If you were to fence off one acre is a perfect square shape, the perimeter would be 834 feet. If it were a rectangle shape, it would be closer to 1100 feet, and a circle would be less. So... let's figure 900ft on the perimeter length. For a six wire fence, you would then need 5,400 ft of wire to do all the fence.
14 guage wire, 1/2 mile spool = $50 x 2 = $100
14 guage wire, 1/4 mile spool = $25
Total Wire cost: $125
If you set your t-posts around 8ft apart (that's what we did and it made a very sturdy fence that the goats only went through if the electricity was off) you would need : 900/8 = 112.5 t posts.
115 (for good measure) x $4 (roughly) = $460
You need 6 insulators per post (one for each wire) which would be 115 x 6 = 690 insulators.
They generally come 25 per bag, so 690/25 = 27.6 bags. You can't buy a partial bag, so you would need 28 bags of insulators
28 bags x $4per bag = $112
You also need a fencer.... plan to spend around $200 on the fencer, battery, and/or solar charger. Do you have electric close by or will you need to use solar?
Do you have a post driver or a tractor of some sort to drive the posts? What about fence pliers? I'm not going to figure those costs in, but if you might need to.
Will you need to build a gate? If so, you will need to figure in a few more dollars for gate hardware.
To get a basic 6 strand 1 acre electric fence up, you're looking at:
Wire: $125
T-Posts: $260
Insulators: $112
Fencer: $200
Total Fence Cost: $697
Ok let's talk about shelter... If you're wanting portable, I would purchase a polydome calf hut. Either 1 large or 2 small ones for 5 goats. They would run you about $250-$350 in cost.
If you are going to build a shelter yourself, I'm not real sure on price. For now I'm going to put shelter at $250-$750
Feeders and Waters.... You will need some sort of water tub. A nice sturdy one will run you $50-$75. Hay feeder... if you can build it yourself I'd say around $100. If you purchase it, I would double that price.
Goats.... I HIGHLY (and I cannot stress that enough) recommend you don't just go buy whatever you come across at the auction. I can't give you an exact answer on price on goats until I know what kind you want. Registered dairy goats? "Just some goats"? Do you want ones you can also milk? A ball park estimate would be $500 - $1500. Do you plan to keep a buck? If so, you will need a separate pen for him, as it is not good practice to run a buck with your does all year round. If you are willing to buy bred does, kid them out, and keep a couple of their doe kids back you could get by a little cheaper. Just please whatever you do, buy from a reputable breeder. They will cost a little more to start with, but they won't come with all the possible diseases that you will more than likely get with auction goats.
So a rough estimate:
Fencing: $697
Shelter $250 - $750
Waterers/Feeders: $150-$275
Goats: $500-$1500
Totals: $1597 - $3222
This number does not account for things like a milk stand if you plan to milk, a basic first aid/medicine/vaccines/wormer stock to have on hand, buckets, hay, grain (if necessary) minerals (100% necessary) mineral feeder, etc. It also doesn't account for being able to find some of these items used.
Goats are wonderful, and I highly highly recommend them. I just don't want you to be surprised at the hidden costs associated with them and have to sell out if something goes wrong. Good luck.
