Farm fencing is quite a different thing to fencing in urban areas.While fencing in the city is there for a purpose,it is only meant to restrain humans as opposed to cattle,horses,sheep and goats.And of course,various wild animals that wander around the place eating crops meant for human or domestic animal consumption.
Thus,fencing on rural properties needs to be quite different from urban fencing.In some cases it needs to be of barbed wire,especially where cattle are concerned.Tight strands of barbed wire keep most cattle in their pasture,even if wallabies can get through it.Not all the wire in a fence is needs to be barbed.Plain wire can be used for the middle strands to save money and enable the farmer to climb through more easily.
Of course,when it comes to sheep and goats something more is needed.Sheep often have centimetres of wool all over them and so can push through a barbed wire fence without getting scratched.Goats are so nimble that they can duck under the bottom-most strand even if it is only six centimetres off the ground.Wire mesh is the only type of fencing that will keep them in.
A fence is only as good as the posts that hold it up and so the posts need to be strong and sturdy,able to last through all weathers.Traditionally,timber fence posts have been used,then steel posts were invented.However,a combination of the two is usually the best idea.Corner and end posts certainly need to be of timber.Most fences now contain two or three steel posts in between each timber post.The advantages of using steep posts are that they are easy to put in and they don't burn in a bushfire.
When it comes to horses,rural fencing needs to be different again.Barbed wire would injure a horse because horses like to stand with their head hanging over the fence or scratch their rumps on it.They are flighty creatures and can easily get tangled up in any loose wire.And a wire netting fence would be easily jumped over by any horse worth its salt.So what to do?
A post and rail fence is the best and safest option for horses.At the least,there should be timber railing along the top,with wire or mesh to fill it in,just in case there are other animals in the paddock-or to be kept out of it.
