Invisible Fence for Cows or Cattle

[N80]

I've been around cows a little bit. If a cow makes up her mind, it doesn't matter what is in her way. I've seen one smash a tubular farm gate like a pretzel. I've seen one blow through a rusty barbed wire fence like it wasn't there. Same with electric fence. Granted, those are extremes, but it is my experience that cows 'learn' very little and when spooked....they go first and think later.

During calf weaning it is a given that at least one cow is going to go through at least one fence at some point.

Can't see this high tech stuff working on the cows I know and love.

 

[texasjohn]

Just so nobody's confused.... I've been grinning all the time regarding this thread.... the invisible fence idea, of course, isn't going to work. Nevertheless, I've had fun thinking of the specs and problems of attempting such

 

[tallyho8]

Invisible or visible fences won't stop most cows or horses if they are spooked bad enough to challenge the fence. I have seen bucking bulls and steers easily jump our 6' arena fence to get out. We have had to put down horses with broken legs that have run through cattle guards. The scariest event I witnessed was the day before Hurricane Katrina. One of my barns is next to a large public barn and before Katrina everyone let about 40 of their horses out of the stables and into a 100 acre pasture while they evacuated. Normally there are about 10 horses in the pasture and these pasture regulars usually pick on any newbies released into the pasture. The day before Katrina while I was locking down my barn I hear thundering hooves and saw about 50 horses stampeding toward my barn. The old horses had been running the newbies around and finally got them all worked up and stampeded. When the first few horses hit my 5' welded wire fence they all did end over end flips as they tore the fence and posts down for over 100 feet and the herd ran on through my pasture and through the field fence on the other side. Nothing and nobody could have stopped those horses that day. Luckily I already had my animals in their stalls and the horses ran past my barn. Amazingly, I didn't see any horses who appeared to be severly injured throughout this trauma. Though a few horses were severely injured later and had to be put down, by sheets of tin flying off the other barns roofs, the majority of these horses made it through the storm because our area did not flood.

 

[Soundguy]

I agree 100%. I 'used' to let my animals mix.. IE cow and equine in the same pasture.. but had to seperate them out. My horses would go find a cow and run it along the fence and then turn away and the cow would just keep on going .. I have at least 2 tube gates on my property that bow out about a foot inthe center due to this. In one situation it was an exterior gate and the only thing that kept it latched was a chain arounf the fence post.. otherwise all my animals would have gotten out and had a 400yard walk to a freeway!

soundguy

I've been around cows a little bit. If a cow makes up her mind, it doesn't matter what is in her way. I've seen one smash a tubular farm gate like a pretzel. I've seen one blow through a rusty barbed wire fence like it wasn't there. Same with electric fence. Granted, those are extremes, but it is my experience that cows 'learn' very little and when spooked....they go first and think later.

During calf weaning it is a given that at least one cow is going to go through at least one fence at some point.

Can't see this high tech stuff working on the cows I know and love.

 

[N80]

We had an older cow pinned in the corner of a fence line putting a patch on an eyewound. Something spooked her and she reared up on a fairly new tubular farm gate and literally bent it in two. She thrashed around on top of it for a second or two; me and the two farmers jumped out of the way. No one was hurt but the gate. We tried to straighten it but it was a total loss.

These critters are big and strong. Occassionaly when we have them in the chutes worming and giving shots we have to move them along with the electric prods. Even that just gives them a little hitch in their step.

 

[Soundguy]

Ditto on the cattle prod.. it only moves them if they want to go. I was helping load a longhorn a few weeks back.. had her in a chute and she stopped right at the stock trailer entrance.. had the prod on her and a rattle paddle shaking... she -finally- moved.... apparently the prod wasn't as much incentive as the manufactures selling it claim it to be..

soundguy