Goats and electric fence - finally giving up

[beowulf]

If you are still going to use electric fence, I would take the time to put in a proper ground whatever you do. Chain link posts aren't going to be deep enough to get to damp soil. Around here, I tend to pour some water on a good location (a bucket with a slow leak is ideal) and let it soak in overnight and then drive a ten foot ground rod in.

Likely that is an issue. And it is really, really dry here. I think I will go with some hog wire and T-posts. I can get that done and it will resolve somewhat permanently. The electric fence was going to be taken down as soon as they cleaned out the ravine. Thanks for taking the time to respond. Appreciated.

 

[EddieWalker]

What is hog wire? If it's a field fence, you have to make sure that the openings are 4x4 or less. If it's any bigger, a goat with horns will put its head through it and get stuck. I'm installing 2x4 horse fence around my place and eventually removing my electric fence.

 

[RUSTBUCKET BRONCO]

I agree with Eddie that you fence isn't hot enough. If you touched the fence "accidently" more than once the fence wasn't hot enough. It needs to be around 10k volts for goats or it will never earn their respect. If you could build a training area for the goats that helps also. I have an area about 50x50 that is 4' high field fence with 3 strands of hot wire on the inside. give the goats a couple days in there feeding them grain. then put the grain pan about a quarter way under the lowest wire if they are reluctant to go to the grain they are getting close to respecting the fence. I have 5 strands of fence around my place that averages about 10k. I "accidently" grabbed onto it once and it dropped me to my knees.

 

[RalphVa]

At considerable effort, I prepared/graded a weed free path for a route of electric fence around a ravine that needed cleaning out (primarily to mitigatge a fire risk). Probably about a 400 foot run. I put in the electric fence posts, ran three strands of wire - one strand was the recommended poly wire - hooked all lines up in several spots. Grounded it to a chainlink fence post - and thus to all the other posts, and hooked it up. The charger was working but the charge did not read that high - But - I shocked myself several times as I continued to work on it - the kind of yell out loud jolt. And the shocks came at the far end of the run so I know it was carrying enough current to deter me. I put the goats in and they meandered a bit and decided they liked something on the other side and so just went on through. Some under, some through. I walked the entire length to check it out and shocked myself a couple more times as I forgot to turn it off - slow learner here. It is very dry now so I thought that might be the issue but it did not stop me from getting hit. So, if the goats do not touch it with their nose but just go under or through - could it be that their hair or hooves are preventing them from getting shocked? I have reworked this fence several times without success - i.e., they walk through it each time I think I have it spot-on right. I will be running some temporary hog fence around the ravine now- doable given the area. But wondering what is happening.

We hired a bunch of goats to eat our invasives. Those guys used a mesh type fence similar to what people use for chickens. They ran probably a couple hundred feet of dual fence to get them into our tree area that they'd surrounded with the mesh fence and used the mesh for the "roadway".

One goat got caught in the fence. My wife went down and talked to it, disconnected the battery and got the goat free. No, actually it got caught in some oriental bittersweet.

 

[Torvy]

@EddieWalker. Do your goats eat the Greenbriar? That stuff is all over my trees and doesn't like to die.

 

[Gee Ray]

@EddieWalker. Do your goats eat the Greenbriar? That stuff is all over my trees and doesn't like to die.

If you goggle it, it says goats love it. Time to buy a few goats. Cheaper then a tractor.

 

[Raul-02]

weed free path for a route of electric fence around a ravine that needed cleaning out (primarily to mitigatge a fire risk).

these people claim they know how to do it.

The Complete Guide to Electric Fence for Goats

Fencing is an important part of raising goats. Learn how to use an electric fence for goats plus the pros & cons of electric fencing when it comes to goats.

thefreerangelife.com

 

[EddieWalker]

@EddieWalker. Do your goats eat the Greenbriar? That stuff is all over my trees and doesn't like to die.

I just looked it up and I don't recognize it, but I do have a variety of vines and ground cover type plants out in my woods that I don't know what they are, and maybe it's greenbrier? There is nothing like that inside the pasture with the goats, so the best I can say is that maybe they eat it.

 

[2manyrocks]

If the soil is too dry for a good ground, another thought is to alternate strands of hot and ground wire provided that you are using enough strands on the fence that the goat is going to contact one ground and one hot wire if the goat tries to go through the fence.

 

[Moxie 15]

I have goats and cows and a Great Pyrenees, oh yeah an electric fence. I mean an Electric fence, a 30 mile 1.6 joule charger on less than 1/2 mile of fence. The goats and the dog look at me and say "What electric fence? Oh, this one that I just walked though?" And fencing, goats get out if they want to. Mine open every style of lock I have tried on a gate unless I put a leash snap on it, they even routinely open a house style round door knob. But I have a cow that puts them all to shame. She walks through the barbed wire and electric fence walks up to my door and moos real loud. A true joy at about 2 am. A little grain and she goes back in for a bit til she wants more grain.