As winter sets in, the planning begins for the next year of our renovation from a residential home to Hobby Farm. The first order of business this spring is fencing. Although the entire perimeter of our property is currently fenced with 4' woven wire, the wire is many years old (estimates are around 15+ years) and most of it is now rusted. In fact there are some areas near the back of the property where the fence is down due to fell trees. So nonetheless, a new fence is in order.
As you can see below in the photo, we'll be fencing in about two acres and segregating that into 1 acre paddocks. This will allow for rotational grazing of the goats, chickens and pigs. In addition within the paddocks we will most likely have one or two portable electric net fences which will allow us to further subdivide the area as necessary.
As for the construction of the perimeter fence, (I will describe it from bottom to top - i.e. ground up) we will be utilizing a 4 part fence. Part 1 consists of 1 bead of barbed wire along the ground, this is used for two primary purposes. First this will help to deter dogs and coyotes from attempting to enter the paddocks via trying to dig under the fence. Part 2 of the fence is 42" woven wire, which will act as the primary barrier seperating the outside and the inside of the paddock. The third layer will consist of 4 strands of high-tinsile wire (non-electrified) which will help to eleviate dogs, coyotes, Deer and other animals from jumping over the fence. Last but not least, the 4th layer of the fence consists of 2 strands of high-tinsile wire (electrified) which will be off set (to the inside of the fence) and located at 20" and 35" off of the ground. The primary purpse of this layer is to ensure that the goats stay inside of the fence.
As for the actual construction of the fence, I and some brothers in Christ will be doing as much of the construction as possible and although this will be both time consuming and labor intensive, the overall cost savings is significant.
As I begin to purchase the fence materials and startig the construction I will post more about the endevor.
