Find your fence planning route.
Choose a cattle, mixed-livestock or pig scenario. Follow a worked example, then prepare your material and purchasing brief.
Ten cattle and a hundred cattle are useful starting scenarios—not fence-length formulas. The examples use declared assumptions, not customer-project evidence or a design for your farm.
A small cattle herd
Use the 10-cattle example to see how measured lines, gate deductions and the quoted roll length become a purchase quantity. Replace its assumptions with your own measurements.
Begin with the existing boundary and the purpose of each new line. University of Georgia Extension’s farm fencing guide places the farm map, fence roles, lanes and gates before material selection.
Open 10-cattle example →Survey checklist →Before you choose materials
- Measure
- Boundary lines, internal lines and actual openings. Keep length units consistent.
- Identify
- Calves, adult cattle, existing fence interfaces and areas needing separate review.
- Separate
- Mesh quantity from posts, braces, gates, fittings, tools and installation scope.
A small herd does not make every boundary a low-risk fence. Record nearby roads and the consequence of escape for local review.
A larger cattle pasture
Use the 100-cattle example when your planning task involves several fence roles. Keep the exterior boundary, permanent divisions, movable subdivisions and handling areas as separate entries.
Mississippi State University Extension’s pasture fencing guide connects layout to animal class, grazing goals, soil, slope, water, shade, lanes and gates. Herd count is one input, not the layout itself.
Open 100-cattle example →Project planner →Keep the systems distinct
- Boundary
- Record the permanent containment requirement and each interface.
- Divisions
- Mark which lines stay fixed and which must move with grazing plans.
- Operations
- Record water access, vehicle routes, gate use and inspection responsibility.
UGA’s temporary-fencing guidance discusses movable divisions within a planned grazing system; do not treat a portable division as automatic approval for the outer boundary.
Cattle with goats or sheep
Start with the species-specific shared-fence examples. A fence selected for adult cattle is not automatically suitable for the smallest animals sharing it.
Describe the species, ages, sizes and whether animals are horned. Ask the responsible local adviser to review opening, ground-gap and entanglement risks before accepting a generic mesh description.
Cattle & goat example →Cattle & sheep example →Questions for a shared boundary
- Animals
- Which animals must be retained, and which must be excluded?
- Openings
- Which actual mesh schedule and lower-edge detail will be reviewed for those animals?
- Electric components
- Who checks the equipment, manufacturer instructions and animal training arrangements?
Virginia Cooperative Extension explains why electric containment depends on animal training and system performance. An electrified component is not a guaranteed solution to every mixed-herd problem.
Outdoor pigs
Use the pig-specific route rather than extending a cattle recommendation. UGA’s farm fencing guide identifies rooting beneath a fence as a pig-specific concern.
The pasture example helps organize the boundary, internal divisions, gate interfaces and materials. It does not approve a lower-edge detail, electric setup or suitability for a particular pig size.
Pig pasture example →Outdoor pig guide →Record before comparing offers
- Animal group
- Pig sizes, ages and changes expected during use.
- Lower edge
- Ground gaps, rooting locations, drainage and gates to discuss at the site review.
- System scope
- Exterior containment and internal grazing control as separate requirements.
If considering electric fencing, use the equipment instructions and qualified local guidance. This route does not specify wire height, electrical output or a training procedure.
Turn your scenario into a purchasing brief
Use the material selector for qualitative reading routes, not a final design. Once the system has been reviewed, carry one requirement revision through the specification record, materials checklist and quotation worksheet.
Then use the buying guide and supplier directory to research the right product scope. A directory entry is not a verified-factory badge or proof that a quoted product meets your requirements.
When these routes are not enough
Bulls or bison, working pens, substantial predator risk, public-road exposure and unusual ground conditions need project-specific review. This page makes no containment, exclusion, compliance or engineering guarantee. Exact heights, mesh openings, wire dimensions, post arrangements and electrical details must come from the applicable system design and current documentation.
Evidence and limits
UGA — Fences for the Farm, Circular 774
Full review: 12 March 2024. Used for farm mapping, fence roles and species-dependent planning concerns.
Mississippi State — Livestock Fencing Systems for Pasture Management, P2538
Used for layout inputs and separate fixed/portable roles, not current prices or a prescribed paddock count.
UGA — Temporary fencing for pasture management
Published 6 December 2019. Used for movable grazing divisions only.
Virginia Cooperative Extension — Electric Fencing: How Does an Electric Fence Work?, SPES-688P
Used for training and system-performance context, not copied electrical settings.