setting up a track system

J

JLD

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Hello. I currently have a 13.2 native cross on 2 acres ( on sloping clay ) shared with 4 sheep. He came out of winter quite poor and came to me about 6 weeks ago. Since then he has 'bloomed' especially in the last week. He has no additional feed. I would like set up a track system so he still has access to all his natural shelter and his friends over the fence and to keep him moving - he isn't really in work just a bit of lead rein stuff although I have been lunging him to get some weight off. could any one who has a track system advise on how best to do it ? How wide should the track be etc and any other useful advice ? Thank you
 
If its just for one Id start with it about 6 ft wide then you can stagger/strip graze once he's mown off whats on the 6ft bit. You need to use wooden posts at the corners to strain it and the corners dont want to be corners as much as diagonals so if hes charging about he doest try to do a 90deg bend at 100 mph!

:)
 
Might be quite hard with sheep on the paddock too as they tend to plough through fencing! Mine are on about half an acre which has a 8ft wide ( ish ) track around the outside. It has hedges on two sides with trees so some shelter. I strip graze by moving the fencing around 6 inches a night.
 
Do you think 2 acres is too big to track ? Should I split it into 1 acre paddocks and track one of them ? I was a bit worried about him getting bored if too small an area and making his own entertainment especially as he is on his own ( but really settled and happy ). he is quite a respectful of electric so I was going to try one strand at about 3' to allow the sheep under it.
 
I have made mine quite wide as I noticed he was unwilling to roll in my first narrow version and I was worried it might stop him lying down .
Mine is not turely a track as it does not do right round a field it is a sort do curving s shape between two fields.
 
My rectangle field has a track around the outside and across the middle - like a figure of eight squared off a little, the tape is two strands and the bottom of those is high enough for my sheep to walk under so they have access to the whole field if that makes sense
 
WelshD said:
My rectangle field has a track around the outside and across the middle - like a figure of eight squared off a little, the tape is two strands and the bottom of those is high enough for my sheep to walk under so they have access to the whole field if that makes sense
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I used to do that too, but my Shetland used to roll under ( little tinker! )
 
2 acres isnt a lot at all! Mine have a track around 8 acres!!!

The more track the more they move, the further they walk for food - OP will have plenty of foggage growing in the middle to strip graze onto once the grass stops growing.
 
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