Fence options for temporarily dividing field for sheep

Username John

I have a bit of a probem, and am hoping ye might have some advice - I have a field that I was hoping to let for silage, but no takers. Its not gone too strong for feeding yet, so will feed it to the sheep.

Its maybe 9 acres, and I dont have too many sheep, so I would say the best way to feed would be to divide it somehow. Otherwise, there would be a lot of waste I feel.

I also dont want to put in permanent sheep fencing, as I want it as one field for silage again next year.

So - what are my options?

I was considering putting up 4 strands of electric polywire (is it called polywire, that white plastic wire with 5 or 6 strands of light wire runing through it)
Has anyone done ever done this? Maybe this is standard for a lot of people?

Up til now, its always been permanent wire fences we put up, but need something a bit more flexible. So I have no experience of using electric fencing for sheep.

Thanks.

John_F

saw something likee this in nz

http://www.gallagherireland.com/fence_component.aspx?mktprodid=4780

delaney001

This would be my suggestion, but this might not suit your needs at all. For this to work I'm assuming there is some form of fencing around the edge/ditch of the field. Not the end of the world if there isnt.
Drive one decent stake (seven foot strainer) in the centre of the field and split the field into 4 going from the mid point of each ditch to this centre steak. I'm from a dairy background so I dont really know but I assume u'd need a couple of strands to work with sheep? Using a couple of polywire reels, then support the reels with those white steel stakes, similar to what john-f mentioned above.

John_F

better description of what im on about






google gallagher smart fence http://www.gallagherusa.com/smartfence/

not sure if they are available in ireland but could always make something similar

JohnBoy

I know nothing about sheep or their level of respect for electric fences but this style of fence post will probably be helpful. couple of reels and a central straining post as suggested would probably finish the job nicely.

reilig

3 strands of electric fence wire normally does the job for temporary sheep fencing for us. I'm not a big fan of the poly wire. While its easily seen by the animal, it gets damaged very easily and won't carry the current properly. I'd just use ordinary cheap electric fence wire seeing as it is a temporary job.

Have a neighbour who has electrified sheep wire. Its light and handy - easy to erect and dismantle. But I'd say its quite expensive.

Username John

reilig wrote: »

3 strands of electric fence wire normally does the job for temporary sheep fencing for us. I'm not a big fan of the poly wire. While its easily seen by the animal, it gets damaged very easily and won't carry the current properly. I'd just use ordinary cheap electric fence wire seeing as it is a temporary job.

Have a neighbour who has electrified sheep wire. Its light and handy - easy to erect and dismantle. But I'd say its quite expensive.

The electrified sheep netting looks a nice job all right - but its 100 euro / 50 metre lengths. I'd prob need to put up 400metres of wire I'd say... :eek:
But, I guess it has its place in a proper setup to be fair.

Reilg - if I put up cheap wire, how easy is it to take down and roll up again? Will rolling it up cause it to crack (as this maybe an annual put up & take down kinda job)

Thanks.

reilig

Username John wrote: »

The electrified sheep netting looks a nice job all right - but its 100 euro / 50 metre lengths. I'd prob need to put up 400metres of wire I'd say... :eek:
But, I guess it has its place in a proper setup to be fair.

Reilg - if I put up cheap wire, how easy is it to take down and roll up again? Will rolling it up cause it to crack (as this maybe an annual put up & take down kinda job)

Thanks.

We just use ordinary steel wire. Its cheap and easily rolled up again onto a coil or around your arm - its certainly as easy to roll as the poly wire. It really won't crack. I've tried and tested the poly wire for temporary fencing and remain convinced that the ordinary cheap wire is just as good and much cheaper.

Username John

reilig wrote: »

We just use ordinary steel wire. Its cheap and easily rolled up again onto a coil or around your arm - its certainly as easy to roll as the poly wire. It really won't crack. I've tried and tested the poly wire for temporary fencing and remain convinced that the ordinary cheap wire is just as good and much cheaper.

Cheers Reilg.

What height would you recommend putting the bottom strand at, bearing in mind I'll leave it there til the winter, and so would need to contain small lambs as well?

reilig

Username John wrote: »

Cheers Reilg.

