rabbits
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter, Chief Spud
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cockneycarrot
allotment in norfolk and we are cursed with rabbits,i have fenced mine off with metre high chicken wire, how high can they jump.
I maybe wrong but I thought bunnies were pretty good at burrowing under the wire.
We kept rabbits as pets and there was always one that would dig under the 'wire run' when out on the lawn. Pretty good at jumping too we had to keep a lid on it.
Best of luck
Beryl.
We kept rabbits as pets and there was always one that would dig under the 'wire run' when out on the lawn. Pretty good at jumping too we had to keep a lid on it.
Best of luck
Beryl.
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cockneycarrot
- KG Regular
- Posts: 22
- Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2006 2:38 pm
- Location: norfolk
Jo H wrote:My rabbit fencing is made of 4' chicken wire with 1' turned out at the bottom and burried under the turf. So the fence is 3' high and I haven't had one in there yet after 5 years and there' plenty of them around.
Jo
thanks for that Beryl & Jo I have taken on board your comments, hopefully i can keep the pests out now.
all the best
cockneycarrot
cockneycarrot
Hi Cockneycarrot,
Hereabouts rabbit netting comes in 42" width to the roll and 36" is hung upright and the rest buried at approx 45 degrees facing outward.
This is fencing to the Forestry Commission's specification.
This means that the bottom of the wire is very vunerable when strimming and due care should be taken.
I have a very large area 'rabbit proofed' and this has been in place now for many years and to date I have not had any difficulties. Be sure to buy a gauge of netting that will not allow very small baby Rabbits from entering through the wire. A baby Rabbit can get through 38mm wire and can do almost as much damage as a larger one so the mesh must be less than 38mm.
My fencing is to FC standards and they have a very good booklet on the subject, although by now it may well be out of print but it is worth having a copy.
One tip is to never hammer home fully the staples because normally in doing so you damage the nettings
galvanized protection. My fencing is with posts 6ft apart and 3 high tensile wires stressed taught (at the top of the fencne, 4inches from the ground and one equidistant between) and the netting is actually clipped to the wire with special netting clips. The wires are run through large staples they are again not hammered home and the wire is free to move and is only tightly stapled at the end strainer posts.
Mine is a commercial installation so perhaps you may not want to be as elaborate but all measures mentioned are to give maximum life to the fence.
Hope this helps.
Hereabouts rabbit netting comes in 42" width to the roll and 36" is hung upright and the rest buried at approx 45 degrees facing outward.
This is fencing to the Forestry Commission's specification.
This means that the bottom of the wire is very vunerable when strimming and due care should be taken.
I have a very large area 'rabbit proofed' and this has been in place now for many years and to date I have not had any difficulties. Be sure to buy a gauge of netting that will not allow very small baby Rabbits from entering through the wire. A baby Rabbit can get through 38mm wire and can do almost as much damage as a larger one so the mesh must be less than 38mm.
My fencing is to FC standards and they have a very good booklet on the subject, although by now it may well be out of print but it is worth having a copy.
One tip is to never hammer home fully the staples because normally in doing so you damage the nettings
galvanized protection. My fencing is with posts 6ft apart and 3 high tensile wires stressed taught (at the top of the fencne, 4inches from the ground and one equidistant between) and the netting is actually clipped to the wire with special netting clips. The wires are run through large staples they are again not hammered home and the wire is free to move and is only tightly stapled at the end strainer posts.
Mine is a commercial installation so perhaps you may not want to be as elaborate but all measures mentioned are to give maximum life to the fence.
Hope this helps.
JB.
You can get full details of rabbit fencing from the website of BTCV volunteers. They do a series of booklets for the volunters and all are available for purchase or download.
http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/index/book/109
If any difficulty finding it come back here for full details.I used to bury my bottom edge in a trench but it is totally unneccesary and a huge amount of work if you ever have to dig it out again. Just spread it out flat outwards then weigh it down with the turf and let the weeds cover it. When the rabbits approach the fence and cannot get through they will attempt to tunnel underneath. As long as the netting is there they won't think to go back and dig underneath it.
I did start off with high tensile wire but it should not be necesssary just for the rabbit netting, however do put a wire along the top and you will need a tensioner at the end. The ring placing machine is available from Jackson's fencing, see their website for details and depots. You could get away without it by either threading the wire through the top of the netting or twisting ties of galvanized wire to hold it. Lots more in the handbook, current price is £16.95 but you can read all the contents online.
http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/index/book/109
If any difficulty finding it come back here for full details.I used to bury my bottom edge in a trench but it is totally unneccesary and a huge amount of work if you ever have to dig it out again. Just spread it out flat outwards then weigh it down with the turf and let the weeds cover it. When the rabbits approach the fence and cannot get through they will attempt to tunnel underneath. As long as the netting is there they won't think to go back and dig underneath it.
