The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: wildandwooly on March 01, 2021, 12:08:19 pm
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Morning all :sunshine:
We're just about to put up some stock fencing to section off some land to create 2 separate areas for a few (6) Shetland sheep. We have a few roe deer here which currently quite often cross where the new fencing will be between the top woodland and the bottom beck. It's lovely to have them here and see them. I'm wanting to look after wildlife here as well as graze the meadow and obviously want to look after the roe deer as well. Any suggestions as to fencing? I'm thinking of the usual stock fencing but no barbed wire on top of course. With that section of land it wouldn't be a big problem if the sheep did happen to get into the other field but I do need to section it off. I know deer don't always like sheep around but I don't want to put off the deer :( . Any ideas anyone?
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The Roe deer that live near me seem to happily be able to jump a standard stock fence!
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Yes I'm sure they will 😂. Was wondering if the combination of fencing and sheep might now put them off coming so near but hopefully not 🤞
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Roe will easily jump a standard fence but it is not unknown for a leg to get trapped between the net and top wire , roe kids can sometimes get through sheep net and some times not so you could if worried put standard net on upside down ( the gaps are bigger at the top ) or there are sheep nets with much bigger gaps to stop sheep getting their heads stuck ( but small lambs can get through )
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Thanks Shep 👍
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The deer around here graze happily in the arable fields, but I have honestly never seen them jump intó my fenced-off sheep field. Read somewhere recently that deer will not graze on land "contaminiated" by sheep droppings. Seems to be the case here...
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Many farms /estates would be very happy not to have deer graze fields with sheep poo , my neighbour was very proud to have 150 reds grazing with the sheep , they are more a creature of woodland but graze overnight on fields and when i put up 16 trail cams the fields came alive with Roe & Red
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The roes in Cumbria were certainly not deterred by sheep or their droppings, and would come and pinch hay from the ponies too!
I think there may be something about how much room there is before there is another fence. They don't like to feel they have only one exit route. So big fields or very long fields seem to be favourite. And they prefer to not be disturbed (by dogs or humans), and if they think they might get disturbed, to stay within leaping distance of the woodland edge.
They seem to establish routines, where and when they graze. When I lived in Exmoor I always knew where I would see what deer at what time of day. Last summer I went back to see the reds on what used to be a favourite walk when I lived there. I wish I could say they were still there at the same time of day, but unfortunately - presumably with lockdown - I found that the paths were much more well-used than they'd been 14 years earlier and I didn't see any deer there at all, sadly.