Opinions on fencing for goats

[EggWalrus]

probably like a mountain goat lol

 

[Willowspirit]

probably like a mountain goat lol

In many places they hang out in the trees. I have seen photos from Africa showing entire trees covered with goats.

View attachment 1909168

 

[Willowspirit]

Goat tree in Morocco.

 

[sylviethecochin]

I last helped build a fence when I was twelve. But my uncle owns a fence company, and my parents own a farm, so I've got peripheral knowledge, and a lot of amateur interest.

Note that said fence was nearly a mile long and so some of the things I know about fencing probably don't apply to a 1-acre pasture.

If I was building a fence for goats again, I'd remember these things:
It's an investment. If you do it cheaply, the you of ten years from now will want to smack you.
Fence isn't any fun to splice together. Cheap wire snaps.
Goats stand on things. Letting them do that to the fence gives them ideas and stretches the fence.

I'd start with wooden posts. Steel ones are too thin and will slowly dig their way sideways so that they're leaning in, especially if your wire has any kind of tension to it. They suck. Get the expensive treated cedar or locust posts, not pine or oak. Pine rots, and landscaping timbers won't last more ten years in a wet climate. The savings are great until you have to go repair the entire fence as it rots out from under you. (Last time I helped repair a pasture fence was last month.)

Plain wire is fairly cheap and quite durable. Six to eight strands of electric (at least fourteen gauge) with electricity running through everything. I want to get aluminum, not steel. It's really worth it.

Put a wrench-operated wire strainer every 2,000 feet for every strand of wire. Fence stretches as time goes by. If you have these, you can just crank it tighter, instead of having to walk the length of the fence, stretching the wire every two-three posts.

Posts can be twenty feet apart if you've got good tension in your wire (my uncle's cattle fence is twenty-five feet between posts, but he's got posts ten inches thick) Good corner posts (think 10-12 inches in diameter) are the key to not having a fence that's leaning inwards, and the 1/3 deep rule is a good rule of thumb.

Goats like to sneak under, not over, so if your fence is above three feet high, you should generally be good. Strands should be eight or fewer inches apart, and the bottom strand should not be more than six inches from the ground if you plan on having goat kids.

Electric all the way. Barbed wire is awful to work with (snags gloves and cuts ungloved hands. You can't re-stretch it easily because when you go to pull it tight, you'll find you have a barb running into your staple. You'll have to push the barb back, which is a great way to slice your thumb open, and then continue stretching.) Get an electric fencer, and get one that's under warranty, because lightning will usually take at least one out.

This is an image I took off of the internet. It (with a few additional strands) is the fence I intend to have if I manage to buy a proper farm. Isn't it beautiful?

 

[Birdsong 82]

Actually my goats don’t really mess with the bottom of the fence too much. But they’ll clear a 3 foot fence with no problem. I’m not a big fan of the metal posts. And it’s very hard for me to drive metal posts. Particularly because I’m not even 5 foot tall. Just trying to see my best option as far as durability cost and ability to install. I’m kind of doing this on my own . I know if I throw some money at my friends nephew he be more than happy to help me for a couple days other than that Its just me , my daughter and any friends that would have some hours to donate here and there

 

[Birdsong 82]

I did notice though at tractor supply they sell 4 x 4 pressure treated post for $13-$15 each but at Lowe’s I can get a 6 foot pressure-treated 4 x 4 for less than seven dollars each. Thinking about spacing them about eight foot apart

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I did notice though at tractor supply they sell 4 x 4 pressure treated post for $13-$15 each but at Lowe’s I can get a 6 foot pressure-treated 4 x 4 for less than seven dollars each. Thinking about spacing them about eight foot apart

Do your goats have horns? If not you can use cattle panels, and some electric fencing, perhaps over the top of the panels. Just another option. Don't use cattle panels with goats with horns.

 

[Birdsong 82]

Yeah. They have horns. Lucy and Romeo have some big ones. And it’s kind of a thing of mine I like Goats with horns. Right now the 2 x 4 welded wire once we found the correct brand has served us well I think the problem is the fact that we had no way of pulling it tight and the metal posts with the soft ground I have in my current yard. I feel like the 2 x 4 openings make it harder for them to get their horn stuck in it. A line of electric around the top is a good idea. I was thinking of going with 4 foot tall and if I foresee issues with that height I can add electric at the top. In their second area I would like to use all electric needed fence because it seems a lot cheaper and pretty effective. But the area that I’m putting up first does have a line of words on each side of it. With that be a little too much of a danger for electric? I just wanna make sure I do it right this time I don’t mind doing fence repairs every so often. Part of maintenance. But they shouldn’t need to be done as often as I do them.

