Oak trees....

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Ranyhyn

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We have a beautiful oak tree in one of our fields, he's huge and lovely but obviously poisonous for the horses so I need to fence him in.

What kind of circumferance are we talking or is it easier to paddock them in the bottom half completely (the tree is in the top half)? :confused:

Or just to keep them out of that field completely....?

Thanks all.
 
Fence off the whole area under the canopy of the tree then any acorns would not fall on the grass the horse could eat, if you fence around it , then the horse would use the perimeter as a grazing track, which increases exercise, so that is a good thing.
 
I've several large mature oaks along one boundary up one side in the fence line
Not fenced off, but I use the paddocks they are on the edge of during winter, spring & high summer, I never use them in autumn when acorns are due to fall.

The last paddock I use is grazed hard & then its easy to rake up any large amounts of acorns if I need to.

Had the fields since parents got them in mid 70's & despite having many lodgers etc in them have never had a case of acorn poisoning.
 
The Fuzzy Furry said:
I've several large mature oaks along one boundary up one side in the fence line
Not fenced off, but I use the paddocks they are on the edge of during winter, spring & high summer, I never use them in autumn when acorns are due to fall.
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same here, i'd lose far too much grazing if i never used the paddocks so just work around acorn season:)
 
Ok so for a oak novice, when do they need to come out? I walked the fiel today and tiny green acorns are appearing now.

OH did :o when he retorted "Well there's oaks all over the place here.." and I ranted "well we'll have to fence them all off!!!!" he retreated to the shower quietly :p :)
 
If they have enough grass they dont tend to eat the acorns.
A few will not hurt ,they are toxic rather than poisonous, try and avoid the area in autumn when they are on the ground.
I dont fence off my oaks either they are allround my land.
 
Oh they certainly have enough grass, however my big mare is an absolute PIG :mad: and its her I'm mainly worried about! However with a little bit of planning I can make sure its the sheep in there in autumn and winter :D
 
I also have a huge oak tree in the middle of my fields (between the summer and winter fields!) I also have 2 smaller ones on the edges one in each field.

In the summer mine use it for shade and often sleep under it and rub against it!! and shelter from rain under it (as I have done whilst caught out in the rain poo picking)

I keep an eye on mine and as soon as the acorns fully appear I use electric fencing to fence off a around it (canopy size plus some) if acorns fall outside of this area I move the electric fence accordingly. I tend to keep the fence up until Spring.
 
We are completely surrounded by oaks too. All i do is spread out fresh poo under the trees when the acorns drop this keeps them off a bit. The trouble is they search for them. Then when one finds some, they all move in and hoover them up. Acorns are the bane of my life in the autumn. I fence off as many as I can and have electric tape about 20' in from the edge of the paddocks. They are grazing these boundaries now. They come off when the acorns start dropping.
 
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