# Woven wire or High Tensile fencing for sheep?



## Wollett (Jan 21, 2013)

Trying to decide which way to go, we have used the woven wire but not sure if the tensile would be the way to go or not??


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## jrexroth (Jan 3, 2013)

Given the choice I would always go with woven wire. High tensile is cheap until somebody gets tangled up in it, and then it gets expensive! Also sheep can still escape from high tensile fencing.


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

Sheep can go through high tensile like water through a sieve. Lots of strands, hot charger, and shorn sheep will make it more effective, but you'll still get lambs popping through. Maybe for a divider fence , but not a perimeter fence. They can get their head hung in woven wire sometimes, too. The no climb stuff with the small mesh would be awesome and good for predators, too, but you would have to win a lottery or something to be able to afford it.


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

Here in VA, where there are not a lot of wild predators, I either run woven field fence or use Cattle panels, and a line of hot wire on top to detour predators and one down at sheep nose and but level, so they don't rub on the fence.


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## bronc (Jul 17, 2013)

I've got horses so I already had a good 5 strand barb wire fence. When I got into sheep, I just put 3 strands of hot wire at the bottom spaced about 6-8" apart. Much cheaper and less time consuming than woven fence. They've been in it since July and none have escaped but they have all the grass and hay on my side so they really have no reason to venture outside. Lots of joules helps as well.


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

What part of VA does not have a lot of wild predators? I will ship you a tractor trailer load. Do you have a preference for coyotes, or golden eagles, or would some mutton fed black bear suit your needs better? (None of them cause as much trouble as the domestic predators, however.)


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## farmerDale (Jan 8, 2011)

I lucked out on a schwack of un-used 54" woven wire several years back. I found putting it up was quite easy. After having read how tough it is and time consuming it is to make a woven wire fence, I had some trepidation. I thought there was some kind of a trick to it, or that it would be nightmare on elm street, er in the sheep pasture.

IT WASN'T. It was very easy to put up, and is so secure and easy to maintain. The sheep just ain't gunna get out no how. I run a tight barbed wire above the woven wire, to give me 5 feet of height. It does seem to be high enough that coyotes don't challenge it.

I would suggest trying to find some cheap wire in the classifieds. Sometimes one finds a real steal of a deal...


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

barnbilder said:


> What part of VA does not have a lot of wild predators? I will ship you a tractor trailer load. Do you have a preference for coyotes, or golden eagles, or would some mutton fed black bear suit your needs better? (None of them cause as much trouble as the domestic predators, however.)


Caroline County... lots and lots of hunting dogs.... few foxes... maybe a bear(saw scat), birds of prey but not much else.

Now in NW Oregon we had a very active predator base, always challenging the fencing... Cougars, bears, packs of Coyotes...usually 20 or more, Bobcat(my donkey ended with 12 stitches on her face), a couple of wolves and a Black Panther the Fish and Game really wanted killed.
Most fed on only the livestock including horses. The packs of Coyotes would kill a calf before it was all the way out of its mother.
Was a big problem.

There was plenty of wild food... but the livestock is like McDonalds... easy and safer pray.

My fencing in Oregon was a lot more beefed up than here, because it needed to be.

Here, in VA... is tame compare with that area of Oregon. 


Yes, there is a nack to figure out woven field fence... you can even use your car's tow hook and a come-along to pull it tight and hold it while you staple it to the camel backs/H's.


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

Yeah, It is a little tamer on that side of the state. I have had the unpleasantness of losing sheep to a wide array of predators. The coyotes here know the "eat the calf out of the cow while she's having it trick". I had a lamb killing bobcat once, he didn't stick around long. One of the oddest instances of predation I had turned out to be about a 20 pound boar ****, that lived under a barn. He learned on a stillborn and moved up to live newborn lambs very quickly. Had a red fox kill a lamb once, he had mange. They mostly get one at a time, except for bears, they will kill a whole flock and scatter the rest. One of the worst coyote epidemics we've had was sparked by a bear scattering a neighbors sheep flock over about a five mile radius. And of course, domestic dogs. Now we have golden eagles, glorified buzzards, and they will kill lambs. Can't use lethal control, you'd get in big trouble. Best solution I've found is a healthy and un-harassed crow population.