I did start off with high tensile wire but it should not be necesssary just for the rabbit netting, however do put a wire along the top and you will need a tensioner at the end. The ring placing machine is available from Jackson's fencing, see their website for details and depots. You could get away without it by either threading the wire through the top of the netting or twisting ties of galvanized wire to hold it. Lots more in the handbook, current price is £16.95 but you can read all the contents online.
Allan,
With the greatest respect you have put postings on this forum in the quite recent past complaining how you are troubled with Rabbits but you can go back as far as the last 25 years and I have yet to have ingress of a single Rabbit through my fencing. You have never seen a posting from me complaining about Rabbit damage. The stock in my Nursery had to be protected as there was literally thousands of pounds worth laid down. I have also had to protect from Badgers and more important Deer. The proof of a pudding is in the eating!!
If you are going to do a job do it properly.
Half a job gives you half the protection.
With the greatest respect you have put postings on this forum in the quite recent past complaining how you are troubled with Rabbits but you can go back as far as the last 25 years and I have yet to have ingress of a single Rabbit through my fencing. You have never seen a posting from me complaining about Rabbit damage. The stock in my Nursery had to be protected as there was literally thousands of pounds worth laid down. I have also had to protect from Badgers and more important Deer. The proof of a pudding is in the eating!!
If you are going to do a job do it properly.
Half a job gives you half the protection.
JB.
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Guest
Johnboy, I am not going to argue about this online. My methods are completely proven.Thr rabbits on site are nothing to do with the present rabbit fence.Anyone wo wishes to follow the 'official' advice can follow that URL.
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Guest
Johnboy, if you really need to have a personal go in response to what was a fair contribution from Allan, why not leave the thread alone and conduct it via Personal Messaging? If you are sincere, it should not be necessary to have an audience.
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Guest
The trouble with anonymous GUEST sign ins is that it could be anyone pretending to be anonymous. Or someone too cross to sign in.Some things haven't changed from the old forum, regrettably.
Not wishing to involve myself in personal attacks, but it only took a few moments to come up wuith this one.
http://www.woodland-trust.org.uk/commun ... 203-09.pdf
In it you will find specific reference to my method with the skirt of the rabbit fence, also they use two straining wires, not three.
If you look back at previous messages I am not the only one who does not bury the bottom edge in a trench. My rabbit fencing experiments go back about 15 years so I have learnt a thing or two in all that time. I can show you a length of fencing which had to be abandoned and that has not been cleared because with the full trench method there was just not the effort to retrieve it, nor would it be justified in terms of recycling as the wire has rusted in the ground and could not be re-used.
A word of caution, if anybody is tempted to go to electric fencing, think again, I spent a fortune on that in the early days, it may work at first but the rabbits soon know how to get past it.
As to rabbits in polytunnels, they don't chew through the sides but ill-fitting doors are the vulnerable spot, you must have some sort of sill if you are to be sure that you can keep them out.
I apologise for my messages coming up as 'Guest' this is due to the vagaries of my internet connection coupled with a website with an incompatible log-on system. which labels me as Guest if the connection is lost.
I welcome all fair comment.
Allan Day
[email protected].
http://www.woodland-trust.org.uk/commun ... 203-09.pdf
In it you will find specific reference to my method with the skirt of the rabbit fence, also they use two straining wires, not three.
If you look back at previous messages I am not the only one who does not bury the bottom edge in a trench. My rabbit fencing experiments go back about 15 years so I have learnt a thing or two in all that time. I can show you a length of fencing which had to be abandoned and that has not been cleared because with the full trench method there was just not the effort to retrieve it, nor would it be justified in terms of recycling as the wire has rusted in the ground and could not be re-used.
A word of caution, if anybody is tempted to go to electric fencing, think again, I spent a fortune on that in the early days, it may work at first but the rabbits soon know how to get past it.
As to rabbits in polytunnels, they don't chew through the sides but ill-fitting doors are the vulnerable spot, you must have some sort of sill if you are to be sure that you can keep them out.
I apologise for my messages coming up as 'Guest' this is due to the vagaries of my internet connection coupled with a website with an incompatible log-on system. which labels me as Guest if the connection is lost.
I welcome all fair comment.
Allan Day
[email protected].
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cockneycarrot
- KG Regular
- Posts: 22
- Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2006 2:38 pm
- Location: norfolk
have found that a rabbit was entering under my 8x12 shed,haven't had any entrys for 4 days. thank you all for your help and advice. i will be back with more questions.
all the best
cockneycarrot
cockneycarrot