First, I noticed that once a beast has been subjugated, removing him from his hitch and attaching him to a different one, seems to reset his 24 hour timer. I noticed this while reworking my claim. This is just an observation and not verified, at least not by me although it seems to have affected my three animals the same.
Second, while reworking the palisades on my village, (again just an observation) , I destroyed a large section with one use of the wrecking ball. Usually the last piece in he chain is left at 25%. By using the wrecking ball on the 25% section, one section will be destroyed and the connecting section will again be left at 25%. This seems to give better control of removing sections on claim. I haven't gotten to a gate or cornerpost yet but I will before too long.
BTW, Merry Christmas to all