Farm Fences

Hello everyone!  I thought I would show you some examples of the various types of fencing we use on our farm.....

Everyone is familiar with good old fashioned chicken wire!  Our chickens are able to range in their fenced area.  The chicken wire protects the chickens from the raccoons that live in some of our large maple trees.  Confining the chickens also protects our gardens as chickens love to "scratch" and will undo weeks' worth of garden work in an hour or less!

 We are very partial to our cedar rail fencing.  This type of fencing was widely used on century farms as the cedar was readily available and resistant to rot.  On our farm we use cedar rail fencing in areas where we want a rustic look.  Here the cedar rail fencing separates the area in front of the barn from our cedar hedge.  Given the chance our sheep will chew on the cedars and have already done quite a bit of damage to our hedge.

 More cedar rail fencing.  This fence divides the barn area from our east lawn and is also the backdrop for our firewood pile.  The firewood provides a great hiding place for chipmunks.

 We use high tensile wire extensively on the farm.  This type of fencing is very strong and consists of 7 strands of wire which is drawn taught along the posts.  We use metal T-rails as the anchors and in between use wooden spacers. The wooden spacers are suspended by the wires and keep the wires aligned.

 In some areas of the farm we will use high tensile fencing as electric fence.  Alternate strands carry a current and serve to keep our sheep safe inside the fence and the coyotes on the outside.  We use electric fencing on the perimeter of the fields.

 Many of the trees on our property are very old so it is necessary to regularly plant new trees to replace trees that die or are irreparably damaged in storms.  As our sheep love to nibble on young trees we protect the new trees with wooden cages until they are big enough to survive without protection.

 Another example of cedar rail fencing along the farm lane going to the barn.  This lane is planted with ash trees along both sides.  Although these trees are big enough to not be bothered by the sheep we are concerned about ash borers which have been making their way into our area.  We have been considering a parallel planting of some other type of tree in case these ones die.

Sometimes, in spite of all of our fencing, the sheep still manage to stage an escape.  At our farm even the dogs know what it means when someone says "the sheep are out!"

Thank you for visiting!