The Pacablogger

Yesterday I was planning out the fencing for my new paddocks and pasture.  By now, I know exactly how I want it to work but I remembered that this was perhaps one of the most difficult plans to come up with when I first started out, so I thought I would share the whole gruesome experience.

First off, I had requirements that were specific to my situation and location:

• Handling ease: I wanted to be able to herd and sort animals by myself so my paddocks were designed to be long and narrow and end in smaller pens that connect to each other so they can double as catch pens, sorting areas, and connecting alleys between paddocks.
• Keep out predators: For protection against coyotes and neighboring dogs, I went with a 5′ no climb fence. For perimenter fencing close to the barn, the fence posts have a top rail. For outer pastures, top lines are reinforced with a thick wire. For my new paddocks, I’m going with 4′ high no climb fencing for the inner fence lines to reduce costs and staying with the 5′ high fencing for the outside fencelines. The metal gates that do not have additional fencelines between the main paddocks have to be additionally heightened as they are only 4′ high.
• Uneven terrain and shifting soil: I live on a hilly property that is heavily forested with ponderosa pines. My fenceposts had to be sunk in with concrete to increase stability in the sandy top layer. I also had to go back where the bottom of the fencing did not sit flat on the ground due to slope and fill those gaps. Originally, I used the pricey smart latches to close all my gates, but I’ve since learned that these quickly come out of alignment unless the area is flat. Now I’m going with hooks and chains instead that don’t require perfect alignment. Cheaper too!
• Accommodate machinery: My gates range from 4′ to 10′ wide depending on terrain and location. For all fenced areas,  I have gates that are at least wide enough to allow a bobcat through in case I need additional work or cross fencing done.
• Septic: My septic and leach field location are right in an area that I would have liked to include in pasture. I had to push back the fenceline to exclude this area.
• Quarantine:  No one was talking BVD or Coronavirus when I first started.  I bet a lot of people would have totally different fencing layouts if they had known then what we know now! In my new area being planned, I have a 30′ buffer area that separates the paddocks attached to two shelters for visiting dams.
• Natural flow : No doubt, gates can provide a possible weak point ( more points where a gate can be left open and where dogs can more easily jump over or dig under) but when in doubt, I’ve found you can never have enough gates. When I planned out my fencing, I tried to picture how animals would be moved in all different scenarios in determining where the gates should be. I wanted animals from each stall to be routable to each pasture.  More gates are better!
• Temporary paddocks: This overlaps into barn design, but I also wanted the option of splitting certain paddocks in two or even three in different ways, so some of the fenced areas are designed to allow easy temporary cross fencing with panels

Everyone’s situation is different, but giving the fencing layout a lot of thought will pay off big. The converse is true as well. Trying to fix poor fencing decisions would be a very costly nightmare. I’d recommend staking out your plan and walking it through by simulating different situations. And last but not least, once you find a good fencer, treasure him or her!