Electric Security Gates

LordJeff

Ok, for the second time in two years, we've had our garden trashed by the local cows. The lawn has been marked, flower beds ruined, pots broken etc. :mad: Yet again, no one has owned up to owning the cows and I'm furious!

Anyway, I have decided that we need a set of electric security gates. Does anyone have any idea how much we would expect to pay? Someone once told me that it would be about £2,000 at which stage I decided not to bother! Is it possible to use an existing set of (non-electric) gates to keep the cost down?

Also, if anyone could recommend local suppliers in the Co. Antrim area then I'd be very, very grateful.

Thanks in advance.

bantamfan

I am not trying to be funny, but would a cattle grid be less hassle. (Not sure about price though) Unless you need the gates for security, they can be a pain as you wait for them to open and they will not last forever.

LordJeff

Yes, it's a good idea but I'm not sure how effective they are. Anyone know?

KiwiCoop

Pretty much every farm in New Zealand has them so I'd say they must work!

thriftyminx13

Also are the cattle not marked? I think by law they have a code or stamp etc, not only to prevent theft but if the cow dies then they can't just dump it, it has to be probably incinerated. If there is a marking then ring up the ulster farmers union or DARD to see if they can give any further info.

Choco

thriftyminx13 wrote: »

Also are the cattle not marked? I think by law they have a code or stamp etc, not only to prevent theft but if the cow dies then they can't just dump it, it has to be probably incinerated. If there is a marking then ring up the ulster farmers union or DARD to see if they can give any further info.

Every cow must by law have an Ear Tag. I worked in Dept of Agriculture years ago (in the late 70s) and even then every cow had to have an Ear Tag. Dungannons commenced 59-, 60- or 61-.

I enen remember from those days certain farmers Herd Nos!!!!!

thriftyminx13

Choco wrote: »

Every cow must by law have an Ear Tag. I worked in Dept of Agriculture years ago (in the late 70s) and even then every cow had to have an Ear Tag. Dungannons commenced 59-, 60- or 61-.

I enen remember from those days certain farmers Herd Nos!!!!!

I knew there was something!! yeah suggest that you take a photo for evidence if you can get that close

SnowyOwl_2

The cows will have big tags hanging from their ears - each number is unique and is the animal's id and follows him/her from birth to death. It is mandatory for farmers to keep records of their animals numbers and to properly track which have been sold to another owner, which have been tested for diseases eg TB and when etc etc. If the farmer has complied with the law then the animals found tramping round your garden are traceable to the farmer who owns them.

A cattle grid is probably cheaper to install than gates, virtually maintenance free, won't break down, and very reliable. Farmers can't 100% guarantee that their animals will never ever get out of their fields unaccompanied - people have been known to unintentionally drive through hedges, or (some) walkers leave gates open, so the farmer isn't always negligent.

Here's a link to DARD:

dard

cautious_bob

A good job- and unlike electric gates, once installed cant really go wrong.
Ensure that the well the grid sits in has drain holes otherwise you get an unlovely water feature and a little internal ramp for hedgehogs to climb out is handy (they do fall in- Im not making this up)
Lastly - hopefully you will never have my experience of being part of a 'lift' at a funeral, taking the coffin over the cattlegrid in smooth soled shoes was very scary - to this day no one knows how close I felt I was to disaster.....
Bob

LordJeff

Thanks to all, I shall look into the cattle grid idea. It might save us a lot of money.

Re. contacting DARD, the problem is that I didn't see the cows in the garden. They had been in and the farmer had removed them by the time I returned back home. I have family who are farmers so I understand completely that these things happen. What annoys me most is not the damage but the fact that no one came back to apologise.

Does anyone else think that people in Northern Ireland are getting less pleasant? In the past few weeks I have had the "cow incident", I've been shouted at by a lorry driver and I've had change practically thrown at me by shop assistants. I used to think that people here were nicer than elsewhere but now I'm not so sure.......

Thanks again for the help.

Golden_Anemone

Just make sure your boundary fence is secure as well. Not a lot of point getting the cattle grid if they can squeeze through a gap in the hedge. :-)

Good luck.