Agreed,cattle enclosures here are merely a waist high electrified smooth wire. They even electrify barbed wire down by the stream (which I found out to my detriment whilst sat under it,leaning back too far,touched it with the top of my head and woke up sometime later) tis ok though,the twitching has stopped nooowoww!!
.... barbed wire was invented in the States in 1868 and now has 570 different patents on it. I've seen it used in some really imaginative ways,none of which are pleasant,and yes I agree,it should be banned in most situations. That said,my pigs stayed away from it and didn't try to tunnel under the fence.Whether that's because the electric line was 5 inches above it or they just weren't inclined to tunnel.Who knows,what I have here works,so I won't be trying to fix it....... Ree