What height would you recommend putting the bottom strand at, bearing in mind I'll leave it there til the winter, and so would need to contain small lambs as well?

I fenced my reseeded land with it last year and left the bottom strand about 6 inches off the ground. The second row at about 15 inches and the top row at about 3 foot.

snowman707

reilig wrote: »

I fenced my reseeded land with it last year and left the bottom strand about 6 inches off the ground. The second row at about 15 inches and the top row at about 3 foot.

here's a tip for multi strand fencing, may not be practical in this case as you would need at least 4 strands


one of the reasons sheep break through a good fence is that they are not sufficiently earthed especially in dry ground conditions

the second wire from the bottom ,do not connect to the electric fence, instead bring to ground with insulated wire connect it to a couple of earth bars

we used 5 strands and always used this method with fairly good results

years ago, when building up the flock we bought in some "fruit cakes" , feckers would run at the fence from a distance , we put manners on these by electrifying sheep wire placed on rubber mats across a gateway

Username John

Thank everyone for your replies, all good info.

I'll give it a go with 3 strands and see how we do. Will let ye know in time, how it goes

solorpower

i had the very same issue earlier in the year, i look at that Gallager device which was something like €220 for 100 yards and it did look good.
instead i went into the co-op bought 10 of those plastic stakes, a reel and 500m of wire.
i took me aroung 30 mins to put 60 meters of it accoss the field and it worked a treat,

i put up 6 rows as i had the wire, i later disconnected the bottom row and lifted the 2nd last row.
while not as quick as the gallager device a hell of a lot cheaper and provided you are not moving it too often it is just as good.

sheep reall respected it.

Muckit

snowman707 wrote: »

the second wire from the bottom ,do not connect to the electric fence, instead bring to ground with insulated wire connect it to a couple of earth bars

This is an excellent idea and should work very well, once the sheep touch the earthed strand AND a live strand at the same time. They're getting the top 'wack' off it then

I've the same principle used on a permanent fence around a small paddock for cattle near the house. Single live strand of electric, with a second strand appprox 6" below it, just stapled to the stakes and brought to the ground rods of the electric fencer with insulated cable. They'd want to be very wild cattle to go through it!

razor8

ive used 2 strands of poly tape and had no problems once you dont let grass get to bear, thats the whole secret

John_F

reilig wrote: »

We just use ordinary steel wire. Its cheap and easily rolled up again onto a coil or around your arm - its certainly as easy to roll as the poly wire. It really won't crack. I've tried and tested the poly wire for temporary fencing and remain convinced that the ordinary cheap wire is just as good and much cheaper.

ya ask for mild steel, youl have fun if its high tensile

5live

snowman707 wrote: »

here's a tip for multi strand fencing, may not be practical in this case as you would need at least 4 strands


one of the reasons sheep break through a good fence is that they are not sufficiently earthed especially in dry ground conditions

the second wire from the bottom ,do not connect to the electric fence, instead bring to ground with insulated wire connect it to a couple of earth bars

we used 5 strands and always used this method with fairly good results

years ago, when building up the flock we bought in some "fruit cakes" , feckers would run at the fence from a distance , we put manners on these by electrifying sheep wire placed on rubber mats across a gateway

I've been thinking of doing something like that for a while on a silage field that the ewes go into. What distances are the wires from the ground snowman? And what distance apart do you put the stakes? I will probably put in 5 rows of mild steel and was thinking about the same distances apart as sheep wire but not sure about the distance between the stakes to keep a fairly solid tension on the strands

galwayhillbilly

I have to do all of my boundary fences and some internal ones, I have mostly poor quality stone walls, and lots of briars and hedges, I intend to do the whole lot in sheepwire but I need to do a lot of work on the hedges and the stonewalls first (AEOS)as a temporary 2 to 3 year solution would something like the electric fence suggested above work on my boundary fences?
I already have a mains fencer so my main expense would be wire and posts
The other alternative I am looking at is with a wall or a hedge providing the visual barrier maybe 3 or four strands of barbed wire would be enough to keep the sheep from getting a foothold on the wall or hedge.

How do you keep the grass down from the bottom wire, spray or strimmer?

Long term I'll be running a lot of sheep so the material wont go to waste as I'll be doing temporary internal fences much like the OP