Bull Fence

[pricefarm]

So for 16 years I have been running sheep on the pasture between me and my neighbor, my neighbor has cows and the the sheep never really put much pressure on the fence. Now that I have been getting cows I dont think the fence will be strong enough to hold his bull in and away from my cows and my bull away from his. The fence is old woven wire that has got in loose over the years. What would be the best kind of fence to replace it with?

 

[Isomade]

6 strands of barb wire. Then hope...

 

[Caustic Burno]

10,000 volts an electric charger rated for bears and predators.
You want one that when his nose touches it, knocks his pecker soft.
Barb wire is a physical barrier electricity a mental one I use both.

 

[Balin' Wire]

This is what finally worked for us: 6 strands of 4-point gaucho wire, T-post every 12' with every 4th a cedar 6" post, 1 hot wire with about 10k volts for about a mile of fence. The smart ( and cheaper) thing would have been to put up the hot wire on the existing 4 strand and be done with it instead or thinking barbed wire alone would do it. There is satisfaction in seeing a bull standing about 10 foot from a new hot wire and pouting

 

[Limomike]

I agree with CB.. electric fence is the only thing that would keep him out for sure. Either that or two fences between his bull and your cows.
A single fence of six strand barb wire may do it, but unlikely when your cows come in.

 

[cow pollinater]

The old woven wire fences made a pretty tough fence and it lasts for decades. I think I'd cinch up what's there, add steel posts as needed, and run two strands of barbed wire over the top of it. If it's really shabby woven wire then one strand down the middle of it will help a bunch.

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

Put up a second fence on your side about 10' apart. Also, run some barb wire on the other fence. If one bull can touch noses with another, then a train wreck is waiting to happen. And, when a cow comes in heat another bull on the other side of one fence can just walk through it to get to the cows. Single fences don't keep two bull apart if they want to get together. JMO.

 

[pricefarm]

This is what finally worked for us: 6 strands of 4-point gaucho wire, T-post every 12' with every 4th a cedar 6" post, 1 hot wire with about 10k volts for about a mile of fence. The smart ( and cheaper) thing would have been to put up the hot wire on the existing 4 strand and be done with it instead or thinking barbed wire alone would do it. There is satisfaction in seeing a bull standing about 10 foot from a new hot wire and pouting

Did you put the hot wire on top? Or in the middle

 

[greybeard]

Pricefarm, I've got it both ways and found out the hard way to do both. With just A hot on top, he goes thru low. Only 1 hot in the middle, he clears the top wire jumping, tearing the top wire down in the process and my fences are fairly tall most places.

Now, I've moved toward doing it differently. On a 5 strand barb fence, I put one hot on top and another hot one between 3 & 4th wire. Why? When they first get "interested" with just a barb wire, they stick their head and nose over the top barbed wire, sniffin the air, but if/when they decide to go, they push thru between the lower wires, even if they are fiddlestring tight. If I just have one hot on top, he'll still try to go between the lower wires, and just a hot top hot wire doesn't touch him till he's already about 1/2 way thru. The ZAP! from a top wire just pushes him on thru, but if there's a lower one, he gets hit right away as soon as he tries and backs off. He'll sit out there and beller and paw dust for awhile, get up his courage and try again, but he doesn't a 3rd time.

 

[tripleBfarms]

The old woven wire fences made a pretty tough fence and it lasts for decades. I think I'd cinch up what's there, add steel posts as needed, and run two strands of barbed wire over the top of it. If it's really shabby woven wire then one strand down the middle of it will help a bunch.

I agree. We took the hay spear on the front end loader and raised up an old WW fence, about every 5 ft. Drive a T post in the fenceline, raise it up and then wire it to the post. Then as others have said, put a real hot strand around the top,,maybe 2. That fence hadn't been touched in 40 years, and was still solid.

 

[Balin' Wire]

Pricefarm,
Put a single strand on my side, about 32" from the ground using 4" stand-off's from the T-posts. Another thing I did was drive a second ground rod 10' away from the first one. I wired them seerately back to the ground side. As dry as it is, I thought I needed as much grounding as I could get. The blue arc was "lazy" with just one but was a lot bluer and hot like hades with two.

Hope this answers your question.

 

[saltbranch]

So the hot wire goes across the top of the fence row?

 

[Caustic Burno]

So the hot wire goes across the top of the fence row?

I run a hot on top and in the middle like GB.
The hot on top is very important to keep them from stretching their necks and touching noses.
If bulls ever touch noses you have a bull fight on your hand.
You have never repaired fence until you have fixed one two bulls have fought through.
Barb wire doesn't mean anything or woven wire it will look like an explosion in a steel wool factory.

 

[greybeard]

So the hot wire goes across the top of the fence row?

I run a hot on top and in the middle like GB.
The hot on top is very important to keep them from stretching their necks and touching noses.
If bulls ever touch noses you have a bull fight on your hand.
You have never repaired fence until you have fixed one two bulls have fought through.
Barb wire doesn't mean anything or woven wire it will look like an explosion in a steel wool factory.

You got that right!!!

 

[pdfangus]

invest in all that and watch two bulls eventually tear it down....

invest in a good AI technician eliminate the bull and keep the cows away from the neighbors fence for the 60 to 90 days they are open.