Fencing for goats?

[Kenfyoozed]

I want a couple of goats to raise for meat and for them to clear out a heavily brushed area. The area in question is roughly 300x120 and hilly. I have searched diffent fences and it seems none are perfect. I wanted a high tensile wire fence but due to the hilly terrain i am afraid of up lifting my post. I plan on whatever fence, to also run 2-3 stands of elctric fence on the grazing side. I want to do this nicely yet inexpensive as possible. right now I am looking at either a 8 stand barbed wire fence+ electic inside, or regular field fence + electric. The thing I like about the barbed fence is that it is always "on", and will deter the goats from leaning or attempting to climb. the bad thing is that barbs can and will do damage. The regular field fence is ok but they can get their heads stuck. Goats in question will most likely be Boer goats, if that matters in the decision proccess. price diference is 150 less for the barbed wire, and fence post will be old power poles, as i have a good friend who can get me all I want.

What are your thoughts?
Thanks
Neil

 

[rmully]

Look up high tensile wire fencing. It is inexpensive, effective for goats and you will not injure your animals like you will with barbed wire. You will need 6 wires 6" 12" 18" 26" 36" 48" from the ground up, you can make them all hot or use the 18" wire as a ground. If the goats are not small when you get them you could start at 12" The HT wire is 12.5 gauge and the cost is about $100 for 4000 ft which is more than enough to do your project. Use a 50 mile fencer for the added shock. Good luck

 

[texasjohn]

The area you are fencing is not too expensive to use 8 strand barb wire... has long history of doing the job...goats are medium intelligent, will not go crazy and cut themselves all up like horses would. A couple of electric strands inside the fence will be super insurance....you are right in using solid fence posts, and lots of them... the corners are the most important, brace them well... I use 3 posts in a row at the corner. Suggest you use rachets in both the smooth wire and the barb wire... makes tightening up soooo much easier later...and you WILL need to do this. a 100 mile fence charger would be even better.... and will work thru brush and wet stuff.

 

[Kenfyoozed]

rmully- I had originally wanted a ht fence, but i am worried about up lift of the poles, since I have hiily terrain. But I will look into it farther. It seems like a HT fence and a barbed fence are close in price. Maybe a mixture of both, like the lower 4 barbed and the top 4 smooth for humans reaching over plus the electric.

There are some may routes to go. It starts to get aggravating!

On a side note, I ate my first goat meat tonight. I beleve the cuts were ment for stew as they were tough, but did have a grate flavor. I simply grilled after I mairinated . The wife said she liked the flavor better than beef!

 

[Mousefield]

We use page wire for our goats. Not to keen on barb wire, would worry they could injure themselves.

 

[Kenfyoozed]

what exatcly is page fencing? It looks like regular field fencing. What is the spacing of the openings? Do you have any problems with goats sticking their heads through?

 

[weldingisfun]

Enough said If you are raising goats you need our stronger Goat Fence. Best product on the market. And, no, I am not a dealer. I just raise goats.

 

[RichZ]

I own a dairy goat farm, and I use Red Brand Non-Climb fence for my goats. I have it held up with 6 foot T-posts every 8 feet. The only part I had trouble with it is a small stretch where the goats would stand stand against the fence, and slowly started pulling it down. I reinforced that section, and a few other sections where they did that. It works well for me, and was relative inexpensive, but the most improtant part to me is that it's maintenace free.

 

[Mousefield]

what exatcly is page fencing? It looks like regular field fencing. What is the spacing of the openings? Do you have any problems with goats sticking their heads through?

The spaces are smaller at the bottom. We call it page wire up our way, may go by other names in different areas. Yes, the goats can get their heads through it. Good thing as the grass is greener on the other side. :laughing::laughing: Our goats do not have horn so has not been a problem. If I had to do it over again I would look at a better "goat" wire fence. They do stand on it and rub against it so has become out of shape in a few areas. Having said that we have had goats for 9 years now and it is all the original wire.

 

[weldingisfun]

I own a dairy goat farm, and I use Red Brand Non-Climb fence for my goats. I have it held up with 6 foot T-posts every 8 feet. The only part I had trouble with it is a small stretch where the goats would stand stand against the fence, and slowly started pulling it down. I reinforced that section, and a few other sections where they did that. It works well for me, and was relative inexpensive, but the most improtant part to me is that it's maintenace free.

Run electric wire on the inside of your fence, the goats will not stand or rub themselves on the field wire.:thumbsup:

 

[cfabe]

We just got started with goats this year and used Red Brand "Sheep & Goat Fence" which is 4x4 woven wire. Works pretty well but the goats like to rub on it and are starting to stretch it a bit. The next pen we do is going to be high tensile electric and I think we're going to run an electric wire inside of the current woven wire fence too just to protect it.

 

[Uncle Doug]

We raised Boer goats for 10 years down here in SE Texas. The first misstake we made with fencing was putting up the woven wire (goat wire) fence. Every day you would have to pull the same goats out of the wire mesh. We ended up removing all the woven wire and going back with 7 strands of barbed wire. We place the lower wires 6 inches apart with T post 10 foot apart with fence stays mid way between the posts. For the most part the barbed wire worked well. The goats will want to "test" the fence to find a way out. If there is a weak spot they will find it. The barbs have no impact on the goats. I have seen the larger goats push their way through the wire if they can get any slack in the wire.

A hot wire works well once they become used to it. For pens we used the 4"x4" galvanized welded wire panels 48 or 60 inch tall. We used ss tie wire to secure the panel to the T posts. Where it joined to wooden posts we made clips using galvanized 2 hole conduit straps securing it with the 2 screws. One clip ever foot up. Again the goats will test the fence. Staples will not hold as they will work loose. The clips will allow the fence to flex when head butted.

