Hog Wire Fence: What It Is and What a Framed Build Takes

The calculator above is the post counter, set to an Enclosed Rectangle of 112 ft: the perimeter of the 24 × 32 ft garden, 4 ft tall, with one 4-ft gate. It sorts the posts into line, corner and gate posts and gives their length and burial depth. Wire panels, rails, trim strips and concrete are not on its list, so they are counted by hand below from its section count. Other framed and board styles are on the fence styles hub.

Wire in a wood frame

From a few steps back, a hog wire fence reads as a row of open wood rectangles with a steel grid stretched across each one. The posts and a rail along the top and bottom make the frame, and the wire is what stops a dog or a rabbit while the beds behind it stay in view.

The wire is sold in rigid panels welded at every crossing, which is why "welded wire fence" and "hog wire" end up describing the same infill. Hog panels and cattle panels share a 16-ft length and differ in height and wire. All four listings below are seller product pages, none dated, read on November 1, 2026.

Hog Slat spaces its vertical strands on 8-in centers and sets the horizontal strands closer together toward one edge. That edge goes at the bottom, where small animals push.

How many posts does a hog wire fence need?

Take the 4-ft gate out of the 112-ft perimeter and 108 ft of fence is left, which the calculator divides into 14 sections at 8 ft. A closed loop ends on the post it started from, so it has as many post positions as sections: 14, four of them corners and 10 line posts. The gate adds 2 gate posts, for 16 in all.

The calculator's rule buries a post one third of the fence height, never less than 2 ft, rounded up to the next half foot. Height plus burial is then rounded up to a stock length of 8, 10, 12, 14 or 16 ft. At 4 ft that is 4 + 2 = 6 ft of post, bought as 8-ft stock, so each post has 2 ft spare. If your frost line sits deeper than 2 ft, that spare length can go into the ground at no extra cost; fence post depth and frost line by state has the depths.

Because 24 and 32 both divide by 8, the corners fall on the spacing and the loop count is exact. A garden of 26 × 30 ft has the same perimeter but not the same corners; enter it under Multiple Runs on the fence post calculator, which spaces each side separately.

For concrete, a 4×4 in a 10-in hole 2 ft deep takes 0.92 cu ft, or 2 bags of 80-lb mix per post: 32 bags for the garden. The concrete per fence post calculator reworks that for other hole sizes.

Panels and rails from the 14 sections

A 16-ft panel is exactly two 8-ft bays long. Of the 14 sections, 13 are full 8-ft bays and one is a 4-ft bay, beside the gate on the 32-ft side that gave up 4 ft to the opening. Halve 7 panels and you have 14 pieces of 8 ft: 13 go into the full bays and the last is cut down to 4 ft. That is 7 panels and 8 cuts, with one 4-ft offcut left over.

Rails follow the same 14 sections. A top and a bottom rail in each bay makes 28 pieces; the 26 full-bay rails are whole 8-ft boards, and the two 4-ft rails come out of one more, so you buy 27 boards. The trim strips that clamp the wire against each post add 2 per bay, 28 in all, cut to the opening between the rails.

On Hog Slat's panel, the 96-in halfway point lands on the 13th vertical strand, so cut beside it and leave the stub ends on one piece rather than cutting through the weld.

Post spacing decides whether the panels divide without waste. The calculator offers 6, 8 and 10 ft:

At 10 ft you save 3 posts but buy 4 more panels, because a 16-ft panel holds one 10-ft piece and the 6-ft offcut is too short for the garden's last bay, which is 8 ft wide at that spacing. At 6 ft each panel gives two 6-ft pieces and a 4-ft scrap. Only 8 ft uses whole panels, which is also why the fence post spacing calculator is less useful here than on a board fence: evening out the bays would cut every panel.

Hog panel or cattle panel?

A 34-in hog panel inside a 4-ft frame leaves 14 in for the two rails and a gap at the ground. A 50-in cattle panel does not fit a 48-in frame at all, so a cattle panel fence goes up at 5 ft, which leaves 10 in.

Going from 4 ft to 5 ft changes less than it sounds. The calculator still counts 16 posts for the garden, still buries them 2 ft and still sizes them as 8-ft stock; only the spare length drops from 2 ft to 1 ft. The panel count stays at 7 because the panels are the same length. A 5-ft fence in a front yard may run into a height cap, and fence height rules and permits shows how four cities set theirs.

Hog wire fence ideas: color, rails and mesh

Black stain on the frame with black-coated wire makes the grid nearly vanish against a planted bed, so the house and hydrangeas read through it. Color changes no count above.

A lighter build skips the panels and staples welded wire from a roll behind split rails, which keeps a dog in without a full frame. That wire is priced on the split rail fence cost calculator. For a solid infill in the same post-and-rail frame, the corrugated metal fence page counts steel sheets instead of wire.

Neither framed hog wire nor wire panels has a line in the site's national cost table, so the panels and lumber are priced from your supplier's list.

Key Takeaways

• At Hog Slat's 32 lb a panel, the garden's 7 panels weigh 224 lb in total.
• Leave out the gate and the same 112-ft loop takes 14 posts and 28 bags of 80-lb mix.
• In 60-lb bags the garden's 16 posts take 48 bags.
• Hog Slat galvanizes its panels before welding them.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many panels for 100 ft of hog wire fence?

Seven, on a straight 100-ft run with posts 8 ft apart. The run makes 12 full bays and one 4-ft bay, and the calculator counts 14 posts for it.

How tall should the frame be?

It follows the panel. A 34-in hog panel suits a 4-ft frame, and a 50-in cattle panel needs a 5-ft frame or taller.

Is hog wire the same as welded wire fence?

Hog panels are welded wire in rigid 16-ft lengths. Welded wire on a roll is flexible and needs posts and rails, or a split rail fence, to hold it flat.

Is this a DIY hog wire fence job?

The garden asks for 16 holes, 27 boards for rails and 8 cuts through the wire, with no panel stretched or tensioned. The posts are the heavy part: each takes 2 bags of 80-lb mix.

Sources

• Farm and Fleet (Blain Supply), "Behlen Country Fence Panels, 16' Hog Panel", no date, accessed November 1, 2026: farmandfleet.com/products/635197-behlen-country-fence-panels-16-hog-panel.html
• Farm and Fleet (Blain Supply), "Behlen Country Fence Panels 16' Cattle", no date, accessed November 1, 2026: farmandfleet.com/products/758504-behlen-country-fence-panels-16-cattle.html
• Hutchison, "Wire Hog Panel", no date, accessed November 1, 2026: hutchison-inc.com/products/wire-hog-panel
• Hog Slat, "Welded Hog Panel Galvanized Metal 34" x 16'", no date, accessed November 1, 2026: hogslat.com/welded-hog-panel-galvanized-metal-34-inch-x-16-feet