# Cattle Panels?



## lilaalil (Sep 5, 2014)

So, can you really build a pen out of cattle panels, without any supporting posts in the ground? Our ground is solid lava rock under an inch or less of soil, so even t-posts are a major ordeal. 

I am trying to devise a way to set up a temporary pen over at my rental house so I can have a milking mama and baby here, and have milk again. I miss it!

My other goats are at my farm, where I don't yet live, and I only get over there once a day, not at regular times either, so keeping a milker there is not an option until my house is built and I actually live there. Which means no milk until next spring!

I can get cattle panels for $40.. they are 16' long. I was thinking of buying 6 and making a rectangle. Would that work, without any additional support? $40 seems inexpensive for something that would be sturdy enough for this... I've never actually looked at a cattle panel.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

They need support.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I agree for a cattle panel you need some kind of support especially on the corners/ends. NOW what you can look into is livestock panels! Those you don't need a t post or anything you just put the corners together and drop a pin to keep them together. Now the pipes are far enough away that the goats can slip threw so what I'm going to do (I'm using the livestock panels for a buck pen) is get some none climb wire, field fence or even the beef panels and tie them up to the panels so nothing can get out. I'm using the none climb wire only because I have a roll laying around, but in your case it might be cheaper to use the beef panels instead of buying a whole roll of fencing. Unless you look around and can find a part of a roll that's left over from a fencing job


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Good advice.


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## lilaalil (Sep 5, 2014)

Ok, thanks, everyone. I thought that might be a bit too good to be true. I'm betting the livestock panels are what they call corral panels here, or pipe corral? I think those are like $100 here. Add on $40 for cattle panels, and it'll be at least $800 for a small pen. All in all, will probably get too pricey and involved for a temporary situation. I could build something out of pallets for pretty cheap (none of my girls have ever been motivated enough to climb over pallets) but they are heavy and a hassle. Will probably just keep on buying milk... and yogurt... and cheese. Thanks everyone!


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## LadySecret (Apr 20, 2013)

I've put 4 cattle panels together without t-post to make a pen in a barn that has a concrete floor. Once the cattle panels are attached in a square, it stands up on its own. We then used pallets inside the pen pressed against the cattle panels to add stability and cinder blocks around the outside to add strength and keep it in place. It's not pretty but make a good sick pen or extra large kidding pen. Never had any escapes. Here's a pic. I even rigged a gate to make getting in easier.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Ok so I've been thinking, I'm pretty good at Jerry rigging things up lol I'll try and explain what I have in my head the best I can.
So it'll cost a bit more then just the cattle panels but depending on how much 2X4s are it shouldn't be to much. Ok if you get 3 2X4s and make a triangle out of them, one to attach to the panel, one that will lay on the ground (to make a L) then the third to keep the two together. So you make those and put them on the ends/corners of the panels and at least 1 in the middle that should keep it up fairly well! I would really suggest at least one in the middle. I have a 'gate' that is one panel and I have a few that have figured out that there's enough bend to them that they can crawl over. It doesn't take much for them to figure it out, just simply being happy to see you and they put their front feet on the panel will bend I enough they will figure it out


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## lilaalil (Sep 5, 2014)

Jessica84 said:


> Ok so I've been thinking, I'm pretty good at Jerry rigging things up lol I'll try and explain what I have in my head the best I can.
> So it'll cost a bit more then just the cattle panels but depending on how much 2X4s are it shouldn't be to much. Ok if you get 3 2X4s and make a triangle out of them, one to attach to the panel, one that will lay on the ground (to make a L) then the third to keep the two together. So you make those and put them on the ends/corners of the panels and at least 1 in the middle that should keep it up fairly well! I would really suggest at least one in the middle. I have a 'gate' that is one panel and I have a few that have figured out that there's enough bend to them that they can crawl over. It doesn't take much for them to figure it out, just simply being happy to see you and they put their front feet on the panel will bend I enough they will figure it out


Thank you! I didn't realize they were bendy; never actually seen one in person, just heard of them. We don't have a huge amount of level ground at this house either... I should probably just be sensible and realize I have enough on my plate and keep buying dairy at the store. And then I see the prices on organic yogurt and cheese again, and I think, I need a milking goat!


