SettingsSettings for this calculationUS
The total length of the fence line.
Measure the full perimeter or run length of the pasture or paddock being fenced.
How many horizontal wire strands the fence design uses.
Electric fences for cattle commonly use 1-5 strands; woven wire with a top strand is common for sheep, goats, or general perimeter fencing.
Wire rolls needed
3 rolls
- Total wire length (with waste)
- 2,751 linear ft
They open the calculator with your figures already in it
Livestock Fence Wire Calculator: 3 rolls — shown in imperial, US market. The link sets both, so the result they see is the one on your screen.
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How this was calculated
Formula source(s)
- Total wire length = perimeter x number of strands; standard agricultural fence wire rolls are commonly 1,320 ft (1/4 mile)
Inputs used
- Fence Perimeter Length
- 655 ft
- Number of Wire Strands
- 4
Intermediate steps
- Total wire length (with waste)
- 2,751 linear ft
What this calculation does not cover
- Every roll is treated as a full 1,320 ft (400 m) quarter-mile coil, because the roll size is a fixed constant in the code rather than something you can enter — polywire, poly tape and woven field fence are commonly put up on 330 ft, 660 ft or 4,000 ft spools, and a count based on those has to be re-divided by hand.
- The 5% allowance is a flat multiplier on the finished total, so a square paddock with four corner wraps and a straight boundary with none are given exactly the same slack; tie-offs at end and brace assemblies, the loop left at each strainer, and any jumper out to an energizer all have to come out of that one figure.
- Each strand is counted at the full perimeter you type, so gateways are wired straight through instead of deducted, and a design where a top wire follows the whole boundary while the lower strands stop short at a laneway will come out long.
- Wire is measured along the flat plan length entered, with no term for ground that rises and falls — across rolling pasture the fence follows every dip and hollow, and that extra run is wire the horizontal measurement never saw.
- Rounding to whole rolls happens once, on the job total rather than per strand, which quietly assumes you are content to splice where one roll ends and the next begins; pulling every strand unspliced needs the perimeter divided into rolls strand by strand instead.
- Strand count enters the arithmetic only as a multiplier, so nothing checks spacing, wire height or gauge against the stock being held — two strands for cattle and eight for goats are processed identically, with no comment on whether either design will contain the animal.
Estimated cost — your price
This site holds no price list for this material — local prices vary too much to publish honestly. Enter your supplier's price and the result is costed with it.
Part of a bigger job
Or plan the space itself: measure it once, doors and windows included, and this figure comes back worked out on that space, with what goes with it.
Computed in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded. Presented in US customary units and US trade terminology. Where a formula follows a published standard, that standard and its edition are cited beside it on this page; where none governs, the page says so. Local amendments override model codes — verify against the code in force where you build.
Sources checked 2026-09-05 · in the site-wide review of 2026-09-06 · v1.0.1
Regulatory standards & verification citations1
- Total wire length = perimeter x number of strands; standard agricultural fence wire rolls are commonly 1,320 ft (1/4 mile)
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