I decided to raise chickens, which has led to the idea of protecting against deer (though a wildlife camera would help me determine what animals are actually eating my plants) with a knotted wire fence (aka fixed knot woven wire fence) along the tree line of my property, which is about a 300 foot long loop (Update – it ended up being 660′ – oops). This will allow the chickens to free range and eat the ticks that abound on my wooded lot. But this fence will have the added benefit of being 8 ft tall to also protect against deer. So, utilizing a knotted wire fence provides dual protection – or as some permaculturists might say, I’m stacking functions to both protect my flock and deter pests from my garden.
Putting up fence posts is a lot of work and expensive, so I’m not going to do it. I plan to use the trees as fence posts and then add 2 gates where I need them. I’m using a knotted wire fence that is painted black so it will be less visible than a regular silver-ish steel wire fence. This setup ensures protection against deer with a knotted wire fence, blending seamlessly with the surroundings. Some of the money I saved by not using fence posts went to getting a fence staple gun to make the job even easier
The Right Tool for the Job
I plan to use 9 gauge fencing staples that are 2″ long to penetrate through the rough bark of the trees and secure the fence. I was planning to hammer the staples into the trees. Then I remembered how having the right tool for the job is always worth the time + effort saved when you don’t have a lot of time on your hands, especially when protecting against deer with a 300 foot long knotted wire fence.
So, I decided to buy a 9 gauge fencing staple gun, which is a mammoth of a stapler. It’s huge and probably weighs a solid 10 pounds not including the battery pack and staple cartridge. I’ll write a legit review of it after I put it to use.
I never thought I would be so excited about putting up a fence, but here I am. Though I guess it’s that I think it will solve a few problems at once. I often see broken branches on my fruit trees from the deer. And it’s not even fruiting season. And don’t get me wrong, I think deer are beautiful and I plan to plant food trees like American Persimmon, American Hybrid Chestnuts, American Black Cherry, Red Mulberry, Paw Paw, and American Plum outside of the perimeter of the fence for them to feast on. Protecting against deer with a knotted wire fence will help preserve my efforts on the inside. I think having fruit and nut trees for wildlife is essential for a permaculture food forest, just like leaving leaves.
Will The Fence Last the Test of Time?
Eventually the deer population should outgrow the food provided by the trees I planted for them. My hope is that the deer will spread the seeds of these native fruit trees throughout the forest. Over time more of these trees will grow to support the deer (and human) population. See, I want to work with the deer. I’ll plant the initial trees for them, and then over the years they can spread the seeds.
Update #1: I Received 330 feet of Fence
The fixed knot woven wire fencing arrived from Kencove Fencing Supplies by freight, and it is shockingly heavy. Like nearly 500 pounds heavy. I read the description on the website and that was the weight, but 1 dude got this pallet off the truck by himself, and pushed it around without breaking a sweat. Protecting against deer with a knotted wire fence is going to be more of a hassle than I anticipated.
The dude was definitely bigger than me, but damn, he was way stronger because I can’t move this thing. So, all this really means is that I’m starting to doubt my ability to put up this fence by myself. I’ve seen people just roll out the fence and then stand it up.
But my idea was to have a very curved fence, so rolling it all out at once probably isn’t possible. I guess I can cut it up into manageable sections, but I’m trying to avoid that for the sake of robustness. Anybody done this before? Am I nuts to staple this fencing to trees? Ensuring protection against deer with a knotted wire fence is a top priority on my homestead.
Update #2: The Fence has been built!!!
I couldn’t have done it alone, so luckily, my brother was able to help. Not only did we put up the knotted wire fence as intended, but we also built a dope arbor and gate for the front and another gate for the rear. We chose to make the front gate doors out of two cedar lattice panels, and then the rear gate was made from a cedar frame with the knotted wire fence covering the faces.
UPDATE #3: The fruit trees and bushes are looking much healthier!
So, the goal of this fence was manyfold – protect the chickens against predators since we want to let them free range and eat ticks, prevent the deer from damaging our fruit trees, shrubs, and eventual vegetable garden, and to prevent more ticks from hitchhiking on the deer into our gardens. And it appears to be working! There has been zero damage to our plants since we’ve put up this 8 foot tall fixed knot woven wire fence, and I hope that trend continues.
Update #4: A Fox Dug Under the Woven Wire Fence
A fox dug under the fence and killed my chickens. It has been a real struggle to decide if I wanted to try raising chickens again, but I do, and I recently got a second round of chicks and am investing in no dig fence panels to prevent predators from getting under the fence. Homesteading can be tough sometimes, but as with all aspects of life, persistence is key to success. Unfortunately, stubbornness sometimes masquerades as persistence, but persistence is knowing when to not quit and stubbornness is not knowing when to quit.