On woven wire, two six foot 2x6s with a few bolts sandwiching the woven wire between them is the best way. Pull with a truck or a come-along. Get kids to stand on the wire to pull it down in the low places. It looks beautiful, and keeps looking that way if you brace the corners good. Coyote paths are easier to see on woven wire than high tensile, and makes control very simple.


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## farmerDale (Jan 8, 2011)

barnbilder said:


> On woven wire, two six foot 2x6s with a few bolts sandwiching the woven wire between them is the best way. Pull with a truck or a come-along. Get kids to stand on the wire to pull it down in the low places. It looks beautiful, and keeps looking that way if you brace the corners good. Coyote paths are easier to see on woven wire than high tensile, and makes control very simple.


Exactly what I did, used my tractor, and yes, when you get that wire strung and tight, it really looks good. Ditto on the proper corner bracing...


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## houndlover (Feb 20, 2009)

I put in thousands of feet of 5' welded wire fencing this year, replaced all the high tensile "australian" fencing I had. Couldn't keep the goats and sheep in, and certainly couldn't keep predators (dogs) out. I ran electric 4" off the ground around the inside to keep them from pushing out the bottom, and about chest high to keep the goats from climbing on it. It was expensive, but I will likely never fence this property again. Haven't had any problems since it was completed.


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

barnbilder said:


> Yeah, It is a little tamer on that side of the state. I have had the unpleasantness of losing sheep to a wide array of predators. The coyotes here know the "eat the calf out of the cow while she's having it trick". I had a lamb killing bobcat once, he didn't stick around long. One of the oddest instances of predation I had turned out to be about a 20 pound boar ****, that lived under a barn. He learned on a stillborn and moved up to live newborn lambs very quickly. Had a red fox kill a lamb once, he had mange. They mostly get one at a time, except for bears, they will kill a whole flock and scatter the rest. One of the worst coyote epidemics we've had was sparked by a bear scattering a neighbors sheep flock over about a five mile radius. And of course, domestic dogs. Now we have golden eagles, glorified buzzards, and they will kill lambs. Can't use lethal control, you'd get in big trouble. Best solution I've found is a healthy and un-harassed crow population.
> 
> On woven wire, two six foot 2x6s with a few bolts sandwiching the woven wire between them is the best way. Pull with a truck or a come-along. Get kids to stand on the wire to pull it down in the low places. It looks beautiful, and keeps looking that way if you brace the corners good. Coyote paths are easier to see on woven wire than high tensile, and makes control very simple.



Sounds like the predators keep you busy. 
I have to admit... I rather go back to dealing with Wild predators... than the packs of hunting dogs there are here.


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

I've never had a problem with any hounds. Most of them are just passing through. There are always bad apples of course. Free range pet canines are the trouble makers for me, and it seems the worst thing going is a herding dog without a herd. On your side of the state there are deer dogs, so they are more programmed for messing with hoofed animals. Up here, I don't mind having neighbors with a packs of bearhounds one bit. Personally, I've seen more problems with bear than with the dogs that hunt them. Your good bear dog owners will not turn a dog loose without a tracking collar, and they will try to keep up with it. The problem with deer dogs is some people turn them loose to fend for themselves when hunting season is over. When a bear dog or **** dog or bobcat dog doesn't cut the mustard, it will still chase deer, so deer dogs are the bottom of the barrel, a dime a dozen. A good bear dog will go from $500 to $5000. I've deer hunted with friends in eastern VA with dogs, we could kill more deer with two good beagles, than all of that craziness with packs of thirty culls and mongrels. In the end it's never the dog's fault, it is the people's. I don't mind predators as much as people. You can shoot predators!


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