# Beef breeds and fences



## OmaMutti (Jan 17, 2007)

When we had Black Angus (cow and steer) they often broke through fences and visited the neighbors. We've heard that Herefords stay clear of fences. We want to avoid wanderers. What is your experience with different breeds and fences?


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

You don't say what type of fenceing you have.

ALL cattle will break through a weak fence if they think the grass on the other side is greener and don't let anybody bamboozle you into thinking otherwise. My Hereford bull could find a way out of all our older fences and what's more, my Hereford and Jersey cows would be happy to go with him.

If you fences aren't good enough to contain Angus, they're not good enough to contain any other breed either so perhaps some fence maintenance is in order?

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## tyusclan (Jan 1, 2005)

I agree with Ronney. All the cattle I've ever seen were equal opportunity fence-jumpers. If there's a hole or a weak spot they'll go through it, no matter what breed they are.


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## Tiffin (Feb 23, 2006)

We have only had one problem with our Dexters in the 2 years we have had them. One, particularly short heifer would go under the electric fence and into a different paddock and then come back on her own. We since have lowered the fencing so she or any of them cannot go under it. Our Dexters have never jumped. I'm not saying they can't but ours never have. We also have a periphery fence with barbed wire and one strand of electric which gives us a lot of confidence if they should get out of the mobile electric fencing.


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## travlnusa (Dec 12, 2004)

I find that my angus will stress the fences much less than the holsteins.

The key is food. If there is good food on their side of the fence, the less likely they are to go off wandering.


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## .netDude (Nov 26, 2004)

I agree with travlnusa.

Not trying to bamboozle you, but my herfords and angus stay clear of a single wire with lush grass on the other side. The only time they've gotten out is when I forgot to close the gate. But, they're used to being moved to a fresh paddock every day or so. 
So, I think in addition to the breed, I think it's related to habits. If you are moving them frequently to fresh pasture, they won't have the motivation to break through. Another factor - a 15 joule fence charger.


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## OmaMutti (Jan 17, 2007)

Thanks for your replies. I get the idea it's not a breed issue. When the Angus kept getting out we had 3-wire fencing with some wires hot (can't remember how many). Maybe we didn't rotate pasture often enough. We'd wondered if the steer usually pushed his way out first and his mama went after him. (If she even still knew she was his mama?) One day they walked about 1/2 mile down the county road, passing lawns and pastures, before settling on a neighbor's pasture.


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## glidergurl03 (Feb 28, 2005)

Actually, now that you mention it, we have had more problems w/ angus. LOL. Our 1/2 black angus 1/2 holstien cow wouldn't get bred for 4 years cuz she'd jump the darn fence and lay in the clover and chew her cud while the bull was standing there bellering at her with his nose all curled up...lol. But as someone said above, cattle will break through weak fencing. We run 2 strand electric (2 because the stupid mini horses will go under one strand...lol) and have to make sure it's in the green all the time or they'll break it. Sometimes'll break it just for fun too it seems. Big dumb gallumps...lol.


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

I meter stockpiled grass daily to my Angus herd of over 125 using nothing more than an electrified twine. Cattle do learn bad habits from other cattle and once learned the habits are hard to change. I once read that it takes an animal 21 days to develop a habit and an equal number of days to retrain. I believe that to be true. If you have a good energizer and a decent electric fence you could starve the animals being contained once they are trained as they will not escape. Most people have an energizer with too low of an output during the imprinting phase. Can you see the electrified twine? http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i237/agmantoo/cattle/electrified twine/


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## OmaMutti (Jan 17, 2007)

Is that twine all there is, no other strands of fencing? Amazing. The cattle don't look interested in leaving!


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

If you are useing electric it has to be hot enought to bite.

Let me give you an example. Because of the river and drains on our farm it can't be raced which means that stock has to pass through paddocks to get to another. I had calves in a paddock that I need to walk my milking cows through on a daily basis so I strung an electric tape from one side of the paddock to the other effectively creating a race between the two gateways. It was powered by a battery unit and the calves only touched it once! Last Tuesday we had torrential rain and the calve's paddock flooded so I had to get them out in the middle of the night. I dropped the fence to allow them to get to the gateway but do you think they would cross that line where the electric fence had been. Not on your nelly. In the end I had to go and get my cattle dog to bark them out and even then it was touch and go. The flood waters have well gone and I have since restrung the fence without the battery unit - and they won't go near it.

So tighten up your fences, get them well powered and you shouldn't have a problem. I can't advise you on what reading you should be getting from your fence unit (either mains or battery) as your power is different to ours but someone on here should be able to point you in the right direction.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## jerzeygurl (Jan 21, 2005)

the only cows ive ever had try a fence has been an angus bull, when the nieghbors cows were in he had to try to get to them, the other neighbor got him in thier horse stud pen, 6 ft tall, and he just hopped over it.

dad had a brangus that laid down between every fence post when dad built a new fence. needless to say he left (the bull that is) shortly after.

never had herefords so dont know.

my jersey bulls have never gone over fence


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## OmaMutti (Jan 17, 2007)

Ronney said:


> I dropped the fence to allow them to get to the gateway but do you think they would cross that line where the electric fence had been. Not on your nelly. In the end I had to go and get my cattle dog to bark them out and even then it was touch and go. The flood waters have well gone and I have since restrung the fence without the battery unit - and they won't go near it.


