Loose cows...

gagalina

Hey Guys,

I have two questions that you can hopefully help me with.

1) my dad's land borders a lake and a cow field - now the cow field is the problem ;-) the guy who owns the land is not that great at keeping his cows in his field... over the last few years there were always periods of time where they would come onto my dad's land and its the same story again for the last month... (holes in the fence, etc...) last year we spent about 1000 euro redoing the front lawn - tilling it, flattening it and sowing grass - its quite wet land already and having them cows walk over it ever day, has left it with loads and loads of little "craters" of about 4-6 inches deep.

The guy who owns the land and the cows has a tendency not to pick up his phone or just ignore us.... I talked to the garda already and they said it was a case for a solicitor - although we don't really wanna be walking down that line as this guy can make our lives annoying (we have right of way through his field to get to our property)....

Any suggestions?

question 2:

how to i get our front lawn back in "normal" shape without all the holes? I know over time it should level itself out again, but the thought of doing the same work again that we did last year and resowing the lawn isn't really something we want to be doing....


Gagalina

Hal1

Tbh...

gagalina

i wish we could do that or that the farmer would cough up for it... but most of the "border" is completely grown over - so the elctric fence would be touching branches of tree's/hedges all the time.... and it really would be a major major operation getting that done...

Gagalina

Rovi

'Good fences make good neighbours'

That said, keeping livestock where they're meant to be is the responsibility of the stock owner.
Unless you're willing to suck up the cost of erecting stockproof fencing on your side of the boundary (which you shouldn't have to, after all) or are prepared to 'put up with it' (which you also shouldn't have to), the stock owner will have to be prevailed upon to do the right thing.
Any reasonable stock owner would take remedial action after the first incursion without ever having to be asked, and would offer apologies and offer to rectify damages; I know I have. :rolleyes:
It unfortunately sounds like your neighbour doesn't fit that description, and if they're not responding to reasonable approaches, the only option left may be to go down the solicitor route. The Gardai won't be interested unless it all comes to blows or there's a traffic accident or some such.

I don't know of any livestock farmer who hasn't had their stock go for a ramble at one time or another; it is, after all, their natural inclination, being herd animals and all. Most of us though, make every effort to keep these incidents to a minimum, as the last thing anyone wants is their stock doing damage to other people's property or causing mayhem on the roads.

JohnBoy

any recourse via the department? maybe the guy is in reps and they can put a bit of pressure on him from that side given stockproof fencing is a basic requirment.

near us at the moment there's a small flock of sheep that seem to be moving from garden to garden, they exhausted the hard shoulder last week, the guy who has them should be hauled up over it

The_Conductor

Re: Q1- the fact that you want to try to keep on the good site of your neighbour because of the right-of-way does complicate matters somewhat. Perhaps a couple of days with a strimmer and a small chainsaw might bring the border area into a reasonable enough state so you could give the electric fence a try. It doesn't have to be that expensive to install an electric fence- nor need it be a permanent installation, animals have a habit of learning rapidly from getting shocked (which is why you often see farmers who have new electric fences bedecking them with cabbage leaves to encourage livestock to take a bite at them.........)

Re: replanting your lawn- if you fill the holes with horticultural grade sand and perhaps spread a little seed you should have a reconstituted lawn once again fairly quickly. The sand will also help the grass thats currently there to spread. Obviously this is something for a little later in the spring..... Note: don't use granite sand (some garden centres sell it).

Shane

fastrac

i agree with the electric fence especially if the lawns getting wrecked. good earth bars and trim away the branches and theyre history. youll do a lot of fencing for the price of a solicitor.you can claim back the vat on materials too

gagalina

thanks for all the replies - if we can convince the farmer to put up the electric fence, that would probably cost him a few days of work, but from our side of the fence it is pretty much impossible.... my nickname for this part of my Dad's land is "the jungle" - it took me about 10 minutes to "Walk" along about 200 metres of fencing on our side ;-)

I'll see if I can find out if he is in reps, that's a good tip actually, I hope he is!!

I'll give the horticultural grade sand a try in the spring time, hope that works cause we were really looking forward to having a nice lawn this summer.

Gagalina

maidhc

gagalina wrote:

thanks for all the replies - if we can convince the farmer to put up the electric fence, that would probably cost him a few days of work, but from our side of the fence it is pretty much impossible....

It is your responsibility to cut back the ditch at your side. That is what I would do (and have done). Look after your side of the fence, and let someone else look after theirs. And then everyone lives happily ever after.

The legal route is really a non-starter for these kind of issues.

Oldtree

I do not think the legal route is a good one, as the costs involved followed by the animonisity really arn't worth it. A electricfied wire attached to a battery may be a solution, attached to the far side of wooden posts, with a simple fence attached to your side of the fence. kill off the grass using a biodegradable weedkiller. Then plant hawthorn at 2 foot intervals on this side of the fence. you can slit plant the hawthorn. cut the hawthorn down to 10 inches after planting.

this would be cheaper than going legal, and if your neighbour has not done anything by now he won't cos he is a lazy b.

One method of raising the compacted holes is to use a pitchfork. Thrust it into the soil around the holes at a 45 degree angle and gently lift, but not so much as to tear the soil. do this from all four sides. asap

the most effective method is to fill all the holes with soil and sow grass seed.
sand can have a bad effect on the worm population who keep your soil healthy.

you could always use the insurance issue with your neighbour, as he is responsible for his cattle and if somthing happens like you or a visitor fall and hurt yourself on one of these holes..........

My neighbours were very embarresed when their cows trespassed and fixed all the holes, and it didnt happen again.

can give you more detailed planting advice if you like.

Capt'n Midnight

what's the law on keeping the cows, if they are on your property ?

Wishbone Ash

gagalina wrote:

I talked to the garda already and they said it was a case for a solicitor

If the cattle are straying onto your property without accessing a public road, then there is little the Gardaí can do as it is a civil matter between your neighbour and you.

If however, the cattle are also straying onto a public road, then the Gardaí could take action under the Animals Act 1985. http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/ZZA11Y1985.html

(I presume by "cows" you mean all bovine animals and not just the fully grown female gender! )