Electric Fence

What do you folks generally find works best for electrict fencing....3 strands, 4 strands, more?  I plan on using this as a "let out pen" for some show calves.  Any information is greatly appreciated. 

A single poly-wire with a 12-volt solar charger will work if it is within an exterior fenced area.  For interior pasture division fences for the cow herd we are using 3-wire high tensile electric with a 12-volt solar charger.  Have seen a bull lot with 7-wire high tensile using 1-inch fiberglass posts and every other wire hot and heated up using a 110-volt plug in charger.  Those bulls will fight and carry on like bulls do, but they almost never hit the fence.

Exterior fence we use six wires, three hot.  Interior we use four wires, all hot.  I would stay away from Gallagher chargers, they don't seem to last very long.  Having pretty good luck with Parmak.

We use single strand polywire like DLB suggests for interior, cross fences.  Works great.  Your calves are probably gentle so it should work for a let out pen.  I like the plug in chargers over the solar chargers.  I  have always been afraid to use electric fence for perimeter fencing since we have frontage on a major state highway.

After dealing with one exceptionally hairy ex-show heifer that like to go back into the feed room. We went to two - three strands of electric barb wire. I have spent the weekend running fence. THere is knee deep grass but she likes the sweet feed a little better. ;D

Please send some of that knee deep grass our way.  We are knee deep in dust.  Sad, but true.

We also live on a frontage road that is very busy, so our external fencing is 4 strand barb wire with one hot wire running along the length of the fence. Everything interior is electric, and we run off of one Gallagher (and have for four years now). Our permanent pasture is set up with three-wire high tensile electric wire, and then run management intensive grazing inside those pastures and use a single strand poly wire that is moved as the grass is eaten/grown. Works great for us, we just wind up the poly wire on a roll and move it over to the new location; less than 15 minutes to move cows/calves from one section to another. The great thing is we have gone from baling twice a year to get enough hay to get through the winter to stockpiling grass and only baling once. Last year we grazed cattle most of the winter except when the snow was too deep to get to the grass, then had bales dropped for the girls. Saved us lots of money since we did not have the second cutting to pay for and the cows naturally fertilized the grass!!!

I don't use electric fence with my show calves, but for everything else, we use three hot interior, and six exterior with four hot.

For show cattle I would use 3 strands. Make sure you put some type of tightening reel on the wire so you can keep the tension on the wire tight. Over time the wire will sag. Gallagher solar chargers have worked well for us.

6M Ranch said:

Exterior fence we use six wires, three hot.  Interior we use four wires, all hot.  I would stay away from Gallagher chargers, they don't seem to last very long.  Having pretty good luck with Parmak.

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2nd that all the way around.