OK , we've covered the two inner rings of protection. Now let's move to the third ring of defense. The perimeter fencing , cross fencing , etc.
This ring of defense is very important to the health and well being of you , your livestock, neighbors and the predators needed in the ecosystem.
Perimeter fences will be your first line of defense from predators both wild and domestic alike. It keeps your livestock contained to your property and provides a barrier between them , you and the outside world. Many people just throw up a few fence post and stretch some barbed wire and call it good , not much in defence there , but that's their choice. Others will spend thousands on building a elaborate fencing system that Seal Team 6 would be lucky to penetrate. We don't need anything like that.
Depending on the size of your homestead will dictate how elaborate you want to go. A good woven wire of at least 4' - 5' tall and a couple of strands of barbed wire on top will be plenty to keep out most predators and most livestock contained. Don't cut corners here , remember this is your first line of defense. Don't over space your post , keep them at a reasonable space apart. Mine are 8' - 10' apart depending upon rocks and I've seen 20' expansion and the fence is never tight enough and can be pushed down fairly easy in the center. Keep the woven wire close to the ground and pulled tight , but not overstretched. Missouri University Extension http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G1192 has a very good article on fence installation "How to" describing how to build all fence styles.
Woven wire with 2 - 3 strands of barbed or electric wire on top will keep out most predators. I prefer two strands on top and one 10" - 12" from the ground on the inside of electric wire (high tensile) for predator control and this will help "Train" livestock to stay off the fence and help keep out predators , but this can be very time consuming to maintian and expensive to run unless you use solar chargers , which present their own issues. If you do this make sure you use a charger/energizer with enough joules ( 1 joule per mile , rec.)
Cross fences help to break up your homestead into smaller units to allow for rotation of livestock to ease grazing on a certain area , in times of issue livestock can be moved closer to your home to help keep a better eye on them until the issue can be totally addressed.
Using woven or welded wire around the perimeter of your homestead will also benefit you if by chance a predator does gain access. They will typically use the same spot repeatedly and finding that spot can be made easier to spot with them. Most larger predators trying to gain access with this type of fencing will try to go under the fence causing what is called a "Crawl Under" and allow several different options to help control them.
Gates can be and usually are a weak point in fencing and care has to be taken to strengthen them as far as predator control goes. Depending on your gate there are several options , but the most comments is probably to add woven wire to the gate to stop predators from just crawling through the gate. However most gates don't set close to the ground and allow predators to crawl under the gate. I tried to lower the gates and then the gates would sag and drag and never really worked right. However what I did do that worked great was to use a much taller post to attach the gate to then I lowered the gate , added woven wire and added a cable for the top of the post to the top of the gate approximately 3/4 of the way out the length of the gate from the hinge side to help keep the gate from sagging and dragging and then dug a trench directly under the gate when closed and buried cinder blocks to ground level. In the trench. I then poured them full of concrete to keep them from digging under the gates.
As always there is more to come and am always open to hear ideas and have discussions.
Toe Catch.
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