Escapee sheep in my field :(

[Abbeygale]

I am so mad!

I have 2 small horses and a pony, and we have 4 acres, divided into our top 3 acre field, and a lower 1 acre field. Around this time of year, the neds will move to the lower field, to rest the top field for hay.

The hedge to the neighbouring field is maintained on our side, but is most definitely NOT maintained from their side, which has resulted in their horses coming through several times in the past. However, their horses haven't been in that field - this year they have put their sheep in there.

Their sheep today (probably 20 at a guess) have escaped through into our lower field, and so demolished the most of the grass that is down there. As the neds have not yet moved down to that field, I hadn't been down there since Friday afternoon, so don't know exactly how long they've been down there. The sheep are scouring, so on top of the fact that much of my limited grass has been removed, there is also sheep s**t everywhere.

I am so incredibly fuming about this. We have repeatedly asked the people who use this neighbouring field to secure their hedge line, but they never have done. We have had to repair several holes in the hedge, which have only formed purely because they carry out no maintenance. They either are so ignorant or just don't care about their livestock roaming.

Sorry - big ranty post. No real questions - just blowing off steam

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Send them a bill for the sheep-keep over the weekend

 

[cptrayes]

Same problem.in the end we had to fence out our neighbour's sheep even though it's clear on the deeds that the boundary is his, not ours. Cost a fortune but I couldn't keep letting him steal my grass to feed his animals. The worst was two years ago when they stripped my field in late September!!!! He never so much as apologises.

Maddening, isn't it?????

 

[Abbeygale]

Thanks guys

TFF - if I even thought for a second that we would pay me for it, I would indeed send him a bill. What I would prefer right now is either using one of his fields until my hay is cut, or him supplying hay / haylege as I need until then. But I know that won't happen either. He is an ignorant a**eh**e at the best of times.

cpt - I am just so very very mad. I had been saving the grass in the field - thought about putting the horses down there this weekend, but it is still just a little bit soft underfoot, so thought I would leave it another couple of days, so that the girls don't trash it as soon as they're in there. However, now, with the grass stripped, the field will be trashed straight away. We haven't had the sheep in the fields right next to us before. So I guess we will have to not only pay out for more hay etc but also for more fencing

 

[Abby-Lou]

Unfortunately the only way you are going to sort this is fence your side of the hedge stops you getting annoyed even if it costs to sort it out

 

[AmyMay]

If their horses can get into your field, then neither boundry is secure.

As for the sheep, it might be worth speaking to the NFU about what your rights are, and how you go about getting recompense for your damaged grazing.

 

[Abbeygale]

Our hedges are cornish hedges with bushes etc grown on top. The bushes on top have thinned to holes in certain places, as they haven't maintained them. Because there is holes, their horses were scrabbling round and so were dragging the stone wall bit of the hedge down on their side. Our side is still up, and any bits of hedge that are looking bare are additionally fenced on our side, exactly so our horses can't get to the stone wall and drag it down. We have fenced from our side each time their horses have created a new hole and come through. It's not that their horses have come through and we've just sat looking at it!

If my horses were also leaving our field into their field, I would agree neither boundary is secure. But the wall is still standing from our side, plus the fact that I actually pay attention to my horses. If they are bored / cold / hungry / looking for trouble, then they come in from the field.

We've tried contacting the owner of the sheep this evening - no response as yet. Will try contacting NFU for advise though. We have fenced up as best as we can with what we have available right now, so have to hope they don't come back in again this evening. We certainly will be fencing our side more rigorously, it's just so frustrating that no matter how many times we have asked them to help with repairing their damage, they never do, and it is always us repairing from our side.

 

[touchstone]

Third party liability should cover this, however it could leave you both on bad terms if you take action to claim on his insurance, but if relations are already strained and the owner is refusing to do anything, then it might be an option.

 

[Buddy'sMum]

Feel your pain, OP.

For years I put up with my farmer neighbour's sheep and cattle straying onto my land and demolishing the dry stone boundary walls. I eventually had the biggest dicky fit at his wife and threatened to bill them for grazing and for having a dry stone wall contractor repair the damage. Did the trick.

Good luck!

 

[L&M]

Nothing more frustrating than a neighbours sheep 'stealing' your lovely rested grass - I have spent many an hour chasing my neighbours sheep out of my field, patching up the fence, only to see them break back through as soon as my back was turned..

In the end I took the cost on the chin and stock proofed my paddocks - although I hate having sheep netting around the horses fields at least my grass is safe!

 

[lurcherlu]

Eat them......simples

 

[Fides]

Serve him with an abandonment notice then take them to market kidding...

 

[cptrayes]

Feel your pain, OP.

For years I put up with my farmer neighbour's sheep and cattle straying onto my land and demolishing the dry stone boundary walls. I eventually had the biggest dicky fit at his wife and threatened to bill them for grazing and for having a dry stone wall contractor repair the damage. Did the trick.

Good luck!

We would have done this too BM, but in our case the guy owns land less than ten feet from the side of our house and he could have made life very uncomfortable for us

I'm a bit shocked how many of us have the same problem. The law is quite clear, you have to keep your own stock contained. Enforcing it's a completely different kettle of fish out in the countryside!

