Goat fencing

[Kfbeal]

We’re building a 4 board corral board fence to replace field fence & barb wire sections & was considering getting some goats. It’s roughly 53” tall with a corral board running flat on top.

We’re interested to see what it would take to keep them in? I’ve seen where a few runs of hot wire will help. The board spacing we have is roughly 6”-7” between the 2. Will they get out or hung up in that?

We also have barbed wire on the back side of the property that we’d have to address. I was thinking a few runs of hot wire there too?

Anyone have luck keeping goats in with a hot fence?

 

[aczlan]

What size goats are you looking at getting? we had pygmy goats for years and the younger/skinnier ones could squeeze out of a fence like that.
I would put one strand at about 7" off of the ground and another about in the middle of the gap between the first two rails.
If you have tall goats, you may also want another hot wire at the very top (perhaps even on standoffs so that it sticks into the pasture).

Aaron Z

 

[holeycow]

The only way to keep goats or sheep in is with electric. 7000 volts or so will learn’em.

 

[weldingisfun]

Your fence looks very nice, but it won't hold goats. Electric does work. Field fence works well too. I would recommend Red Brand Sheep & Goat Fence | Protect Your Herd With Wire Fencing . If you really want to keep them in, electric and field fence.

 

[Diggin It]

Neighbor had goats. Stupidest critters on Earth. They'd try to get though Goat panels and get their heads hung up. Horns would get stuck and they couldn't pull back through, (think fish hooks). I'd risk my fingers to free them, trying not to get caught between the horns and the wire as they fought me. Once free, they'd run off, only to do the same durned thing an hour later.

Hot wires .... nope. If they touched it between the snout and the horns, they'd pull back. If they got the head part way under, then touched the wire behind the horns/ears ... they'd lurch forward, deeper into or through the fence.

Wood fence? Goats'll probably try to eat it.

Get rocks ... they're smarter and eat less.

 

[EddieWalker]

I have five acres fenced in with 3 rail vinyl fencing that keeps the goats in. But then I added another 6 acres of pasture with 3 lines of hot wire. It works great for horses and my pig, but the goats walk right through it. I have a 2 joule charger which I've touched twice so far and it's something. The goats walk through it several times a day. They love to sit on my driveway. We feed them with the horses and chickens every evening, so they always go back in before dinner time to wait for feed.

When I seperted everyone for feeding, I made the mistake of using field fence. I have one goat that puts it's head through the fence and gets stuck every day, sometimes a couple times a day. I had to run chicken wire across the field fence to stop it. There is dumb, and then there is goat dumb!!!

Somebody said that if water can get through a fence, a goat can get through the fence.

I really like my goats. They do a great job of cleaning up the land and opening up the botoms of the trees. Eventually I'll like to have a lot more, I just need to fence in all of my place first.

 

[Captain Dirty]

<snip> I really like my goats. They do a great job of cleaning up the land and opening up the botoms of the trees.

Consider sheep which are a bit more docile than goats. My father kept sheep, largely for horse-briar and other brush control. Having no horns, cheviots would not get stuck if they forced their heads through the 4' field fencing he had set on "T" posts just inside the old stone walls. The sheep also loved poison ivy. In the Spring when we set the lambs out, city folks, taking a drive in the country, would discover that if they plucked the green stuff off the stone walls and held it through the fence, the ewes, with lambs in tow, would come over and eat right from their hands.

 

[NorTracNY]

We have 2 rail board fencing for the horses. I just added 3 lines of electric for the goats and don't have a problem. Ours do not have horns. I'd be concerned if I did. They'd likely put their head through and get shocked. If the horns caught, they'd rip the wire down and just walk out.

 

[RUSTBUCKET BRONCO]

this is all I have - all electric

 

[reb]

I raised goats for several years. I found a 6 ft chain link fence worked well, with a bottom wire to prevent them from going under.

 

[Kfbeal]

Thanks for the replies & laughs. I know they’re an animal that’s hard to contain. I was hoping a few runs of wire about 8” separation would help.

Not sure on the type of goats. We have McCartney rose & I was hoping they’d gnaw that away. It’s such an invasive plant.

If welder wire panels wouldn’t be so much more $, I’d cut them down and run along the bottom.

I’ve already got too much into this fence, over 800’ of 4 corral boards & top runner.

 

[RUSTBUCKET BRONCO]

on one side of my property my neighbor has 3 rail vinyl fence. I just ran a hot wire on the very bottom, about 4-5" off the ground and then a hot wire between each rail. If there is any way you could "train" them to the electric fence that would work better. Our "training" area is a 60x60' area with field fence that has 3 strands of electric fence on the inside. when I put the goats in the main field I will test them by putting the feed buckets half under the bottom run of hot line. If they hesitate to jump into the grain you should be good to go.
when picking out an electric fence charger you want to get the most joules you can. I have 15 acres fenced with 5 strands of hot wire and I'm using a 13.0 Joule energizers. I am pretty consistently getting 10k volts all the time.

 

[bullbreaker]

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