast once per week we take a hose to our rods for a good 15 minutes to soak the ground its stuck in.

Hope I didn't overwhelm you. We just did our fencing about a month ago and it was quite the learning experience.

 

[Shayanna]

And yet more advice. If you have a horse, as long as there is enough space fenced in so that they aren't FORCED to be side by side, things should be okay. The only issue we have had is when our buck thought that maybe the horse would like to play. He was mistaken. The horse did not want to play and turned around and kicked that buck so hard that he did fly up against the fence, wrestling ring style.

Some people would be like "did you get him checked by a vet?" or "thats why you don't keep those animals together!" But tell you what, that goat learned some respect. They now graze happily next to each other, and the goat stays far away from the horse's rear end. If they need their alone time, they can have it.

 

[Kitdragon2000]

Thank you So much for the information!!! i dont get overwhelmed easily so go ahead!! i was trying to figure out all of the fence stuff and it wasnt always going well x.x i totally understand about the goats now leaving the horse alone! that's how we teach our dogs to leave our cats alone we have an older cat and whenever puppies come in he gives them a good whack or two and they leave him alone now I was wondering since you just went through all the fencing stuff, i was thinking of getting mini's for a lot of things, can you make an electric woven wire or would i have to do strands along with the woven wire?
Again THANK YOU for all the information!!!!

 

[Kitdragon2000]

oh 1 more question, with 10 acres do you rotate pastures with your group or are they all just there? Thank you Again!!