Shetland ewes and lambs with newly "planted" cedar and locust fenceposts.  Photo by Virginia Jemtegaard.  This was taken the year after our perimeter fencing was put up.  These newly planted posts are part of our network of crossfencing; we currently have 13 fenced paddocks on our little farm, not counting our orchard, berry patch and backyard, with plans to turn our largest paddock into 3 smaller ones sometime soon.

Rosie, our Border Collie, against a backdrop of our handiwork; cedar posts, field fencing and a pair of Jon's homemade gates.

Soay ewe and lamb in front of 4' high woven wire field fencing, with 2 strands of barbed wire above it, attached to a metal fence post.  Metal posts are interspersed between cedar or black locust posts.  Tightly stretched fencing placed close to the ground eliminates unauthorized coming or going.

Soay ewe and lamb in front of braced cedar posts at the end of a run of woven wire field fencing, near a simple wire gate.  Additional cross-fencing in background.  This adult ewe is about knee-high to me.

© 2000 - 2009.  Website design, text and photos are copyright by Ronda Jemtegaard unless otherwise noted.

Reproduction by any means, electronic or mechanical, is forbidden unless written request

is submitted to and approved by Ronda Jemtegaard of Greener Pastures Farm.

American Buff geese near a redwood gate.

Greener Pastures Farm

Information on Building Farm Fences

Many people are intimidated by the idea of building their own fences, but it's not as hard as you might think.  If you are armed with information, and are willing to put a little muscle into the project, you can build sturdy, tight, long-lasting fencing for your livestock.  Listed below are the best books and websites about farm fencing.

Fortunately, pressure-treated posts are being phased out due to the fact that they are so toxic, but you still need to ask questions before you buy, as you don't want to get chemically-treated posts by mistake!!!  At our farm we have used cedar or black locust for our corner posts and brace posts because they last so long.  We used metal t-posts for economic reasons between the wood posts.  Woven wire field fencing was stretched very tightly, as were the 2 strands of barbed wire we used above the four foot high woven wire. To date we have lost no sheep or lambs to 2- or 4-legged predators, even though our flock is pastured year round and a pack of coyotes live just behind our place. It may be

luck, it may be our tight fences, it may be the

variety of livestock (including noisy and alert

geese) or it may be the constant rotations of

livestock from one paddock to another that

flusters the predators.  Whatever it is, it has

worked for years.  But rather than continue to

tempt fate, we have now invested in Livestock

Guardian Dogs.

Some farmers are now using cattle panels

alone, or hog panels in conjunction with field

fencing.  These panels are a heavier gauge

than fencing wire, are easy for one person to

move, and don't require a fence stretcher!

When deciding on gate placement, choose a

corner of the paddock.  This will make it easier

to move livestock in and out of the pasture. 

Creating and using alleyways is of great help

in moving livestock from one pasture to

another.  Planning your alleyways to coincide

with your gate width, and planning the swing

of your gates to be useful for both your pasture

and your alleyway is to your benefit. 

Useful Links:

• Fences for the Farm  Excellent website for farm fencing information.  Has some great descriptions of various types of fencing, including life expectancy and costs.  References are made to the climate in Georgia, but the information presented here can apply to most any climate.  Directly after the description of pressure treated posts is a life expectancy chart of various wood posts, treated and untreated, and you can see for yourself that natural cedar and black locust posts have a similar life expectancy to the poisonous pressure treated posts.  The fencing descriptions at the bottom of the page are very similar to the techniques we used on our fences.
  

• Canada Plan Service  Leaflets provided by the Canada Plan Service for the following systems maybe ordered from the links provided:
  

• Wire Fencing  A photo and description of a fencing system similar to ours.
  

• Wood Rail Fencing and Gates  Photo and description of beautiful board fencing and gates.
  

• Farm Gate  Photo and description of a farm gate similar to our own redwood gate, shown below.
  

• Portable Fence Sections  Photo and description of portable sections of board fencing for temporary use.  While this is lovely to look at, welded wire hog panels tied together with baling twine will work just as well, and can be found at your local feed store.
  

• Working Chute  We have managed this far without something like this, but I intend to build (or shall I say, assist my husband in building) something similar to this for easier management of sheep duties, such as hoof trimming, worming, rooing, etc.  Photo and description provided.
  

• Sheep Corral Unit  If you want to get really fancy, or if you have a larger set up than we do, here is a well planned system for sorting and treating larger numbers of sheep efficiently.
  

Books:

Fences for Pasture & Garden

by Gail Damerow

This handy book will show you step by step how to build a variety of fences,

including wire fences, rail fences, electric fences, high-tension fences, temporary

fences, woven fences, snow fences, easy wire gates and lovely wooden gates.

No matter how good the fencing, a well-trained Livestock Guardian Dog is most valuable in protecting livestock.

Cascade Farmstead ewes and lambs...  after many years of breeding sheep, these are our preference for low maintenance as well as productivity of meat and wool.