Fencing costs

[Muddy unicorn]

What are rough costs for fencing for adjoining 4/5 acre fields? At the moment it’s a bit of a mishmash of small bits of post and rail, thick hedges, dry stone walls with one strand of electric fencing around the perimeter. We don’t need to use these fields for horses for a couple of years so we were thinking of offering grazing to a local sheep farmer but the fencing will obviously need to be sorted.

I’m trying to work out if it would be better to put in stock fencing so that later on we can cross graze horses and sheep or if it would be easier just to upgrade the electric fencing/save up for post and rail and use them for hay next summer. There’s easy access and the fields are gently sloping.

Any pointers on costs would be great as this is all new territory for me!

 

[ha903070]

No idea on costs but I'm pretty sure sheep will get out of electric fencing and post and rail - they are pretty good at escaping haha. Stock fencing would be better from that perspective.

 

[Muddy unicorn]

Yes I realise sheep are escape artists - we’d only have sheep on there if we put in stock fencing which would also have the benefit of stopping the dogs getting out. I’m getting a couple of local fencers to come and quote but would like a rough idea to know how many kidneys I’ll need to sell ?

 

[JackFrost]

What length of boundary? Unless it's very short it will be in the thousands- fencing has gone up massively.
Why do you want to let it to the farmer? if it's for money, don't bother. If you are offering it for free, eg to tidy up the land, sheep farmers are pretty good at putting in their own fencing, but you may have to sort it later if you want it safe to re-use for horses.
I have heard,don't know if it's correct, that if an animal escapes off land and causes a problem, it is the landowner's responsibilty.

 

[Muddy unicorn]

It’s definitely not for money, more to keep the grass under control but the local farmers won’t want to put sheep on it without proper fencing. Eventually we will upgrade the fencing for those fields it’s just do we put stock fencing in now and have the option of cross grazing with sheep or do we leave them alone for now, use them for hay next summer and then upgrade the electric fencing and rely on that, plus the hedges and ditch in between the hedge and the road to keep horses in. I’m not sure what’s the best option ?‍

ETA it’s about 8.5 acres with a hedge down the middle

 

[JackFrost]

Good stock fencing is very costly. I reckon that would be well over £1000, and stock fencing wouldn't be my first choice for horses, and costs more than post and rail. I think it would be much easier just to get the grass topped by a contractor, then let it grow on for hay.
Sheep can be fussy eaters too and don't always clear the bits you want cleaned up. I wouldn't go to the trouble and expense of stock fencing for a temporary arrangement for someone else's sheep.
What I might do - start planting in some hedging trees now where they can fill gaps, while they have a chance to get established.
My experience of other people's sheep on my land is that is causes too many problems.

 

[Muddy unicorn]

Good stock fencing is very costly. I reckon that would be well over £1000, and stock fencing wouldn't be my first choice for horses, and costs more than post and rail. I think it would be much easier just to get the grass topped by a contractor, then let it grow on for hay.
Sheep can be fussy eaters too and don't always clear the bits you want cleaned up. I wouldn't go to the trouble and expense of stock fencing for a temporary arrangement for someone else's sheep.
What I might do - start planting in some hedging trees now where they can fill gaps, while they have a chance to get established.
My experience of other people's sheep on my land is that is causes too many problems.

That’s a very good point about planting hedges to fill in the gaps - I’ve just ordered some hawthorn ??

 

[Polos Mum]

Post and rail won't keep sheep in and horse chew it, smash it, rub on it etc. - total pain.

If you want to have sheep and horses then horse netting is (IMHO) the most secure and economic option with far far less maintenance than anything else.
I use Tornado - at the extra height and it still looks as good now as when it was installed 6 years ago - I've had stallions fighting over it (when one escaped - we didn't deliberately put them next to each other) and it still didn't budge.
It does need to be installed properly and really tensioned.

Post and rail is c.£15 a meter (could be more as that was about a year ago) and the Tornado was £12.50 a meter fully installed inc posts 2 years ago. We've been upgrading over time as you do need spare kidneys.

Measure the perimeter (you can get an estimate using online satellite mapping tools)
Then times by £15 a meter as a mid point - then start wondering what to sell

 

[nikkimariet]

Having half the boundary fence of 5 acres approx mended just cost c£2k. And that was just repairs, not a whole job.

 

[rabatsa]

I would stock fence every time. Not only does it keep your stock in, if you get your own sheep, it keeps a lot of other animals out, such as loose dogs and wandering children.

 

[sportsmansB]

I got about 550m of tornado fencing done last year. some of mine has a rail along the top for aestetic purposes and some without. It worked out at about £14 per metre including octoposts and rail, installed (contractor charged about £6 per metre as far as I can remember)
Its virtually indestructible.
Helps if you have a way of reclaiming the VAT

 

[Muddy unicorn]

Thanks - the tornado fencing looks like a good option. We’ve got three paddocks - one is 5.5 acres with a drystone wall with wooden electric posts inside. Initially we’re going to use this field for the horses as it won’t take too much to get the electric fencing back up and running. The other two paddocks are about 4 acres each and have a hedge in between them. I’m working on the principal that the perimeter is more important and then worry about the internal fence line afterwards. The bottom of both those fields runs along the road so my biggest worry right now is the dogs running through the hedge ..

 

[Nudibranch]

We've just had 10 acres re-fenced and also split into 3. Had a 350 metre run of Tordado stock fencing and the rest post and 3 strands of permanent electric as it was already hedge and very old stock fencing. Plus a couple of gateways, etc. It's goat proof now (i.e. nothing is ever getting through!). Total cost was about 2.5 for materials and another 2 for labour. Had it been stock fenced all over I think we'd have been looking between 8 and 10k.
Everything has gone up again this month as well. Wood is through the roof in particular.

 

[Polos Mum]

I really rate Tornato (I'm sure there are other brands) children, foxes, dogs, sheep and really horse trashing proof (my boys are real thugs)