Next month is my 4 year anniversary of leaving Tampa to start my farm life and I’ve just completed the first phase of farm fencing!
You know you’ve done something “rurally cool” when farmers show up to check out your new fence. You’d think I had a Ferrari in the driveway the way some men have ogled the fencing.
Proper fencing isn’t cheap and it wasn’t easy finding a reliable company to do the quote and installation. I called the Oxford Fence Company a couple times and even spoke to them. They stood me up when they said they’d come do the quote and even months later haven’t gotten back to me. I’m not cool with people wasting my time. Stand me up once and it will be your last time.
I kept searching until someone suggested BC Fence Company. They have been responsive, reasonably priced and great to work with.
When installing fencing for goats it needs to be solid and have wire because goats are strong and will test fences for weak spots or any areas they can manipulate and break through. A standard cow fence with t posts and barbed wire or wooden horse fencing wouldn’t work for my goats. They are small enough to get through the open spaces so wire was a must. The “dog wire” that looks so polished and pretty (as far as fencing goes) doesn’t hold up well. The spots where it’s welded together simply break and unravel quickly so I used a wire with a bit of give that’s wrapped around itself:
To save a little of the budget I opted for only adding a top bar to the fence to help with aesthetics rather than go with 2 or three wood cross bars – they can always be added later. The point for now was to get goat proof fencing that didn’t decrease the land value and keep the goats in an area that desperately needs to have brush and vines removed so the smaller hardwoods can recover and grow.
It was almost a week long process. Once the ground was marked the utilities had to come inspect the areas to make sure there were no buried cables or pipes. From there they dug the post holes with a big machine and set the 4x4s with concrete. My land is fairly sandy in areas so each post had to be set in concrete and then they waited two days for it to set fully prior to hanging the wire. Finally, they came back through to add the top plank and even the post tops. At some point I’ll probably stain it rather than paint. Paint doesn’t hold up well on a farm with animal hooves and claws scratching it.
Ideally, I’ll have the entire five acres fenced with areas the goats can rotate to graze and allow things to grow. It will cut down on hay consumption drastically during growing months. xo