Does anyone have experience with electric net fencing for goats?

[Granolamom]

I'm checking out the "Premier Fencing" website and am considering purchasing their Electro-net Fence, but would like to know if anyone is using a similar type of fencing for their goats.
I have 3 small Alpine/Pygmy mutts (love them ), and they're pretty docile. My neighbor is letting me use her (unfenced) pasture, which is why I want to use prtable fencing.

 

[PineBurrowPeeps]

 

[Western Chick]

I've replied about this topic before but I'll say it again...

I will never use that for goats again!

I have an electric net fence from Premier and have lost one pygmy goat and nearly half a dozen others to that fence. They stick their heads through it then get shocked, when they try to pull their head out they get stuck, it entagles their neck and they sit their choking and getting shocked.

I know some people have used it without problems and I don't know what the secret is, maybe it would be okay for dehorned goats.

I do like to use the fence as a predator deterrent for my chickens, ducks and geese.

For the record- IMHO Premier is a great company with excellent products and customer service, I just would not use this particular fencing for goats.

ETA- Here's a picture from when I first got my goats, you can see the fence in the background. The day after I took this picture I came home from work to find one of them tangled in it and nearly dead.

 

[dfchaser]

Wow, that is a very terrible and sad story. I have often wondered about the net. We chose to run 7 strands of wire for our fence. We only use it for the does. The bucks get cattle fencing lined with electric. So far so good. The only goats that jump thru the doe fence is the two babies we bottle fed. They hate to be apart from us (and the pain of the shock is worth it if they can be with us i guess)

 

[Granolamom]

Wow, that's a terrible story! I'm originally from Germany, and over there EVERYBODY uses electric netting for their goats and sheep. I have read that you have to "train" them to respect the fence, but don't really have a clue on how to accomplish that. I imagine you can't just set it up, stick them in it, and go about your merry way. Perhaps stay with them the first few times, and when they get on it, you're right there to intervene if needed. Hmmmmmmm. If I can't use that fencing, I'm in big doo-doo, because I won't be able to use that pasture...

 

[Western Chick]

I would go for woven wire or even cattle panels if you can- the cattle panels are easy to take down and move if you need to.

The pygmies I had in the fence were "trained" to it. They had both been zapped good while in my presence. All it takes is for something tasty, new or interesting to be on the other side of the fence for them to test it again.

The babies will go through it repeatedly because they don't get a shock from it (they're too small to be grounded well enough). Eventually they get hung up in it and need to be untangled. Or the babies get through and mama wants to get them back and mama tries to go through and gets tangled up.

I will say that I did use it sucessfully for some yearling and older bucks. They seemed to respect it once they got zapped- as long as there were no does nearby and I kept it moved to an area with fresh grass. This meant moving it every day or two (at the most). As soon as the grass on the other side started looking better they'd try for it. I've decided that it's just not worth the risk.

The fence actually comes with a warning that a child was killed by a fence like this when s/he got tangled in it while crawling on wet grass. I guess that should have been my first clue that it wasn't a good idea.

 

[raindrop]

For goats, I think single strands of electrified wire would be cheaper and safer. You could still move it around, if that is your goal. Would they be locked up in a more predator-proof yard at night?
Or you could use field fencing with a couple strands of electric to prevent climbing.

 

[monarc23]

I dont trust the netting at all. We use it nonelectrified as a barrier for chickens in an already fenced-in area.


Goats get pretty caught up in it as the one poster said. I just think it's a bad idea all around. Net is meant to catch things... so net used as a fence is just kinda not smart IMO esp an electrified one, but nonelectrified itself can be bad as well.

 

[Granolamom]

Quote:
Yup, they're in a large pen with their own shed at night and during the day when we're not there. I could leave them there, it's definitely large enough, but there's no access to grass, and very little vegetation other than mature trees in there. My neighbor is letting me use her pasture for them, but she does not want to have any fencing other than the portable kind, that can be moved around every few days. I guess I'll keep cutting brush and taking it to them, along with hay, until I find a solution (right now we're taking the mom into pasture on a leash, and the kids just follow along, 2-3 times a day).

 

[psiers]

I have been using the web electric fence with my goats for 2 years.... I love it. I purchased a zaraba solar unit and I have 4 sections set up now. 168' x 4 My goats at first were not happy.... but once the understood not to touch the fence they have been good ever since... My Lab is in with the goats and he has learned not to touch the fence also. My Anatolians...I have to work with. They haven't escaped, but they have broken a few strans that are easily fixed. I purchased mine from Live Wire Products... Fairly good price.They are in California. Marysville to be exact. They shipped same day and two days later they were here. Get a repair kit just in case... They send out some, but not alot.