Skidable Sheep Pen

Hi there! I am looking at renting some land not terribly close to me but not too far; I figure checking on the animals once a day is doable. That being said, there is no fencing to keep predators out and I REALLY don't want to deal with polywire if I don't have to. All that to say-

Does anyone have ideas for building a skidable sheep PEN that they can safely graze in for a day or so? How big would it have to be?
My thinking is about 12x12' per sheep per day? That's a pretty big structure for 2+ sheep... I thought about buying 1, possibly 2 of the 10x10 dog runs and linking them together on skids. Any other ideas?

What about portable water? I'm not big and strong, so even a full 50gal barrel might be too much for me to pull myself. And I am planning on having to do everything myself.

Next up, skidable milking parlor! I don't want to put the cart before the sheep, so to speak; but if anyone has ideas I am all ears!

Thanks!!!

This is an idea I've been mulling over for a few years, now. I haven't acted on it, because our tractor isn't working, and I know until it is, I won't be able to move it.

I use hog panels, connected with spiral joints, for my goats, because we have no way to set fence posts. One of my ideas, to make them less floppy, was to shorten them from 16ft to 12ft long. But the loss of square footage was more than I was happy with.

But, I've been looking into ibc totes, overturned, with a door cut out, for shelters, and on thinner, ski-like skids, those would be movable, even without the tractor. I've seen folks put a (food-safe) ibc tote or 55gal barrel on the back of a trailer, set up with a spigot, to fill a small trough. Rain-protected mineral tubs could then be attached to the trailer, too. But, I know I can't pull that, by hand.

I haven't gone so far as the milking parlor, because I want my milk in the fridge or ice, within minutes of milking it, so I bring my girls to the stand, on the front porch of my house, to milk, lol.

How do you move your panels? Do you put your goats in a barn overnight?

I've had problems with big cats overnight, so I'd be worried about using just fencing, even electric netting, knowing cats can clear the height easily. But if others' experience is that it's not an issue, I might sleep a little better if we choose an open top.

Isa Jardinera wrote: And I am planning on having to do everything myself.

Hubby built some ~10x12' chicken shelters on wheels and put a *lot* of effort into keeping them as light as possible, and as a card carrying 115 lb wimp, I can only move them if they're heading down at least a slight slope. To move them effectively, Hubby actually lifts up on the front slightly so he's helping it skid overtop of the grass. Tall spring grass is a major obstacle.

That's a pretty big structure for 2+ sheep... I thought about buying 1, possibly 2 of the 10x10 dog runs and linking them together on skids. Any other ideas?

Someone I know tried to build similar out of cattle panels. The big issue is that flat land is generally not flat. Without coming up with some sort of easy to connect system to accommodate slope and uneven ground, even a modular system was too time consuming to be effective.  

What about portable water? I'm not big and strong, so even a full 50gal barrel might be too much for me to pull myself.

I did build a skid to hold a stock tank for my ducks and geese. Even on decent wheels, I couldn't move it full of water. I would dump the water, rinse the tank, move the skid, then refill the tank from a hose.

Over the last 25 years, I've met many "portable chicken coop/runs". Very few of them ended up being moved daily or even every second day. At least 1 one coop on wheels was placed inside a large fenced area and then the coop was pulled by hand every 2-3 days to distribute the night droppings (it had a wire base), and the birds free-ranged during the day.

The issue of "what to do with the sheep while I'm moving their pen" is a *very* real issue, as is your concern about predators. Livestock guardian dogs is a common answer here on permies. People who have never seen certain predators near their land suddenly discover that the livestock they bought is a strong attractant.

Some sort of more permanent paddock/shift system with a small central hub for managing food and water needs has much to be said for it. Traditional management involved a constantly present "shepherd" to keep the flock moving and herd them to a safe place to bed down each night.

Isa Jardinera wrote:How do you move your panels? Do you put your goats in a barn overnight?

I've had problems with big cats overnight, so I'd be worried about using just fencing, even electric netting, knowing cats can clear the height easily. But if others' experience is that it's not an issue, I might sleep a little better if we choose an open top.

I haven't been able to do it, yet. As I mentioned, I'm stalled at the thinking on it stage, because of our tractor being kaput. My paddock are done with cattle panels, and my goats have access to the barn. But, the barn isn't closed up at night, either. And, we do have photo evidence of both wildcats and cougar, as well as coyote on our property, and a black bear was on our nearest neighbor's front porch. We've had this barn/ fencing set up with goats since Nov.2019, and none of the large predators have messed with our goats. Copperheads have - but not the big cats, dogs, or the bear.