Interested in some feedback on fence plans

Hi All,

We've got a small hobby farm and the next step for us is to repair the fencing so we can put some livestock on our pastures. Right now we've only got poultry.

We've got quite a bit of three board fencing up, but it needs repairs. I'd say it's about 80% good fencing.

One of the things I can't make up my mind about is whether we should keep the three-board fence, or replace it with welded/woven wire fence. The reason being that we'd like to include small livestock (sheep, goats) and juvenile animals (e.g., calves) that would be able to get through the a three board fence.

But replacing all that fence would cost a fortune. We've got about 1700 feet of perimeter fence, and about the same amount in interior fence dividing the pasture into sections. That's 3400 feet of fencing, and going by my 75% good figure, that's 2550 feet of good fence that we'd be replacing.

So obviously the cost of replacing all that with welded or woven wire fencing is way more than just replacing the ~850 feet of three-board fencing that needs replacement, and keeping the 2550 feet of good fencing.

So, I've been mulling this over and thinking that maybe the right solution is to use a lightweight mesh to cover any fence if and when we get some animals on pasture that we're concerned will get through the fence. The fence's strength would come from the 3 board fence and posts, and the wire mesh would just act as a deterrent to keep small animals from climbing between the boards.

Examples of such a mesh would be a light gauge welded or woven wire, maybe like this, or even 2" chickenwire. The chickenwire is only 20 gauge, but it seems like it would be enough to discourage a calf or small cattle breed from trying to push his way between the boards... I think?

You can see pictures of our property in the first post here.

And quite a few more here (taken before we purchased the property):

We've got 6 acres of pasture. One of the perimeter fences is already welded wire, and belongs to a neighboring cattle farm. We plan to leave that fence as-is. The 1700' and 3400' fence lengths are excluding that fence.

-Josh

We have 5 strands of barbed wire around our field and we also have a electric fence on the inside of the post about 30 inches off the ground, that will hold any cow or calf as long as they have plenty to eat.

If I were to have sheep or goats I would have 2 strands of electric wire 1 about 12 - 16 inches or off the ground and then 1 wire about 24 inches or so above the lower one and run it around the perimeter of you land.

This would be an inexpensive way to start. Good luck with your project!