We had a lazy horse who would hardly trot, let alone run, when you wanted him to. We had one hot wire across a path when a gate was down, and he walked into it once. From then on he would RUN through that wide open gate with no wire on it. If our herding beagle hadn't been barking at his heels, I'm sure he would have steered clear of that gateway altogether!


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

When I move the cattle at noon I took my camera with me to get you some current pics.
http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i237/agmantoo/partitionfence/

On the pic with the distant shot you can see the herd contained for today's grazing. Tomorrow they are to graze the forground section.

The other pic shows a better view of the electrified twine holding the herd. To the right of either pic is where they grazed yesterday. They are being moved right to left as the fescue is consumed.


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## OmaMutti (Jan 17, 2007)

I am amazed--I'll sure look into that electric twine! Thanks for taking the pics.


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## Jim S. (Apr 22, 2004)

OmaMutti said:


> When we had Black Angus (cow and steer) they often broke through fences and visited the neighbors. We've heard that Herefords stay clear of fences. We want to avoid wanderers. What is your experience with different breeds and fences?



When I had them, my Hereford-Limosine cross cows didn't break through fences, and on the rented land some of those were "fences in name only."

Of course, I kept enough for them to eat on my side of the fence, had them trained to the bucket and all. The only cow I had jump over my fences was one from a local veterinarian's farm down the road, who jumped out down there, ran and then jumped in on my place as they tried to rodeo her to the chute. They about ran my cows to death when they came to get her (I was gone), running them with dogs and all, and actually did damage to my place gathering her up. I lost all respect for him after that.

If you work with your cows, train them to the bucket, get them to always be curious about when you are coming to see them and be waiting for that, cuz they think they might get a treat. Then they will hang around. "Think like a cow" really does work.

The only breed I have seen that does not naturally herd well is Charolais...and they can be trained to do it, as a friend of mine did with his, by these same methods I mentioned above.

If your concept of raising cattle is to put them out there, leave them alone for months, and then come get them later using 4-wheelers, horses, dogs and a bunch of yelling people who are waving their arms, then you will get what you have coming.

On the other hand, if your approach is to learn about your cow herd's behaviors and physical and sense abilities, acclimate them to your presence, attune them to anticipating your return, and work calmly among and with them to get done what needs doing, you will be rewarded for your efforts.

I mention all this behavioralism because it is in your best economic interests to have black or black baldy cattle, from a sale standpoint. So it is in your best interests to train them to your way and to learn about theirs. 

Were I still in it (I raise goats now), my cows would be black and black baldy, while the bull would be a Hereford or black Simmental or Limosine. (I don't trust Angus bulls too much, they have a rep, and I had a friend have his back broken out of the blue one day feeding his bull. Bull would have killed him if he had not crawled under the feeder. That bull had never done anything like that before.)

Good luck.


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## Jim S. (Apr 22, 2004)

agmantoo, how far south are you? You've got nice pastures for February.


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## Sunraven (Jan 20, 2007)

Like Agmantoo, we've mostly got one strand electric fencing and have no trouble with cows getting out unless a gate is down or something is grounding the fence out. Get you a real good fence charger and a fence checker, make sure to check your fence often! I try to keep them at least 7, getting down toward 5 is iffy, less than that it's hardly enough for them to notice, most of the fences I've got at 9. Just keep things well maintained.


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## vtfarma (May 6, 2003)

We have hereford, charolais and simmental. We only have had 1 of them go through the fence and that is one we have now. His name is Willie - he is a hereford bull (soon to be steer). He is also going to be veal if his furry behind does not stay in the fence. We have areas on a borrowed pasture that is only electric single strand and none of them would get out. Willie is not quite a year old and he has tested the fence every few seconds for all his life. We told him the last time that the ACDs had to put him in that he was in the freezer this year - how fast was up to him. We run a strand of barbed wire top and bottom and electric around the center. No problems. We actually cross them with orange rope and I have used it to fix an area in an emergency. Only Willie is aproblem. Anyone want beef, young tender.


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

Jim S. I am sitting over here east of you in NC, zone 7. Near the intersection of I-77 and I-40. My soil is probably not as good as what Up North has but I am constantly trying to improve it.


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## Oxankle (Jun 20, 2003)

One whole side of my place is two-strand, l4 guage, electric fence and all interior fences are single strand. I use the electric twine for temporary fences. I have a couple of Parmak battery powered fencers and one that runs off 110 V ac. During this last ice storm my fences were totally dead for several days and nothing strayed. 

I arrange my wire gates so that the wire is only hot when the gate is closed. This means that I have to have an electric loop sticking out so that I can hook the gate end into it. 

I once let that loop extend past the post into the gate opening and a 2200 pound bull, gentle as a pup, brushed against it as he went thru. It took me half a day to coax him back inside when it was time to close up. I did it with a bucket of cubes, offering him one at a time and stepping back a few inches each time. You might be amazed how long a bull's tongue is when he does not want to follow you thru a gate. 

Ox


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

That tongue is $15 per lb. in Europe!


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