We would like to fence in a five acre pasture for sheep. Does anyone have recommendations for type of material to use, cost per linear foot, maintenance requirements, etc. We do not want to go electric. Thanks.

-- Leo (wintersongfarm@yahoo.com), June 24, 2000

Answers

We fenced our 4 acre field using scrap pallets nailed together. We drove posts of reclaimed timber into every third pallet and stapled 1200mm chicken wire to the pallets. this now keeps in our chickens or our sheep.

-- Colin Cuthbert (UK) (fareacre@btinternet.com), June 24, 2000.

Nice cemented corner posts with braces, field fencing with T-posts every 12 feet, with 2 drive through gates, is running $2.65 a lin. foot (running foot). Chain Link 4' with a drive through gate is $5.40 a lin. foot, 5' with a walk gate is $5.40 a lin foot. 4 Board fence with 12 foot gate with latch, 52" tall posts 7.5 feet apart is $6.80 per foot. These are current prices from last week for our company, this is material and labor, with land ready to go, no clearing on our part. Houston, TX. Your best bet is to just call the local building supply get the lin. foot price for whatever fence you choose, we have field fence for goats, if I was wealthy my whole place would be cattle panels, with cemented posts. But the field fencing has held up good, is easy to maintain and easy to do yourself with just a minimum of tools, we did our 13 acres by ourselves with no tractor and it is tight. Start small and think about the end result. Pens that you can rotate stock into, so build the first pen, then as finances dictate build the next pen, then the next, until you are through. I will tell you that using salvaged untreated material or barbed wire for sheep/goats is a waste of your time, you will be redoing all your work a couple of years down the road. Think of this as lots of small jobs, rather than 4 acres right off the bat. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), June 24, 2000.

Vicki, thanks for all the detail. It was very helpful.

-- Leo (wintersongfarm@yahoo.com), June 25, 2000.

I know you probably have your fence up by now but for anyone else reaading this a couple of warnings. We have alot of sheep and just moved to a cattle/hog place. Lots of barbed wire-sheep walk through, hog panels that the Columbias and Corriedales and our "Deer Leg's" progeny jump walk or hop over and cattle panels that they always seem to get their heads stuck in. Because of the size of the property we decided to fence it in sections. We started with the lamb lot. Raised the hog panels added some pasture land and for the record the lambs drink off the hog watering nipples just fine(we wondered about that one). We live in the hills (should build good muscle for show flock). Designed the lay of the land around the barn like a pie. Created a 48" +++ high fence for our frisky rams of which we have way too many (quality purebred Columbias anyone?) We opted for 6"x8' wood corners $12something for the long stretches in our clay and slopes. The stretch was 80 rods down and up with 3 steel, one wood, three steel one wood....to the other side. Costs-bought new woven wire 11 gauge from $78-$118 depending on quality. The more expensive "pulled" better with less variation in the stretch. recycled posts for the line from the ditches where a farmer pushed the fence, tore some out other places none were more than 5" and 7' long if you recycle make sure the posts aren't rotten. Place about 15 feet apart some say 12 depends on your back. The steel averaged 6 ft in height you can by these used for about a dollar each or less for the ones with holes, new about $2.50. Fastners are usually by the pound or bag-staples for the wood clamps for the steel (t-posts. THanks this helped me with my 4-H record book. We have now completed 3 of the 5 pie pastures and only the older stock doesn't like the water nipples. 1 rod=16 ft, Fences are pulled not stretched(wire doesn't stretch), for maintenance walk your fence line regularly and do repairs immediately. Put it off and sure enough sheep will get out. Depending on flock and pasture usage I might even divide that 5 acres so you can rotationally graze. another cost cutter is look for the farmer tearing out a fence. Woven wire is not loved by most cattle or crop farmers and when its rolled out, "stretched" and repaired most fence goes a long time.

-- Tayler Carver (wool_lite@yahoo.com), November 05, 2000.

My fun is to keep Welsh Mountain Sheep out of my forest. Either someone is putting them in, or they jump the fence. Steep rough ground makes it difficult. Usual thing here is 3 ft woven wire on pickled wooden posts topped with a strand of barbed wire. All pulled tight and then stapled.

I am told that if the top wire is slack with 2 or 3 inches of play in each section between the posts, but non slip stapled at each post, that sheep will not jump over. Sheep have learned to step on tight wire to help them jump, and slack will throw them down.

In hollows, posts knocked in at 45 degrees in line with the fence do not usually pull out. Make pass doors where badger and foxes run so they dont scrape sheepways under the fence. Ilyan. 18th december 2001. ac.thomas@ntlworld.com

-- Ilyan (Wales) (ac.thomas@ntlworld.com), December 18, 2001.

"Johnnie."

"Yes, teacher."

"If there are twenty sheep in a field, and one gets out through a hole in the fence, how many sheep are left in the field?"

"None, teacher."

"Johnnie, there are still nineteen sheep left in the field. Obviously you don't know arithmetic."

"Sorry, teacher, but I do know arithmetic. Obviously you don't know sheep."

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), December 18, 2001.

Set your t-posts well! Our rams like to bounce each other off the fences during combat season. A few well-placed butts, and you've got leaning t's. A couple of days of not walking (or riding) your fence, and you've got yourself a gateway to the girls...

-- sheepish (WA) (the_original_sheepish@hotmail.com), December 18, 2001.