Creating Flexible Paddocks

I've already covered our perimeter fencing with CenFlex and Electrobraid. Once we had the perimeter established, we needed to divide up some spaces inside the perimeter and we wanted to keep that as flexible as possible so that we could change it as needed until we figure out the configuration that works for our livestock.

We were so pleased with the Elecrobraid that we decided to use two other fence materials made by Zareba. Our track system divides our horses "track" around the pasture and is made up of metal t-posts, 2 wires of polyrope and 2 wires of polywire. We started with just 2 wires and that would have worked for our horses and grown cows, but with the small size of our miniature cattle calves, we had a couple of escapes and we wanted to make sure they stay in the pasture with their mommas, so we beefed up our setup to contain them.

The polyrope is highly visible and under a bit of tension. It has a higher breaking strength (though not nearly as high as the Electrobraid). It is also a little harder to install than the other two because it is slicker so getting it secured on the ends requires a bit more attention to detail. The polywire is really quick to install, secures easily on the ends, and is easy to join (or repair) by tying the ends together. We also added a few spring gates to create openings that were both secure and easy to open and close. We used t-post electric gate connectors at the end points with gates, and polyrope connectors and the fence end points and where we needed to join polyrope together.

One of the trickier aspects of using the polywire and polyrope in combination with our electrobraid is that they run off of the same charger (connected with a buried Electrobraid lead-out wire), and you have to use a neutral plate connector to connect the two to prevent corrosion when connecting two metals (in our case copper in the Electrobraid, aluminum in the polywire and stainless steel in the polyrope). If you join multiple metals in your fence, over time electrolysis can cause issues particularly under high moisture conditions.

So far, we have been pleased with our interior electric fences and it has been great to be able to adjust and adapt the fencing as we use the property and figure out what works for us and our livestock. At some point, we may install something more permanent (possibly some Electrobraid around the main pasture), but for now our simple setup is working well and holding up throughout the seasons. We also installed some polywire and polyrope electric fencing in addition to the CenFlex around our barn to make a newborn calf-safe area that keeps the tiny calves in and discourages bobcats and coyotes from entering.