The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Equipment => Topic started by: Dans on October 19, 2015, 06:54:34 pm
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Hi all,
Finally settled in the house and looking to make the field safe for sheep :excited:, but of course as a newbie have questions.
It's a 1 acre rectangular field. One long side has some waste land from the neighbouring business on the other side and the brambles and undergrowth is fast encroaching and pushing the fence which has weakened some posts. The other long side has some willow planted at the top which have bent the wire down and loosed some posts. The short side along the road is planted with dog rose on the inside with the fence along the road. The hedge is about 2-3 feet deep and has wreaked the fencing again.
I was wanting to fix the fencing before getting the sheep in case they wiggle their way through the undergrowth or the hedge (the willow side is less of an issue as it boarders our land). But things are moving slow with a baby and recovery from pregnancy and I'm tempted to just get some electric fencing to see us through.
How big a job is it to repair fencing? The wire is bent in some places but would it be ok to sort the posts and reattach the existing wire? Would I be better off scrapping the existing fencing altogether and putting in new (Especially along the road and putting the fencing in on the sheep side of the hedge)? Any good guides on electric fencing for sheep? In the long run I would like horned sheep Does that make netting a no-no?
Dans - feeling pretty clueless
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electric netting is a no-no for horned sheep. You could still use 3 or four strand electric fence but with the road a regular fence might be better. Having said that I managed an acre plot with shetland sheep using electric netting and stranded, and found that they didn't try very hard to escape unless there was something on the other side they particularly wanted (crab apples). I used a 1.6Joule energiser for sheep but with just 1 acre you could get away with less I expect.
without seeing the existing fence it's difficult to say, but if it is stock fence and still standing then I would be tempted to repair, especially if the corner strainer posts are solid and there are no holes in the wire. Although, if the weeds are pushing the fence over that suggests there isn't much tension in it.
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Thanks mab
Will have a look into strand electric fencing.
It is stock fencing. Think the tension might be ok. It's the dog rose hegde and willow that have done the worst damage. The willow has pushed it and grown through it. Corneds seemed fairly sturdy when I checked. Just some suppporting posts very wobbly and some mangled wire.
Can you replace just sections of wire or would the whole side need doing?
Will get out and get a pic of the worst of the damage. Think I'll be hacking away at that willow this weekend!
Dans
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Sounds like you need to trim all the vegetation right back to the fence line first (probably the biggest job), then if your corners are ok, replace any damaged/rotten intermediate posts and repair the stock netting.
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Thanks.
Seems like I shall be waiting a while longer for my sheep.
I'm not quite sure how to deal with the dog rose hedge as the is inside the field will get out tomorrow and see what I can do with it. I think it has all just been neglected for a number of years.
Dans