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## lilaalil (Sep 5, 2014)

LadySecret said:


> I've put 4 cattle panels together without t-post to make a pen in a barn that has a concrete floor. Once the cattle panels are attached in a square, it stands up on its own. We then used pallets inside the pen pressed against the cattle panels to add stability and cinder blocks around the outside to add strength and keep it in place. It's not pretty but make a good sick pen or extra large kidding pen. Never had any escapes. Here's a pic. I even rigged a gate to make getting in easier.
> 
> View attachment 105590


Thank you for the photo!


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## BlueHen (Jan 26, 2016)

Just take portable livestock panels (the kind that drop pin together at the corners, yes they are around $100 but will last a long time) and wire or heavy duty zip tie your cattle panel to the portable panel.
It can get a bit tricky with the measurements (our portable panels are 10ft I believe, there are different lengths), but you can also buy cattle panels in 8ft lengths.
The 4ft cattle panels work GREAT with the 5ft portable livestock panels. Our ram pens are this setup and we break them down and move them often depending on the season and what we're trying to contain. You can't hurt the things. Nothing can get in or out. There is nothing to drive into the ground. The cattle panels can also be bent around corners, straightening them back out can be a hassle but it can be done.

If you're going to do only cattle panels you will need tposts for the corners and probably 2 tposts for center support, per panel. I wouldn't trust cinderblocks or wooden pallets, but you may get by just fine.


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## Hick22145 (Oct 11, 2013)

How hard is lava rock? If theirs only a inch or so of dirt on top of it could you get a electric net fence or some of them fiberglass fence post and 3 or 4 hot wire on them and put them in with a concrete drill bit. Not sure what that would add up to but I would bet less then $800


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## lilaalil (Sep 5, 2014)

Hick22145 said:


> How hard is lava rock? If theirs only a inch or so of dirt on top of it could you get a electric net fence or some of them fiberglass fence post and 3 or 4 hot wire on them and put them in with a concrete drill bit. Not sure what that would add up to but I would bet less then $800


Thanks! That would be good, except the goats I am considering already know all about electric fence, and don't mind going right through it! I have a toddler that I would rather not see shocked too.

To answer your question, lava is hard! Like concrete, probably, so a concrete drill would probably work on it. With the kind of lava we have here, we have to use jackhammers if we want to dig a hole to plant a tree, or else get the whole thing broken up with heavy machinery on a backhoe. It's basically like a huge, thick sheet of asphalt. But it is Hawaii, so we put up with it!


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## watkins0566 (Jan 28, 2014)

A hammer drill with a masonry bit will put a hole in concrete. We have smaller goats (Nigerian) and used the corner fiberglass posts (3/4") to support our goat panels. I believe you could rent a drill and bit big enough to make a hole for T-posts?


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## top_goat (Sep 16, 2014)

Just a thought...but could you scavenge some old tires and sink your posts into those with concrete (remember how they used to do tether-ball and volley ball posts the old days?). Then you could attach your cattle panels to those. Heavy and moveable. You might have to trim a "window" at the bottom so they would fit snub over the tires, or there would be a gap. You could also lay cinder blocks or logs or some such obstacle to block the gap. Concrete is cheap, you ought to be able to get tires free (you or your neighbors might even have a few laying around!) 

Interesting problem -- best wishes in discovering a solution!


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## Bansil (Jul 23, 2015)

lilaalil said:


> ......except the goats I am considering already know all about electric fence, and don't mind going right through it!


I swear they are electricproof, our will stand on the bottom wire and have noses through the fence :shock:

and yes the fence is on, it gets us at least once a week (five strands outside) :stars: cats and dogs get lite up also...just not the goats :think:


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