Need some ideas for new Farm

[Michele Baxter]

OK guys, you all are a wealth of info! We are in a little bit of a quandry trying to figure out what to do with our babies when we move to the farm.
We will be moving sometime in the next month. The farm is 153 acres. (Rottie heaven! :) ) The house sits approx. 1/4 mile off the road at the end of a gravel drive. However, there is no fencing basically. There is *some* as far as property lines, but none to speak of really around the house.
My problem is, we live in a suburb now with a fenced back yard. I have a 8ft. stockade fence with no gates/concrete borders, etc. Very secure yard...so I have doggie doors that my dogs have free access to the yard at anytime they want. I don't remember what life was life before doggie doors! :)
My husband works long hours, and I will have approx. 30 min. commute to my job. So....I need to come up with some type of option for pottying these guys. Any ideas???? What type of fencing and how much? I don't really want to put kennels in, as these guys are spoiled house dogs. But eventually I DO want to put in some kennels so that I can take in dogs in need of placing, boarding, etc. So what to do??? The house does have a walk-out basement to that could somehow be utilized if need be.
I'm open for any and all suggestions, as we are totally perplexed and don't want to spend a ton of money fencing a huge acreage.
Thanks for any help!!! :)

[Carina43]

Wow, congratulations on your new digs!

We're on five acres, with 30 acres of wetlands adjoining the property, and when we bought the house, it only had a small fenced yard. We put up a 6' chain link fence (with one locking gate) for a seperate dog area adjoining the house & yard- it's huge and all trees. There's a garden shed for shelter, and a kiddie pool for summer.

We'd do the doggie door thing for when we're gone all day except the regular yard has a pool in it, and I won't leave the dogs out there when we're gone. Having the "dog compound" is perfect - we did the fence ourselves, the supplies were pretty inexpensive and we had it done in one weekend. :)

[LavenderRott]

I think that they make doggy doors that fit into sliding glass doors (kind of like a panel that fits between the door and the frame). Maybe one of those in the walk out basement that let them out into a small fenced in area.

[lblax]

i think i would opt for building the kennels now with the inside heated they will love them

[mferg]

Are you talking about a quick and relatively inexpensive enclosure for when you first move out there? Or are you talking about what your final fencing decision is going to be.

Quick and easy stuff? I would suggest going to the farm supply store and purchasing livestock panels. You can get them 60" tall (and taller probably) and with very small squares (about the size of no-climb fence). The panels are very thick and stiff wire. They are 16 feet long and you can pretty much use t-posts to hold them up. You can enclose a decent sized area quickly. It would be a sufficient enclosure for letting the dogs for a while at a time (depending on how your dogs treat fences). When you decide to take it down, the panels are very useful in other aread (like fencing in a garden, paddock for livestock, etc).

If I was deciding what kind of fencing I would do for the property, I think I would fence a moderate sized dog yard and also a couple/few acres around the house. That way you can have a place to let the dogs be out and unattended and also a larger area for them to really stretch their legs without getting too far away from you. Use chain link on the dog yard and something like no-climb or good field fence on the larger perimeter. Make the height a minimum of 48". 60" is probably better.

That would be my suggestion for fencing. You can prioritize the project. Kennel/yard first, perimeter later. Or, something like that. I'm very jealous, too. It must be nice. Good luck with your property.

[Michele Baxter]

You guys are great! See, I knew that I could count on some ideas from you all! :)
Marlene, your idea for livestock fencing is wonderful! I didn't know they made that type of thing. I guess I'm just a city girl and didn't know about the panel things!
I guess I'm looking for something semi-permanent. We will be living in this house for approx. 5 yrs. while we save some more money and build our "dream house" once the twins are out of high school. So, in essence I DO need something that will last quite a while--but don't want to spend a fortune just to leave it in a few years time. And yes, the dogs do respect fences. However, Irie has never been tempted with wildlife before :) LOL! The place is FULL of deer and wild turkey!
Are those panels you spoke of very expensive?
Eventually at the dream house I want to build in privacy areas with stockade fencing and a kennel building with separate areas for running a few dogs at a time. My dream house is a log house, and I thought it would be pretty to have the kennel building and and stockade fencing done in the same wood----ahhh, but alas, that is YEARS away! ;) I can't wait to get out in the country though!!!! The commute will definitely be worth it.

