Sheep fencing question

[tberggren]

I am possibly (still talking with the breeder) getting a half dozen Katahdin sheep, mostly girls with a couple of boys for our meat needs this year.

Are sheep hard to keep inside their fence? I've been reading so much about goats being escape artist, what about sheep, do they try to get through the fence also?

Also what kind of fencing do sheep require. I was thinking of running several strands with one or two being electric. Will that work?

Appreciate your input
Theresa

 

[Littlecimarron18]

Ok, i have had experience with the escape artists. they will get out of ANYTHING.
we ran 6 strands of barbless wire. with the first being about 4 inches off the ground,
they would still squeeze under. so then we added 2 strands of electric fence, they didnt seem to even notice it,

I would suggest hog panels or some kind of fence like that = )



oh, also i think maybe the type of sheep could effect that, we had black faces.



GOOD LUCK

 

[4-H chicken mom]

I agree with Littlecimarron18. Hog/cattle panels or welding fencing is the better route with sheep and they will still put their heads through it. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, no matter how good they have it. Sheep are herd animals. What one does the others will follow. If you do decide to use the panels, make sure wherever the post are, the sheep cannot get their head through and get stuck. We had that happen to us. One of our lambs got it's head through the square that was next to the post and couldn't get out. My husband had to use a sawzal to free it. We used wire to wrap those squares up. Also, if you have chickens free roaming, you will want to put some chicken wire on the bottom of the fence to keep them out of your sheep pen. Chickens can give sheep or any animal for that matter, coccidosis.

 

[snugglepup]

I have 7 Katahdin sheep. 4 are good girls and stay where I put them. 3 are wicked evil sheep and break out daily. My fencing is a combination of no-climb woven wire, boards and electric (we also have horses). The sheep could care less about the hot wire. In fact if you come to my place, you will notice that the bottom hot wire is covered in sheep hair from them scratching on it. The woven wire is the only fence that reliably keeps them in.

 

[tberggren]

Quote:
Thank you for the bit of information!!

 

[patandchickens]

I read an amusing British book some while back about a couple who moved to the countryside and what with one thing and another decided to try their hand at sheep. They started with Katahdins, I forget why. After an enormous amount of very amusing inability to keep the sheep home, they sold them to someone else and got 'regular' sheep.

The new, 'regular' sheep stayed pretty well put.

The Katahdins they'd sold kept getting out of their new home and coming back

Personally I know NOTHING about sheep, I am just tossing this out in case it makes you want to investigate further

Pat

 

[tberggren]

Quote:
How high should it be? Could I put a couple of Nubians with them?

 

[greyfields]

Everything you need to know is contained in this catalog:

http://www.premier1supplies.com/

Get a catalog sent to you and it has diagrams of how high fences need to be, how many strands, what kind of wire, etc.

I personally use high tensile electric for all my new construction. I have a field with 36" welded wire with 2 hot wires on the top. It works just as well, and maybe better than straight high tensile. But, it's costlier to do.

 

[tberggren]

Quote:
Thanks I will do that right now. ;o)

 

[tberggren]

Quote:
Just wondering if the charge to the fence was hotter if that would make a difference.

Also if you get babies and train them to respect the electric fence would that make a difference.

Years back we rescued a huge Rottie/Shepherd girl who had never been trained to any kind of fencing. We put the underground fencing in, got the 9 volt collar, tied her just so that she could reach the part to get shocked but couldn't go through, and then we we introduced her to it, it was right after her bath so she was wet. The result? Her first experience left her with a very healthy respect for the underground fencing and she was "trained" in one day. Never have had a problem with her trying to test the fence.

The point of all that is, if similar pains were taken with sheep and even goats, could you expect to get the same kind of results?