Sheep Proofing: The Infinite Fencing Project

The first phase of the fencing project was finished, and though the various local wildlife had left a few gaps under the fence, no sheep had yet managed to escape. It built a sense of confidence that would soon be tested, as I continue the mission to replace all the barb wire on the property. One side of the main paddock was fully fenced, but the property boundary along the road was still barbed wire. This would need to be replaced with something more sheep appropriate before I could rotate them to the other side of the paddock.

The fence separating the adjacent paddock wasn't barbed, so I hoped to get away with just tightening the high tensile wire. In case my foreboding exposition was too subtle, my overconfidence and hopes to avoid the extra work didn't pan out so well.

All my fencing practice was starting to pay off, and I was making progress a lot faster. My mistakes were fewer, and I was getting the hang of fixing them too. I was mostly working after work and on weekends, so it was a couple of weeks before I'd managed to complete the fence line. I examined the wires of the existing fence, tightened it where I could, and finally felt ready to allow the sheep into their fresh new pasture.

They were so happy to have fresh grazing! I'm sure the pasture they were in still had plenty, but for whatever reason, the new stuff was better. It would be another week before that novelty would wear off.

As I prepare my morning coffee, I glance out of the kitchen window and notice Rufus munching away in the garden. That's not usually where we keep sheep, but apparently our lawn makes for excellent grazing. Turns out, we had three opportunistic escapees that had decided the fences were merely advisory, and simply tightening the wires was not going to cut it. Clearly, I needed to get back to work to sheep-proof the rest of the paddock.

I had a couple more attempts to tighten the lines, but over the 150 metres wire, I just couldn't get it sheep snug. It was time to get creative! Anita and I worked together to lay a hot wire as low as we could, while keeping some distance above the grass level. I hooked it up to the energiser, and then after testing the voltage, was eager to see well it worked. And Rufus immediately escaped. Turns out, we'd put the hot wire about nose height, and, well, sheep know how to duck. Who knew?

So back to the drawing board.

The fifth wire down was electrified, but we needed to add another lower to the ground. Unlike the others, the new one would be polywire (marked with stripes on the above diagram). It took us a few days to install it over the long weekend, but finally we were ready for another test.

We've had the sheep in the paddock for two days now, without incident. Perhaps it's a little early to celebrate, but I have a good feeling that our final solution is going to do the trick. That is, until the power goes out. Our next project might have to be a backup battery or a generator!

There's always more fencing to do, but at least for the time being, all our sheep are safe, secure and happy.