Hog Panel Fencing Costs?

[minou33]

I'm thinking of replacing the wire fencing in our paddock area with 6' tall hog panel fencing. Something similar to the pic below, but not quite as fancy. This just might cover all bases with all the different type of animals we want and keep out all predators. For anyone with similar fencing, about how much should we expect this to cost for around 1/4 of an acre? We just spent around $8,000 for a commercial grade chain link fenc in our backyard so I'm wondering if this would be in a similar ball park.

 

[donrae]

I have no idea on cost, but that's not going to keep out many predators. Raccoons and foxes will laugh at it. Any feline would be over it. IDK if a skunk would climb that high, it might work against them. Any weasel would be through or over it easily. Sorry. Is your fence part of a multi-system predator deterrent....do you have dogs, electricity, etc?

 

[minou33]

It's a much better fence than we currently have! And we haven't had any problems yet with predators. The only predators I am concerned about are dogs and foxes. I was not aware that a fox could jump a 6' fence--but most of the animals we will have will be larger animals anyway, so it is probably not an issue. Dogs would be the only real concern and I know they can't hop a 6' fence.

 

[Stacykins]

It's a much better fence than we currently have! And we haven't had any problems yet with predators. The only predators I am concerned about are dogs and foxes. I was not aware that a fox could jump a 6' fence--but most of the animals we will have will be larger animals anyway, so it is probably not an issue. Dogs would be the only real concern and I know they can't hop a 6' fence.

The average dog cannot hop over a tall fence. However, I have seen some particularly gifted individuals vault over any fence they desire. Given enough motivation, a dog could go over or under. Donrae is correct that most predators will just climb over the fence with no problems, or dig under.

That said, it is easy to figure out the cost yourself with a little math. How much does a hog panel cost in your area? What is the measurement of the area you wish to contain? Hog panels here are 16 feet long. How many panels will it take to fulfill your needs. Add in the cost of a t-post or wooden post at the end of each panel, a gate, and post setup for corners, and there you go.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

My Doberman and Olde English Bulldog must be gifted then. We have 6ft hog panels around our hog pen (go figure ). The pigs usually roam our pasture, but they're fed in the pen. Anyway, if I don't keep those 2 locked up in the house when its feeding time for the pigs, they hop right over the fence and eat at the trough with them. We have a medium sized Catahoula mix as well, about 25lbs. And while he can't jump the fence, I caught him climbing it a few weeks back. He was almost to the top when I plucked him off the fence, so now all 3 of those boogers have to stay inside when its that time of the day.

I have no idea on the fencing costs though. Our farm was fenced when we bought it (thank goodness!).

 

[enola]

My Aussie would climb over and jump from the top in a matter of seconds.....

 

[minou33]

Okay. Scratch the predator proof fence then. I didn't mean to say that I intended for our new fence to be predator-proof--but it will offer a lot more protection than the fence we currently have (pictured below) which any wandering dog can get into easily. My main thing though is securing our animals. Right now we have a 4' foot wire fence (pictured below) that the pigs had caused a lot of damage too and probably would have gotten out of if we had kept them. If we get pigs again, the hog panel fence would be much more secure.

 

[Jackschicks]

minou33,

We have used stock panels to fence our property and it works really well. The panels are 5 ft tall and 16 feet long and are easy enough to work with. The only difference between a stock panel & a hog panel is the size of the grid. The common price per panel in my neck of the woods is 19.99 per panel at the lumberyard or Tractor Supply. For stability, we used posts every 8 ft. In the front & sides of our property (what you see from the street) we used wooden posts and dressed it with wood at the top and bottom, in the back of the property we just used T-posts and buried the bottom few inches of the panels. It keeps our dogs and livestock contained - my golden retrievers could go over it but in 3 years they have not put forth the effort to do so. It will not hold chickens. The smaller chicks go through the grid and the larger ones just fly over it. It is not predator proof but I'm not sure you could build a fence that would be completely predator proof. So far, it has kept out the stray dogs & coyotes and wandering boys with bb guns. We did our property in sections due to budget limitations, usually 5 to 10 panels at a time, plus the posts, concrete, etc. Looks like you already have posts in place so you are halfway there. Your property looks very peaceful. Good luck!!

 

[minou33]

Thank you! You're response was very helpful. Do you have any pictures of how it looks?

 

[Jackschicks]

minou33, Attached are a few photos, pardon the mud! It has been raining for days here in my part of Texas. Our experience has been that if you try to stretch more than 8 feet between posts it becomes too flimsy and unstable. On one small section at the back of our property we actually put the T-posts every 6 ft because the guy who owns the adjacent property runs cattle on it and they were always pushing on the fence trying to get to the grass on our side so that section needed some extra stability. 7 ft T-posts run about $8 each around here and with our clay soil don't require concrete.