Goat Talk. What's the best kind of fence?

[Laney]

We have Woven Wire fence, 4 1/2 foot tall with 13 wires. Works fine for us so far.

Course we have multiple goats, so no lonely..the pasture is 3 acres, so not feeling confined either. We did have one get out once, but it was because the cattle fence was not well secured, we only had chain wrapped once around. We fixed that with a proper hold and no attempts since them.

We have pygmies in there most of the time. Right now we have a bunch of Dairy mixes in with the pygmies visiting.

Laney

 

[Smoky73]

Quote:
When you say "Cattle Panels" do you mean the pre-welded sheet of squares that are 16ft long? Like this http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp...10551_10001_36153_-1______?rFlag=true&cFlag=1
How far apart would you put the steel posts/wooden posts?

Thats correct, out here where I am at, we call them "hog panels". They are 16 ft long so I would do a post every 16 ft. I have some dairy goats and they pretty much do not try to get over that. If they are horned though you might have a problem. All of ours are horned and we try to let them figure it out on their own if they get stuck. Sometimes we do have to free them though.

 

[brandywine]

Woven wire at least 42" with an offset hot wire at the top and the bottom.

Use horse fencing for extra safety if your goats have horns. Polled/dehorned full-sized goats okay with cattle wire.

 

[KYBOY]

We have always used electric, but electric has to be set up *right*..Thats what most everyone around here uses because of the terrain..You just cant lug 330' rolls of welded wire up a mountain side

The more they have to eat, the less they want out..I have a friend who keeps his goats in with one and two strands of electric but he has about 5 acres of heavy brushy mountainside fenced in..
Electric fences for goats require a strong charger..Those 2-5 mile chargers are laughable where goats are concerned.Ive seen goats lower thier heads and walk right thru 5 strands of electric charged with a two mile charger on only a few hundred yards of fence. Go big or go home with goat fence chargers..You need a charger that puts them on thier butt, they need to be *scared* of the fence, not annoyed with it..

 

[pattyjean73]

I talked to a vet about this very topic (he raises goats himself). He says the best thing he's ever used was the 16' cattle panels. The pen I have is already fenced but there are some damages on the second pen so I figure when I go to repair it I'll change it out and use these panels.

He also said that as long as they have plenty of room to roam, have plenty of "toys" and plenty of company they have a much less tendency to want out.

 

[StrawberryHouseMouse]

I tried everything to keep my goats in.. 6ft high dog (4"x2" welded holes), 1"x1" wire, chain link fence.... nothing worked. Every chance they got my little boy just kept getting out. His mate was content where she was though. But I just couldnt get him to stay inside. He ended up tearing the fence up with his horns. And every time I repaired it he took it as a game and did the same once again. Then he figured out he could eat the wooden door.