[mferg]

A lot of times the livestock panels are called hog panels. I've seen grid sizes range from very large squares from top to bottom, squares graduating from large at the top to small/skinny at the bottom, and small squares from top to bottom. The little squares from top to bottom would be best to keep small animals out (like cats, larger rodents, semi-flightless birds, etc) and to keep rottie heads in. Otherwise, do the graduating sized squares. Down at dog level, the squares are small enough to keep heads in, but you can put your hand/arm through at the top. The price varies. I think I've seen them from $30-$60 each panel. I may be way off base because it's been a while since I have purchased any. And, I'm on the other end of the continent from you, so prices may be different. But, remember the panels are 16 feet long, so it doesn't take all that many to enclose a pretty large area. Transporting them home can be a challenge. They are flexible enough to bend around and stuff into the bed of the truck, but it's tricky. Be vvvveerrrryyyy careful when you take them out because they can spring out and nail you.

The panels are stiff enough you can cut a portion off (usually have to use a grinder to cut them) and make a gate out of it. Use wire fence clips to secure the panels to the t-posts. You will probably want to space the posts about 6-8 feet apart for stability. The folks at the farm store can tell you all about that. Oh, and the panels are galvanized, so rust should be a minimum. Go check out some farm supply stores and look in their fencing yards. You can get some great ideas, there. You should also see the various panels types, too.

I hope you get some good ideas. Good luck and have fun moving.

[Sheenagirl]

The livestock panels your referring to are called "bull panels" here. We use them at the ranch and they are great. Strong and can be taken down and moved too. Good idea.... ;)

[thoradopter]

Michele,

Congratulations on getting your farm.

Let me tell you what has worked out wonderfully for us on our 4-acre farm, and was relatively inexpensive, easy, non-obtrusive to the eye, and highly effective.

We enclosed about 1 acre in the back of the house off the kitchen door with electric cattle fencing. About every 12 feet there's a plastic post (5' high, comes in white or green- maybe black) that has 7 (I think) notches to hold 7 strands of fine electric wire. We have a chain link gate to exit the dog area to the rest of the property (2 gates would be better). The control panel to turn the fence on or off for the shock is inside (we only turn it off if young children are visiting). You can barely see the posts and cannot really see the wires except up close.

It took Phoenix exactly one afternoon (3 shocks) to learn to avoid the fence and Sienna (9 yo chocolate lab) has never been shocked- she heard Phoenix whimper when he was. The shock is mild- we tried it. Now the deer can be out back and the chickens to the side and Phoenix bolts toward the fence but never touches it- just runs parallel to it.

This cost about $400 in materials and $200 in labor- up in an afternoon- for 1 acre.

We too would evenually like to put in runs for rescue, but our fence solution has vastly improved our dogs (and Randy and my) quality of life. We really enjoy watching them racing around and playing. Good luck.

Linda

[Beckysmom]

I was calling for new or refurbish existing fence bids, and got an alternate idea that is similar to thoradopter's. I am wondering if anyone has tried this.

Instead of 7 strands of wire it was to use 3 to 5 strands of 1.5 inch polypropylene tape with electric carrying filaments on portable poles type electric fence --as for livestock (not dog style invisible fence)--to stop my dog electrically. this is more expensive than the wire strands, but is more of a visible marker and more portable (esp if with a solar charger unit). Idea was that with strategically placed gates I could use this to make the the backyard more secure, but also could move all or part of the system out as I am working on parts of the farm away from house and want the dog with me. (would be even more useful I would think on a place as big as yours!!! My place is much smaller.)

If anyone has had experience or knows of anyone who has tried this either successfully or the opposite, I'd appreciate knowing.

The poly filament is not as strong as wire, so if the charge doesn't work I guess dog can go right through it.