Another option is to dehorn all the mature goats and disbud all the kids when they are born. Dehorning is a messy and bloody task. disbudding is not as bad if done when the kids are very young. I think I still have my disbudding iron somewhere.

 

[DennisArrow]

We run a registered breeder herd and value our animals for THEIR value......that said, we have both electric and woven wire. The wire is of the type that has small openings on the bottom and they get larger towards the top. In MANY years now, we have NEVER had a goat get it's head stuck in a fence line. Creep feeders, hay feeders, branches, and even in the wheel well of my RTV; but never a fence. Anyway, we very early on discovered that they love to rub against the fence in order to shed fur and just scratch. A single strand of electric wire, we use all aluminum, takes care of that situation.

In addition to the woven wire fencing we have several pastures of just electric fencing. Yes, after a storm, little babies getting through it till they get zapped, and dumb coyotes do cause a break from time to time. We use the flashing devices to tell us when we have a problem. We have discovered that even when it is off for a day there has been no problems as the goats really dont test it. NOR do the guard dogs.........YOU are planning on having something out there to protect them????????...........Another subject.

Anyway, on the woven wire and the electric, which is 4 wire at 6", 12", 18", and 36", the t posts are spread at 10 paces with 6" wood posts at the corners,in concrete, using an "H" type brace and also wood posts where there may be an extreme elevation change. This would be a dip or something like that............

Our land is heavily wooded and sloped, perfect for goats, so working around slopes and trees is sometimes hard. That is the real reason for the electric fencing actually. It really is also the cheapest. OH yes, we do electrify the gates also. I get so tired of a 450lb billy standing on them, so started doing that awhile back and it sure cures them..........

Good luck and God bless..........Dennis

 

[joncro55]

Try these guys:

Belleville Wire Cloth Co., Inc - Woven Wire Mesh | Wire Cloth | Stainless Steel Wire Mesh | Wire Cloth Strainer


They have a large inventory available of woven wire mesh materials in all different types of alloys and sized. Check out their site and contact them and I am sure they can help you out. I don't have goats, but I just built a fence for my dogs to stay in a certain portion of the yard and the material these guys supplied me with has worked perfectly.

Now if I can just find a way to make the dogs stop digging!

 

[dmccarty]

Our land is heavily wooded and sloped, perfect for goats, so working around slopes and trees is sometimes hard. That is the real reason for the electric fencing actually. It really is also the cheapest. OH yes, we do electrify the gates also. I get so tired of a 450lb billy standing on them, so started doing that awhile back and it sure cures them..........

Dennis,

Do the goats do a good job of keeping the brush down in the woods?

Later,
Dan

 

[rmully]

With HT wire where you have a transition from flat to hill you need a good cemented post where the wire starts to incline and would put a strain on the post. I have used both HT wire and woven fence and goats like to jump on a woven wire fence. The no climb fencing is misleading as they can't climb over but sure can stand on it and damage the woven fence. Don't use barbed wire as they will end up getting hurt, goats are not like cattle or horses... goats are determined little creatures and will try to escape.

 

[DennisArrow]

Dan......Ol Viet Vet here so when I say triple canopy jungle I have a vague notion of what it is. Humping equipment for a few days every week through the stuff leaves a strong memory. Anyway, when we first started the farm, we had as close as it gets here in N. Georgai to triple canopy. Old growth hickory and oak, understory of dogwoods, tulip, and gum and then BRIARS, poison ivy, vines, on and on.........The first pasture that we fenced through the stuff took a couple of Mexicans with machetes, weed eaters, and chain saw 4 days to fence 3 acres............Took 4 goats 2 years to clean this up enough to get in there with a tractor, burn and cut larger weed trees and get fescue and rye established. Now, 4 years later it is like a park...........We started an adjoining 3 acre track that is totally similar last year. This year I can get my tractor through, all the vines and poison ivy is gone and most of the small brush is clean up........

We put 4 mommas and their babies in there as they love and need the forage. Billies don't tend to eat as much forage as the does. Actually we pretty much AI everything now adays; but we do keep the billies in a seperate pasture for sale as breeding stock when they get 6 months or so old...........

Anyway, YES, they totally clean up brush, fence lines etc........It's goat candy......They would rather eat leaves and forage rather than pasture grass any day..........Did I say how fat they get on falling leaves and acorns in the fall?........that's another story.....God bless.........Dennis

PS........we have 2 other patures in the woods that have been retired for a couple of years so the undergrowth can recover and to fight erosion........Sometimes they are TOOOO good........

 

[ultrarunner]

Enough said If you are raising goats you need our stronger Goat Fence. Best product on the market. And, no, I am not a dealer. I just raise goats.

I did a search and no dealers within 500 miles... :-(

 

[dmccarty]

...
Anyway, YES, they totally clean up brush, fence lines etc........It's goat candy......They would rather eat leaves and forage rather than pasture grass any day..........Did I say how fat they get on falling leaves and acorns in the fall?........that's another story.....God bless.........Dennis

We have thought about goats for 10 years to control the brush. The prohibitors of getting goats is getting them water, FENCING in an area for the critters, and protecting the goats from dogs and coyotes. It has taken me a couple years of work to just clear our western and eastern property lines. I can only get the tractor down the western line and this just barely. The other property lines are more problematic and all are heavily brushed and treed.

I think they only way we can control the brush, much of which is non native, is with goats. We would have to fence off 5-10 acres at a time and let the goats have at it. But getting water to them and shelter would take some work as well. Sigh. I need to win the Lotto to have the time so I can manage the land correctly.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[beppington]

I've heard donkeys/ mules will keep the coyotes away from goats? Anybody know?

I'd like to let a bunch of goats eat my jungle, but am also afraid coyotes will just eat them.