Need help resolving a discussion with a friend. I say the panels should be 4ft high he says 3ft, and I think the T-post should be every 4 ft apart where he thinks 8 ft apart is good. What says the masses? Just for reference the feed pen will be ten 16' cattle panels.

We utilize 34 inch hog panels, a six inch overlap and then a T-post at each seam and one in the middle. These hold up well. You doing a circle or a square? What you gonna do for a gate?

It really depends on what the pen is trying to keep out...cattle or hogs and what type of feeders are inside the pens. If just hogs then a 34" hog panel is great. If it is cattle mainly then I would go 50" tall cattle panels especially if there is a protein feeder inside the pen. With the 50" cattle panels I will cut the top one or two levels off in small sections(still leaving a 38" or 44" tall height) at locations around the pen where I want the deer to jump in at. With only a 10 panel pen cattle will try to lean over or push into the pen to reach any feed they can see or smell. They are bad about trying to get to any grass inside the pens when grazing is short on their side of the fence. This is when a 50" panel is needed. If cattle are the issue then the larger the pen the better. I recently went to a new 12 panel pen on my place(all the rest of the pens are 10 panel) and was pleased to see how many more deer are inside that pen now compared to before. Before I would see 5 to 6 max and now I see 10-12 most of the time.

I use 34" hog panels.
10 panels would be the very bare minimum, arranged in a circle (or close to) , 12 up to 20 panels = better, most of the ones I've built 14 - 16 panels.
Overlap the panels by one square wire together.
T post where panels overlap, panels tied to T post in at least 3 places, one T post between each, making T posts approx 8' apart.

Gate between 2 T posts location of your choosing,
One panel cut cut to opening length plus a few inches to ensure sufficient overlap between posts, leaving 3 or 4 horizontal 'wires' of the panel as long possible.
Bend the 3 or 4 horizontal long 'wires' around one T post to act as hinges. Various methods to use to secure latch side.

I've had good success with hog panels, of course I am using 12 panels per pen for Protein and corn feeders. With the bigger pens you are also allowing enough room for the young and mature buck to coexist without the younger ones getting run out of the pasture or county.

34" hog panels, as above 1 T post at the join, and another in the middle of each.

Thanks to all that replied to settle the discussion. I all used the inputs to make my feed oin here are some oics.

Looks good.

Thank you dogcatcher a lot of work went into it.

That's how I do it also. No problem, but just for hogs, no cattle on the place.

That's how I do it also. No problem, but just for hogs, no cattle on the place.

We built 2 pens 3 years ago. They are made with cattle panels cut to 36 inches tall. We put one t-post on the seam of each 16-foot panel with no overlap, (1 post every 16 foot). So far the only hogs to get in are the piglets that fit between the cattle panel. Going forward I will use hog panels.

will 24" 6' work to keep out tha hogs ?

I think 24" too short for both hogs and/or cattle. Big hogs will climb and flop themselves over. Heck I've had them do that on taller panels too and hence I'm a believer in T post on each end of panel with 1 panel square overlap and T post in middle of each 16 panel and each post secured with minimum 3 tie levels on each post (most get more). build it secure the first time and avoid hogs getting inside and corn throwing larger perimeter than your exterior pen. If I happen to use 54" cattle panels the I do cut down a couple for jump gates and my desired entry jump points.

Just built one with 10 plus one half panel because basic math skills elude me. One t post on each end plus one in the middle. Bought the cattle panels from tractor supply and cut the top two rows off of certain sections that I'd like to encourage them to access the pen. Seems like they'll walk around the high panels to jump over the lower ones, given the opportunity. A cordless grinder with a cutoff wheel made quick work of shortening the panels.

The neighbor at this place is not good at keeping his cows on his place, so we'll see if I have to go back and add more posts.

will 24" 6' work to keep out tha hogs ? No.

Pigs can jump despite what some people believe, so no, 24 inch won't work well. 34 inch works very well against hogs and as stated above, a solid 4 feet tall at least for cattle. I have learned that one run of good 4 strand barb wire a couple inches above the cattle panel wrapped around the T-post will keep the cows from trying to lean over the pen.

I thought about this so much it kept me up a night and then I thought why not use electric fencing with a solar charger so that is what I did and so far so good has been tested by donkeys and cows and has kept them off the feeder for about a month now. Of course tomorrow my feeder might be trashed.

So why doesn't any one use electrical fence?

Electric fence doesn't discriminate. Cows, pigs, mules, deer, it doesn't care. Maybe a doe can clear it 99 times out of 100, but that one time she doesn't, that deer has learned. That doe will teach her pups, and so on. Not every cow in a herd has got bit by a fence, but every cow knows not to play with one.

At least, that's how the logic plays in my head. Could be wrong.