 

[WelshD]

I'm not saying that the situation is ok but sheep are very beneficial for grazing and so are their droppings, a good shower of rain and some warmer weather will have the grass looking better than ever and I bet you'd be hard pressed to even know that it had been grazed.

I would probably let it drop on this occassion and wouldnt go in all guns blazing about compensation/replacement grazing/hay but I would ask them to ensure that the fence is repaired and that their animals dont get through again or you will be looking to them for replacement grazing

 

[cptrayes]

I'm not saying that the situation is ok but sheep are very beneficial for grazing and so are their droppings, a good shower of rain and some warmer weather will have the grass looking better than ever.

I would probably let it drop on this occassion and wouldnt go in all guns blazing about compensation/replacement grazing/hay but I would ask them to ensure that the fence is repaired and that their animals dont get through again or you will be looking to them for replacement grazing

I no longer graze sheep because I found they cropped too short and made my grass too sweet and increased my problems with laminitic horses. I didn't find them beneficial at all, I found them a smelly nuisance hanging about waiting to find a way to die!

 

[weebarney]

You need to establish who owns or is the responsibility of the boundry. The boundrys around my field are not 50/50 responsibility. They are soley mine on the right and soley my neighbours on the left.

 

[cptrayes]

Three out of four of my boundaries are not mine. It makes not one hap'orth of difference to the two farmers who should be keeping their sheep of my field.

 

[AmyMay]

Surely if you have land with stock of any sort on it you ensure the boundaries are secure within your fields - regardless of whose responsibility the boundary is?

 

[wench]

I would imagine the sheep getting on to your land is trespass, but as above neither side of the fence can be secure if they got into your field, unless yours is something like post and rail they can go underneath

 

[cptrayes]

Surely if you have land with stock of any sort on it you ensure the boundaries are secure within your fields - regardless of whose responsibility the boundary is?

You have a responsibility to keep your own stock in, yes. But in drystone wall country, or any boundary that simply degrades with time, it's the responsibility of the owner of the boundary to maintain it.

 

[Peregrine Falcon]

The neighbouring fields to the field that my friend rents have sheep and they got through last year. Unfortunately the ponies in the field didn't take very kindly to them and chased them, they soon found a way back. Unluckily for the sheep their owners were told they needed to sort out their fencing so they put up chicken rope fencing (orange netting stuff). I went down the next day to find a sheep totally trapped and caught in fence. It was on the point of being strangled by the stuff as it was cutting into its neck. I did manage to spray it with purple spray so they knew which one had got caught and cut it free.

Hope you get your situation sorted quickly.

 

[Noodles_3]

Have the owners made any attempt to move the sheep yet or mention it to you?

 

[D66]

Use a piece of electric fencing to pen them on a small area until collected. Tell the farmer that next time you will retain a few sheep to sell to offset your costs; that might frighten him into sorting the fence.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Keep a diary of all your costs, and all incidents, communications etc, send them a letter advising them that they are liable for these costs, and see how it goes.
Once costs get up to a few hundred, you can take them to court, but you need evidence, you can take photos with dates on if you want to back up the evidence, as they might say you have made it up.

 

[Shysmum]

On the bright side, sheep are brilliant at killing worm eggs. We deliberately put sheep in the field to do this.

 

[Abbeygale]

As yet, no response from said sheep owners. We had to round them up and get them back through the hedge (fun times on a hilly field!!) and then barricaded as best as we could yesterday. We will be doing more fencing from our side AGAIN today.

Shysmum - ordinarily I would agree that would be helpful, but this was a field that has been rested since early summer last year, for my girls to go onto at this time of year. So it *was* a clean field (not so much anymore..)

 

[cptrayes]

Keep a diary of all your costs, and all incidents, communications etc, send them a letter advising them that they are liable for these costs, and see how it goes.
Once costs get up to a few hundred, you can take them to court, but you need evidence, you can take photos with dates on if you want to back up the evidence, as they might say you have made it up.

That's a great recipe for falling out with neighbours who are in a position to make life extremely uncomfortable MrsD123. If I did that to mine, he could quite legally park a stack of holed and tatty silage bales ten feet from my lounge window.

 

[Abbeygale]

Use a piece of electric fencing to pen them on a small area until collected. Tell the farmer that next time you will retain a few sheep to sell to offset your costs; that might frighten him into sorting the fence.

Ha - I doubt he would notice they weren't there. He's not the most caring or observant keeper of animals. Said sheep owner was also the one that was shooting at a fox in one of his fields a few years ago, missed the fox and managed to shoot one of their horses! This possibly is enough to paint a perfect picture of the type of person we are talking about! Poor horse survived, but was never the same again.

 

[Buddy'sMum]

On the bright side, sheep are brilliant at killing worm eggs. We deliberately put sheep in the field to do this.

And that's great as long as the sheep are well looked after and wormed. But my farmer neighbour who used to let his sheep stray onto my land on a daily basis has a problem with liver fluke...

 

[Abbeygale]

I see where you are coming from - but our field boundaries are secure for what we keep in them. We make sure that the fields will contain our horses. It's seems a mad logic that I should have sheep proof fencing already installed when we don't keep sheep. Surely the responsibility of containing their animals lies with the owner of the animals?