Fence Troubleshooting

Where should I start when a fence stops working?

Start by securing the animals, then look at the fence. Move them to a safe paddock, a barn or a stall so you are not repairing with livestock leaning on you. A fence that fails once will usually fail again in the same spot until the cause is found.

Walk the whole line slowly, not just the place where the animal got out. Look for the obvious break, then look beyond it for sagging, leaning posts, rubbed ground, and signs of where animals have been pushing or pawing.

• Note every weak spot before you fix any of them
• Photograph the line so you can compare after repairs
• Check corners and gates first, since they carry the most load
• Look at ground level for washouts and digging

Why is my wire fence sagging or loose?

Sag usually comes from one of three places: a leaning or rotted post, a corner brace that has shifted, or wire that has stretched over time. Fix the structure before you tighten anything, because tightening wire against a moving brace only moves the problem down the line.

Push on each post and check how it sits at the soil line. A post that rocks, or that has soft or crumbly wood near the ground, needs replacing. Extension offices publish fence guides that show brace layouts and tensioning methods, and they are worth reading before you buy materials.

• Test posts by pushing and looking for movement at the soil line
• Repair or rebuild the brace at any corner that has pulled
• Re-tension wire only after the posts and braces are sound
• Replace badly rusted or stretched wire rather than splicing it again and again

How do I find out why my electric fence is not shocking?

An electric fence is a loop, and any break in the loop weakens it. The most common causes are vegetation touching the hot wire, a poor ground connection, a broken insulator, a wire that has come loose, or a power source that has run down.

Test with a proper fence tester rather than your hand. Check the voltage at the charger first, then at points along the line, and watch where it drops. A sharp drop tells you the fault is between those two readings. Always disconnect power before touching connections, and keep children away from the work.

• Start at the energizer and test outward along the line
• Clear grass and weeds from under the hot wire
• Check the ground rod connection and soil moisture around it
• Replace cracked insulators that are letting current leak away

What else lets animals through a fence?

Animals do not always break a fence. They go under, around, over or through the gate. Look for low spots where water has cut a channel, gaps beside posts, loose latches and corners where one animal can push another against the wire.

Also ask why the animal wanted out. Poor forage, no shade, a lack of water, a neighbor's animals across the line, or a bored young animal can all raise the pressure on your fence. Fixing the reason often saves more repair work than fixing the wire.

• Fill gaps at ground level and check under gates
• Confirm latches close firmly and cannot be lifted by a nose
• Look at water, feed and shelter in the paddock
• Separate animals that are fighting through the fence

How do I keep fence problems from coming back?

Set a routine. A short walk along the fence once a week catches small faults while they are still easy to fix. After storms, high winds or flooding, walk it again, since falling branches and washouts are common causes of sudden failures.

Keep a small repair kit in the barn or truck so a simple fix does not wait for a store trip. Write down what you repaired and where. After a season you will see which stretches fail most, and that tells you where to invest in better posts, bracing or drainage.

• Walk the line weekly and after every major storm
• Keep a basic repair kit where you can reach it fast
• Log repairs so patterns show up
• Budget by category: posts, wire, insulators, tools and your time

What mistakes make fence repairs fail?

The most common mistake is patching the visible hole and moving on. If a post leaned because water pools at its base, a new post in the same wet spot will lean too. Fix drainage, bracing or load first, then rebuild.

Another is mixing materials that do not belong together, such as wire of different metals in an electric line, or light posts at a corner that needs a heavy one. Read a current extension fence guide before buying, and match parts to the animals you keep, because a fence for sheep is not a fence for horses.

• Do not reuse a failed design in the same spot
• Match fence strength to the species you keep
• Avoid mixing incompatible metals in electric lines
• Keep children and visitors away from live fences

Last reviewed: November 12, 2026. Written by the Homestead & Small Farm Editorial Team. See our editorial policy.