My new allotment and previous tenants

[Pumpkin Becki]

I'm a bit familiar with the area as brought up in Thanet... So your sheep like fish and chips! As a friendly gesture I took mine some cabbage leaves from the garden yesterday but they didn't seem to think much of that (can't say I blame 'em...). So do your rabbits live "on-line" (ha! trendy rabbits)? Is the chicken-wire dug into the soil or at right angles on the surface?

Going to get some prices today from local suppliers of posts, wire etc, probably going to be cheaper to buy Kew Gardens... bb.

Hiya.
Yeah, who'd have thought sheep had a thing for fish and chips - not that they actually got given any.

Our rabbit fencing is dug into the gound by about 4-6" as the clay/chalk soil we are on is incredibly hard to dig. Its probably not deep enough to put off a determined rabbit, but it has certainly kept them off the plot so far.

[snohare]

I've put up more rabbit proof fences than I want to remember, and I'm sorry to tell you...well, put it this way, if the easy way worked then the world wouldn't have so many rabbits !
If you have enough tree roots around or very stony/boggy ground then you can skimp on the digging in of wire, and that is where you will normally just see a line of stones put at the bottom of the fence. Even there, you should put in a double line, the first one just below the surface in front of the other on the surface. That's because a rabbit will scratch at the side of a protrusion, if it can't dig down it moves back a few inches and tries again, if it fails there it goes elsewhere.
If you're not lucky, then dig it in a good 8 inches at least I'd say. Easiest way is to put in the line posts (the ones that decide the line of the fence - usually 3 per side including end posts/strainers), attach either the bottom tensile wire or a temporary guide line, and cut along that to the required depth with an edging or garden spade or mattock. (I prefer a mattock as it is good for lifting the sods up.) Then do short cuts at 90 degrees to the fenceline, a short distance apart, so that if you are looking at the ground the cut looks like a comb with the teeth a foot long facing towards you. Finally, pull the turves towards you (i.e. away from the fence) so that they are upside down but still attached. Scoop out any soil stones that would get in the way of laying the netting deep enough, put up other posts, tensile lines and netting, then put turves back the right way up over the horizontal netting. Works a treat.
As for the cost of fencing materiels, there's a reason why in rural areas you see a lot of Freecyclers pleading for "unwanted old fencing materiels"...and rarely getting them. Too useful and too expensive. Maybe try the Forestry Commission near you and see if there are any old deer fences being taken down near you ? These are often left lying by the contractors, as huge bundles of rolled up fencing wire in woodland, some usable some not; a pain to recycle, not for the fainthearted or impatient, but a real find if you can get it. Failing that, farm auctions are good for small amounts. Or you could try your local BTCV (British Trust for Conservation Volunteers) groups, see if they know of any sources of fencing materiels - they will often be doing fencing work for private estates, country parks etc.
Think yourself lucky you only have rabbits - a deer fence costs £12 per metre.

[binley100]

Hey bazza we were buying chicken wire from Wilkos at first but hten found it cheaper online. Got a huge roll from a site we found on E-Bay but can't remember the company. It cost us about £23 . Thanks for your comments on our plot. we're lucky with the hedges but even with the corrugated iron sheets round the rabbits, deer, rats etc still get in but we seem to have managed to keep the rabbits off the beds. The wire is pegged down with a variety of pegs, some whittled from wood (OH was a boy scout!) and some plastic from Wilko's. The paths are layers of newspaper soaked sao it goesd hard like papier mache and then covered with bark chippings, so perhaps made it harder for the little blighters to dig.

[bazzaboy]

Many thanks for all these tips, cripes sounds a lot of work, am wondering if it wouldn’t be easier to slightly adapt snakeshack’s suggestion to shoot the rabbits and shoot myself instead: “Bang! And the job is done!” Only joking but I always thought allotments were about growing a bit of veg but obviously really about Mankind’s struggle against Unequal Odds, Nurture versus Nature, must get myself a Davy Crockett hat as this episode is beginning to resemble The Alamo....

Prices for rabbit fencing aren’t very comforting either, at the local farm suppliers suitable poles are £2.20 each and I’ll need 50 of them, chicken-wire £45 a roll and will need 3 rolls… I’m not a big shopper but suspect you can probably buy a brand new cabbage in Tesco for under £250…. Ah well, the exercise will do me good.

I’ll attempt to follow snohare’s detail, many thanks. Could it usefully be copied as a thread in “Growing Techniques” for anti-rabbit fencing?

I’m not going to make much progress over this weekend as Chesterfield Potato Day today and pals visiting for lunch tomorrow (are you allowed to have friends once you’ve got an allotment?), will post a photo of any progress next week. Many thanks all… bb.

[carlseawolf]

(are you allowed to have friends once you’ve got an allotment?),

they will either inbrace your passion or think your weird.

[heritage]

ive been reading the above posts on rabbit proof fencing,the majority of the advice given is wrong..........a good rabbit proof fence is one that has been installed properly,the correct materials must have been used in its construction and the fence MUST be fitted with drop boxes.The best method of control would be to remove the rabbits from the source first, then put in the proofing.For those intrested take a look at the leader drop box produced by lauderdale engineering,atb

[binley100]

Well I must say mine seems to be working even if it's wrong

[heritage]

The time,effort and cost required to install a good rabbit proof fence is a huge undertaking, if the fence isnt built correctly then rabbits will definatly pass through it by whatever means possible. The use of drop boxes is paramount as youll never permantly keep the rabbits out for any sustained period of time, so therefore the only soloution is to remove them. The same goes for badgers,if you have badgers active in your area its important to include a gate in the fenceline to allow easy passage. Its a win-win situation,if done properly a fence will protect your crops and allow you to "harvest" a free source of fresh rabbit.