Fencing: Almost any livestock operation will require fencing of some sort. Fences may be used for control and movement of livestock, to keep the stock off cultivated lands, or as an aid to pasture management. Moreover, fencing is of great importance in maintaining good relationships with the neighbours.
Fences may be constructed from any materials which suffice to hold the stock including live hedges, brush corrals, stone walls, wooden planks, pipes or various types of wire. Only the last will be considered here. Wire mesh used for fence should be smooth and strong. Woven wires of 9-11 gauge are best for fencing. The size of mesh can be 30 cm square for large animals and 15 cm square for small animals. The height of the fence should be about 125 cm for large animals and 75 cm for small ones.
Fences can also be made of three or four strands of plain wire. For these fences the height of each strand from the ground upward should be 30, 60, 90, and 125 cm for cattle and buffalo, and 20, 35, 50 and 75 for sheep. Wire strand fences, however, are not very effective since animals can sometimes squeeze through the strands.
The line posts to which the wire has to be fixed should be spaced about 3m apart. The size of the fenced lot depends on the number of animals normally handled on the farm.
The gate is subjected to more wear than any other part of the fence. It must be easy to open towards either side. The width of the gate should be about 1.5 m.
Remember that when building or repairing fences, you will be working with nails, staples, and bits of wire. It is extremely important that care be taken not to scatter these materials on the ground since they may lead to foot injuries or get into the animal feed.
Handling yards:
Handling yards are used for collecting and holding groups of animals. They contain various types of structures for performing different farm operations for different animals. These structures may include a central animal weigh bridge, cattle crush, dipping assembly, pens, cattle chutes, etc. It is advantageous and economical to construct one flexible handling yard that can be used for the main tasks on a farm, namely collecting and filing animals for weighing, dipping, vaccination, shearing, etc. The size and number of the different component pens of handling yards depends on the heads of stock to be handled.
Strong metal tubing, 7.5 cm angle irons, 20 cm x 7.5 cm split-wooden rails, or 15 cm x 5 cm sawed timber are ideal for such yards. Wire fencing is, not strong enough to contain animals, and solid walls are unsuitable because they make yards hot and hinder the worker's movement and obstruct his vision. At least four bars of tubing, angle irons, or timber should be spaced at heights of 25, 50, 75, and 100 cm from the ground upward for small animals; and 30, 60, 90 and 150 cm for large animals.
