Horses... fencing... and deer

[bkreugar]

I am at my WITS END with the d&%$n deer here.

We have 7 acres with multiple turnouts. Front turnout is DONE with post and board on front and 5 strand of spur poly covered high tensil on back. WITH a top and bottom electric line. NO issues here it is about 3/4 of an acre. No grass with a downward slant. We put 2 round bales in it and the 3 horses eat the 2 roundbales in about 12/14 days. Obviously not enough room and no grass. 2 years ago we finished right down to the big cattle gates front and back. totally done.

In the back. we have the front of the back done with the wooden posts as in the front pasture. 3 strands of electrifies high tensil no issues there. But the back of my 2 back pastures backs up to a small mountain and stream. In years past with different horses I had one in each of the pastures with NOOO issues ever.

In the last 2 fricken years, the $%^&#^ deer will tear down the back line that is at the bottom of the mountain. From there they go to wherever, but if I have horses in the back about every 3 flippin days the deer pull down the line , i don't know and then I get neighbors, or animal control at my doorstep and I have to round up horses , put them ALL in front pasture and fix fence.

Dh hasn't griped yet. They stay in front till he fixes it then I try again. Well I give up!! FOr now. The back line is METAL t posts, with electrified high tinsel at about 3.5 to 4 ft. The deer come down and just pull my line off the t posts.

I can't figure out why I didn;t have an issue until the last 2 years, maybe a huge uptick in deer??? IDK , I also have neighbors who feed the deer corn! ANyway call me heartless but I am SOO over the whole bambi thing!

So Dh proposes another barbed wire fence 5 ft in back of my horse fence that he thinks MAY stop them. He DOES worry about the possibility of horses getting TO the barbed wire ,but again it would be a second fence on the other side of the horse fence.

Another horse friend says he would hunt them this year for us and take his entire allotment (6) from out property. I DOUBT this will make a difference. Someone else said my dh should mark the back line regularly with his own urine, OR use deer blood and moth balls on a regular basis. As this is a very cheep way of fixing problem I am willing to try but doesn;t seem like it would work.

Long term I am thinking wooden posts along back and five lines of the spur poly at 1 ft intervals. I do wonder if that would work, maybe they would stretch the poly, maybe break a post? IDK. NO ONE seems to have a good clear way to fix this but I am soo tired of not being able to use thee magority of my turnout.

ANYONE have expereince with deer/fencing and horses?

 

[pips&peeps]

Quote:
I don't think your fence is high enough. I've seen them clear my fence (double barb - five strands) which is about five foot high with ease. They are probably jumping your fence and catching their feet on your electric wire. You can always do a double fence with barbed wire on the outside and electric on the inside to keep the horses away.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Do you have the hot line flagged?


The deer are jumping your fence, but dragging a foot thru your wire it sounds like.



If not flagged - flag it heavily and I recommend walking the fence once a day - with a dog if you have one. Check the fence and leave you scent (just walking will do this) - start claiming your property. DH can help by marking the fence line also.


eta: deer can easily clear fences up to 8 feet. Seen it myself and had to chase them outta gramma's garden

 

[bkreugar]

I do have it flagged with white cloth tape like what you tie tomatoes up with. I have had it at about 18" to 2ft intervals. The white cloth does get dirty over time and have been told mark with bright orange as that would be more visable. I am willing but I DOUBT that it would matter.

 

[bkreugar]

Well if they can jump up to 8 ft how will I ever be able to solve this? Why a problem now after 5 yrs of no problem?

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Bright orange does help. And flag closer - every six inches - you want it to look like a barrier.

Why now??


I think you might have a "new" deer - maybe either one who moved into the territory (buck) or last year/year before's fawn - but someone who is more adventure some.



Could also be they were chased/harassed by something - ran your way, escaped over the wire and found a new paradise.

 

[Peaches Lee]

It has been my experience that deer will go over, under and through fence, especially if there is an established trail. They cannot, however, go through sheep and goat or that no climb horse fence, which can sometimes cause a problem if the deer panics and rams itself harder and harder into the fence (been there!).

You could try the no climb or sheep and goat fence, wooden railed fence, or pipe rail fencing. Anything else, save barbed wire, will be snapped and tore down. I know the feeling about your fence being down, but for me it's not the deer it's the

draft horse!!!!

Good luck, I hope you can get this resolved.

 

[bkreugar]

UPDATE!!!!

So we replaced the tension gate across the easement with a 12' red tube gate and redid the tensil line again in late June. I then redid the flags with both new longer (almost touching ground) and some bright ones. Since then we have had No more problems. So they have actually been grazing back there during the day. I bring them up at night so as not to worry IF the deer tear down the line.

SOOO you all DID have useful advice thanks!

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Quote:

for you. All you hard work is paying off.

 

[welsummerchicks]

We are putting up a plank at the top of our fence - six feet - and if they jump the fence, they'll hit the plank and not the wire, which is a little lower than the plank.