 

[Birdsong 82]

I last helped build a fence when I was twelve. But my uncle owns a fence company, and my parents own a farm, so I've got peripheral knowledge, and a lot of amateur interest.

Note that said fence was nearly a mile long and so some of the things I know about fencing probably don't apply to a 1-acre pasture.

If I was building a fence for goats again, I'd remember these things:
It's an investment. If you do it cheaply, the you of ten years from now will want to smack you.
Fence isn't any fun to splice together. Cheap wire snaps.
Goats stand on things. Letting them do that to the fence gives them ideas and stretches the fence.

I'd start with wooden posts. Steel ones are too thin and will slowly dig their way sideways so that they're leaning in, especially if your wire has any kind of tension to it. They suck. Get the expensive treated cedar or locust posts, not pine or oak. Pine rots, and landscaping timbers won't last more ten years in a wet climate. The savings are great until you have to go repair the entire fence as it rots out from under you. (Last time I helped repair a pasture fence was last month.)

Plain wire is fairly cheap and quite durable. Six to eight strands of electric (at least fourteen gauge) with electricity running through everything. I want to get aluminum, not steel. It's really worth it.

Put a wrench-operated wire strainer every 2,000 feet for every strand of wire. Fence stretches as time goes by. If you have these, you can just crank it tighter, instead of having to walk the length of the fence, stretching the wire every two-three posts.

Posts can be twenty feet apart if you've got good tension in your wire (my uncle's cattle fence is twenty-five feet between posts, but he's got posts ten inches thick) Good corner posts (think 10-12 inches in diameter) are the key to not having a fence that's leaning inwards, and the 1/3 deep rule is a good rule of thumb.

Goats like to sneak under, not over, so if your fence is above three feet high, you should generally be good. Strands should be eight or fewer inches apart, and the bottom strand should not be more than six inches from the ground if you plan on having goat kids.

Electric all the way. Barbed wire is awful to work with (snags gloves and cuts ungloved hands. You can't re-stretch it easily because when you go to pull it tight, you'll find you have a barb running into your staple. You'll have to push the barb back, which is a great way to slice your thumb open, and then continue stretching.) Get an electric fencer, and get one that's under warranty, because lightning will usually take at least one out.

This is an image I took off of the internet. It (with a few additional strands) is the fence I intend to have if I manage to buy a proper farm. Isn't it beautiful?

That is beautiful. If I went that route I’m like you I would add a few extra strands because I could see my goats squeeze in their way right out of that. Sometimes I feel like they’re kind a like hamsters and can fit out of the smallest hole. My goats tried to sneak over under and anything in between. I’m hoping having this much larger area will make them not want to try to sneak out as often. Because even when I breed I don’t intend on keeping more than 10 to 12 maximum at a time. I do have a 50-60 hour week job. But goats are mischievous and sometimes will just Try their darndest to be in any place they know they’re not supposed to. Ha ha. Kind a like a little kids but 140 lbs with horns.

 

[hmarg06]

We have chain link in our barn and the goats have destroyed it. They rub on it, lean on it, stand on it, and some of our old Boer bucks ripped it up with their horns. If it's not in an area that they would frequently be trying to stand on it, it'd probably fair ok. I don't really recommend using it for smaller areas or pens, especially if your goats are horned since they love to rub their heads on it.

What works the absolute best that we've found/used is cattle panel. We did use it when we had horned goats and rarely had an issue. If they are adults, they most likely won't be able to get their head through holes because of their horns and you shouldn't have a problem. We had issues when they were young and still growing horns and could still get their head through. We did have one Boer doe that had horns that went straight back and she still could eat through the cattle panel no problem. You'd have to determine if it would work with your goats based on their horns etc. We mostly have Nigerians now, so not one horned goat on property anymore. The panels just hold up to pretty much anything, and they can't escape unless they are young. As someone once said to us: "If you throw water at your fence and any gets through, your goats will get out." Haha, there is most definitely some truth to it.

We haven't used it because it's way more expensive, but I think they are 4x4 metal panels, would be the pinnacle of goat fencing. If you had the money though, I think it would be the longest lasting, most effective goat fencing. It looks like this:

Hot wire works really well also if you have at least 3, but more likely 4, strands and keep it HOT. As soon as it's not and they know it, you won't keep them in.

They can be so tricky, but once you have it down, they're just so much fun it's worth it!