goat fence - wire mesh or barbed wire?

[bdog]

I am building a fence for goats on my 5 acres. I set all the corner posts and H-braces today and have t-posts every 10'. With cross fences, etc I have 2800 foot of fence to build, with a maximum stretch length of 467'. The land is flat as a pancake. Not more than 1 foot elevation variation on the whole place.

Sheep/goat fence (48" tall, 4 inch square mesh, 12.5 guage) is $173 for a 330' roll which works out to 52 cents a foot.

12.5 guage barbed wire is $40 for a 1320' roll, or 3 cents a foot per strand. I could build a 10 strand fence for 30 cents a foot and save over $600 on the project.

Question is I have already spent quite a bit on posts, concrete, etc and my ultimate goal is to have a "goat proof" fence if there is such a thing. A local farmer told me that a 10 strand barbed wire fence will hold goats well. My main concern is I often leave town for a week or so for work and the wife is left to take care of the goats. I don't want them escaping while I am gone, as she will not know what to do.

Should I spend the extra $600 on the mesh, or will barbed do the trick?

Also I have built barbed wire before and it is easy to stretch. I have never dealt with the mesh before.

 

[fireshawn]

A 9 or 10 strand fence will hold them. You want the bottom ones like 3"-3"-3"-4"-4"-4"-5"-5"-5"-5". Also make it tight. You are trying to keep bad things out as well as good thing in. On cross fences, electric works great and you can run a three strand cheaper than barbed. With all that said, we have a 5 strand barbed on one side( long story) and our neighbor also runs goats. His and our guard dogs go thru it like it doesn't exist. The only goats that go thru are little kids and they go home/come home when it is time to eat.

 

[RichZ]

I raise Nubian and Alpine goats on my farm, and have a goat diary. I use Red Brand Non-Climb wire mesh fence that I buy at Tractor Supply Company. It holds my goats nicely, and I only use 6 foot T-posts to hold it. I have never had any problem with any goats getting out.

 

[Egon]

Go for the mesh.

Egon

 

[Bird]

Personally I'd go for the mesh and it needs to be a small enough mesh that they can't get their heads hung in it. However, I know of one much larger goat farm that only has 3 strand barbed wire and one electric wire. It's along a highway and has been that way the last 10 years that I know of.

 

[dubba]

We use a couple of different types of fencing for our goats.

We have a holding pen next to the barn for the bulletproof, "nobody's going to home to chase them" fence made from hog panels

Then we go to mesh at every place that faces the house as they tend to challenge this more trying to get to the people.

After that is stranded wire (no barbs). We never have gotten around to fencing off the back of the pasture (please don't tell them) as they never go that far out before returning to the barn area.

 

[jinman]

My wife has four goats and at one time had a dozen. They're large part Angora and part Boar goats. She used regular mesh field fence (hogwire fence) and barb wire on top and bottom. Her fence around the barn area looks like it's pregnant between each post. The goats rub and scratch themselves on the wire and it takes constant attention to the fence. Away from the barn it's not that big of a problem, but where the goats congregate and "mess" with each other, things get a lot of abuse. If we were doing the fence again, we'd use a no climb mesh close to the barn and out to at least 150' from where the goats spend most of their time.

 

[Jimcro55]

I would also go with the mesh:

Belleville Wire Cloth Co., Inc - Woven Wire Mesh | Wire Cloth | Stainless Steel Wire Mesh | Wire Cloth Strainer

Look through that site and I am sure you will see the size and style that you are looking for. I never feel too comfortable when I just leave 3 wires hanging instead of a full mesh fence. Stuff is strong enough to keep them in and keeps everything else OUT!

 

[buttaluv]

I wanna know where your getting that mesh for 173.00, I just got a quote from Tractor supply for 239 or 279 or something like that!!!same length too!

 

[Mousefield]

We use a mesh wire that up our way is called page wire, it has smaller squares at the bottom and get a bit larger near the top. Works well for our goats. We have 3 fenced pastures for the goats, 2 that require a walk to the fenced in pasture. We have a fair amount fenced and they have not tried to escape yet. :laughing: Pic 1 is a corner of our middle size pasture. Pic 2 and 4 they are in a largest fenced pasture although you can not see the fence. Pic 3 they are going to the barn from our largest fenced pasture. Note: the funny looking goat is our late dog Amber.