Fencing for Soay Sheep
How to keep Soay sheep in and predators out!
While Soay sheep are tiny, they can jump quite high when motivated! When under no pressure or fear, they can be kept in by mere 4' fencing. However, this will not be the case year round, or under any type of incentive; lush grass on the other side of the fence, or a ram scenting ewes in heat can result in low fences being easily jumped.
Our fencing is 4' high woven wire, heavy gauge field fencing, which we topped with 2 strands of barbed wire to help keep out predators. In a high predation area, this will not be adequate, but must be used in conjunction with Livestock Protection Dogs, also known as LGDs or Livestock Guardian Dogs. In our situation, which can be seen on the background photo of this page, it works quite well.
We keep several cattle panels and hog panels around, which range from 3 to 5 feet high, and 8 to 16 feet long. They are made of a heavier gauge than rolls of wire fencing. Four panels can be lashed together for a quick pen for temporary use for various species. Some farmers are using cattle panels attached to fence posts for fencing. This is sturdy, is spendy in the short term, but lasts longer and is easier to replace.
Metal posts such as this one ---------------->
are cheaper than cedar posts such as
<--- this one. However, wooden posts are necessary at corners for bracing, and should be placed after every few metal posts, for sturdiness.
Rolls of wire fencing come in a light gauge as well as a heavy gauge, and can be bought in welded (found in light gauge) or wire wrapped. The latter is better; welded wire fencing is cheapest, but doesn't last long.
A fence stretcher is necessary to get wire fencing good and tight, otherwise you will have critters easily pushing their way under your fence, and whether the critters are incoming or outgoing, that's not a good situation!
If you have minor dips in the land along
your fencelines, there are various ways
to infill these areas; rocks if you have
them, and dirt or composted barn bedding
if you don't. Pounding wooden stakes
into the soil along the fenceline before
infilling with dirt will initially give more
stability, and the wooden stakes will
decompose over time.
Alleyways are useful for fencing; it allows easy movement of sheep or other livestock from one pasture to another. Planning ahead so that your gates and alleyways are a uniform width will allow you to open a gate and latch it open, creating a whole new configuration. The photo below (I'm moving a couple
bales of hay in my cart) shows an alleyway that was born from an unused gravel driveway. The gates were built to this width and allows us to easily funnel sheep into specific pastures.
The gate behind me is shut
and closes an alleyway that
heads off to the right of this
photo. It has welded wire
fencing stapled to the wood
frame. The gate I am
passing through is a double
gate, rather like french doors,
built the same as the one
you see, but you are looking
one of the double gates from
the perspective of the edge
of it; you can see the
thickness of it.
More detailed information
on building fences, photos of various types of fencing, links to further information, and a list of useful books on fencing are found on our Farm Fences page.
