Building a goat pen and shed for FFA goat??

[lopezian]

If you run a top hot wire.. the easy and cheap way is to buy a few 10' sections of cheap plastic 1/2" pvc, cut it into 1' sections, and drill a hole thru 1 end for the wire to pass thru, and then put a couple zip ties on the body near the other end.. say... 4" apart and zip tie it to the fence, and drill another couple holes and nail to the fence posts.. Wqy cheaper than buying those expensive little plastic insulators...

Soundguy, this sounds like a really good idea. Can you elaborate a little on this description? I'm not sure what you mean by "drill a hole thru 1 end for the wire to pass thru". I mean, it's pipe, right? It is by definition, a hole from one end to the other. Do you mean drill a hole from side-to-side through the pipe? I'm having a hard time picturing how this then gets mounted on the post.

If you have a digital camera, can you post a photo of an insulator that you have mounted in this way?

 

[Soundguy]

Take a 1' section of pipe, now, stand it up vertically. Drill a hole from side to side on one end. Now attach this pipe to a fence using zip ties towards the end opposite of the hot wire... a couple zip ties.. one at the bottom, and another one in the middle.. then of course.. run the hot wire thru the top hole.

Now.. if it is to be mounted on a fence post.. take the 1' section of pipe, hold vertically again, and drill 2 holes, side to side, and use nails or screws to mount it to the fence post. Now.. drill another hole at the top, again.. side to side, but perpendicular to the other holes, so the hot wire can run thru and follow the fence.

Soundguy

 

[stevenf]

OK guys, Please help me not reinvent the wheel, I stayed home from work today to get the pen ready, the goat will be here on Sunday. My plan is I drilled 12 three foot deep holes into solid rock today, my plan is to string high tension wire around the pen it is 16' X 32' the post are set 8' on center and the wires will be 6" apart up to about 5'.
WILL THIS HOLD A GOAT determined, scared or otherwise.
Steve

 

[Soundguy]

If it is electrified.

Soundguy

 

[texasjohn]

I've stayed out of this discussion to this point, but would like to add my $.02 worth now.

Yep, goats will worm their way thru anything that they can wriggle thru. Thus, if you ONLY have high tensle wire, they they will never stay where you want them. If you get several strands hot, then that will keep them at home as long as you keep the charger operating. There is, my opinion, one and only one kind of fence charger worth spending money on. It is called a high voltage, short duration, high amperage fence charger. TSC has them. It plugs into 110 ... you certainly will not need a 220V version. Get one rated for 50 miles of fence... 100 miles if you anticipate fencing very much in. These fence chargers allow grass and weeds to grow up against them, don't start fires, and will have sufficient punch to still deliver a shock even when under a heavy weed load.

 

[texasjohn]

Langston University Goat Research Extension
try this site or these
Goat Facilities
Kencove Farm Fence - Horse Fence, Cattle Fence, Electric, Non-Electric High Tensile Fence Supplies for Cattle, Horse, Sheep, Goat, Deer, Elk, Poultry, and Garden
BoerGoats.com Article fencing

These say all I could say and more re goat fences.

 

[stevenf]

Thanks guys, I reduced the spacing to 5" and on our way to pick up his goat today I'll stop and get a roll of 2" X 4" to put over the tensile best of all worlds hopefully if that fails I'll reinstall some of the high tensile insulated and electrify it.
Steve

 

[texasjohn]

Steven, you are off and running on a new adventure. Fear not. The goat is small enough that you can manhandle it if necessary. However, typically goats become very attached to people, particularly if they are fooled with... and will follow you around... even if they get out of the pen...

Enjoy the experience..and best wishes to your son on his project!

 

[catvet]

Steve,

Sort of the same animal we have seven pygmy goats. We've done well with just three strands of electric fence. We built them a 10 x 12 shed this spring. They also have a more airtight shed for the winter. We milled all the wood for the shed and used it green so as it dried it developed big gaps between the boards.

 

[Soundguy]

Steven, you are off and running on a new adventure. Fear not. The goat is small enough that you can manhandle it if necessary. However, typically goats become very attached to people, particularly if they are fooled with... and will follow you around... even if they get out of the pen...

Enjoy the experience..and best wishes to your son on his project!

I agree with Texasjohn. Most farm animals, if handled regularly, will develop an affinity for humans.

Here's one thing you can do to help. get a hand bell. Ring it a few times before you dump the goats feed. Try to do this while he is paying attention. Pretty soon, if you want the goats attention, you can ring the bell and he will come running. ( remember to throw him a feed treat if you ring the bell to summon him).

I do this with my cows, horses, and fowl. I have had the odd 'escapee' and used the bell to call the animal back to the pen/feed bucket.

It works on a 5oz chicken or a 1200# longhorn. Horses can be called from across the pasture with the 'feed bell'.


Soundguy