Hi Folks, I have an orchard into which I let my Scottish Blackface Sheep graze, however some of them (not all) have acquired a taste for the bark of the trees of which there are hundreds. Does anyone know of an application which can be applied to the tree bark up to a height of about 1 metre which will stop/deter these peskie creatures? I have heard of an old remedy of bitumen spray on then covered in sand; I wonder is there a simpler product/paint?

Lyle wrote in
:


Hi Folks, I have an orchard into which I let my Scottish
Blackface Sheep graze, however some of them (not all) have
acquired a taste for the bark of the trees of which there
are hundreds. Does anyone know of an application which can
be applied to the tree bark up to a height of about 1 metre
which will stop/deter these peskie creatures? I have heard
of an old remedy of bitumen spray on then covered in sand;
I wonder is there a simpler product/paint?

a circle of stock fence (4x4 squares, 4' high) around each
tree. it won't be any harder than painting each tree with
poisonous chemicals... & the fruit will still be edible.
in my experience, sheep really aren't browsers & don't eat
bark or low branches if there is enough suitable grazing. is
there enough grass for the number of sheep in your orchard?
can you exclude the sheep that choose to browse?
lee
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Hello Lee, thank you for posting; much appreciated. I have discounted stock fencing for a few reason: many of the trees are going to need some sort of painting/covering already as the bark has been removed and they are now vulnerable to infection and dehydration. There is no need for the use of any toxic chemicals and interestingly on a US forum a respondent has suggested latex then covered in course sand. It is a small flock, circa 100 and the acreage, circa 40, and quality of pasture is more than adequate. I could break the flock up but I am reluctant to do this as these animals are all 'rescues' from over the years and have become family pets!

Lyle wrote in
:

Hello Lee, thank you for posting; much appreciated. I have
discounted stock fencing for a few reason: many of the
trees are going to need some sort of painting/covering
already as the bark has been removed and they are now
vulnerable to infection and dehydration. There is no need
for the use of any toxic chemicals and interestingly on a
US forum a respondent has suggested latex then covered in
course sand.

well, painting tree wounds tends to cause more problems than
it resolves, but painting the *undamaged* trees with latex
paint & sand (you can mix the sand into latex paint & save a
step) might discorage the browsers.
how badly debarked are the browsed trees? if it's over 50% of
the trunk you really do need to stock fence those trees off to
give them any chance of survival (i'm guessing these are
apples, which are pretty stubborn about dying & not pears or
peaches, which get all huffy & die if they get any bark
damage)

It is a small flock, circa 100 and the
acreage, circa 40, and quality of pasture is more than
adequate. I could break the flock up but I am reluctant to
do this as these animals are all 'rescues' from over the
years and have become family pets!

ah! i see. are the browsers from any particular group of
rescues perhaps? they may have been kept on such poor pasture
they took up browsing for survival?
i have llamas & goats currently, both of which are browsers,
so i have some experience with my trees being eaten & the
stock fence is the one thing that really does work without too
much mucking about or oversight.
lee
--
Last night while sitting in my chair
I pinged a host that wasn't there
It wasn't there again today
The host resolved to NSA.

Lyle wrote:
Hi Folks, I have an orchard into which I let my Scottish Blackface Sheep
graze, however some of them (not all) have acquired a taste for the bark
of the trees of which there are hundreds. Does anyone know of an
application which can be applied to the tree bark up to a height of
about 1 metre which will stop/deter these peskie creatures? I have
heard of an old remedy of bitumen spray on then covered in sand; I
wonder is there a simpler product/paint?



I saw the title and thought your trees had acquired a taste for the
sheep! ;-)

Bob

I have noticed that my sheep will not eat any area that has had dogs on previously, even several years before. I therefore thought that if I took my dogs papers from their indoor bathroom sessions (mostly urine) and rubbed it on the tree bark that the sheep would lose interest. Yes, indeed they no longer want to eat the bark and the trees are not damaged at all.