Goat fencing

[houseodessey]

I finally have a place to put my goats. It has 4.5 ft posts with 5 strand barbed wire that is in good shape. I am sure that's not sufficient so I wanted to get goat people's input on what to add to the fencing. Also, I will not be around all of the time and want input on guardian animals, donkeys, dogs, etc, as there are always neighborhood dogs and coyotes to consider. Are donkeys effective? Do they need to be proven protectors? How can I tell? Any advice is appreciated.

[cff]

The fence will serve you better if its the type that dogs can't get through- The goats would stay around home without much of a fence but one stray dog can wreck a lot of goats

[flowerpower]

I wouldn't use barbed wire. Goats like to rub too much. The taller the goat, the higher the fence should be. And if they have horns, make sure they can get their heads in & out of the fence easily. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence I noticed. If I haf d to get a guard animal, I would get 2 mini donkey geldings. They are a nice size and will protect the goats. Plus they are damn cute. lol

[plantsnobin]

So, you finally found property? Are you still trying to sell your house? We used to have miniature goats with a 6 ft tall fence, no holes. The little billy kept getting out and I just couldn't figure out how he was doing it. There was a 2x4 cross bracing on one of the posts. I saw him one day very easily walking up that 2x4! I would not have believed it was possible if I hadn't seen it myself. They are very clever little creatures.

[bunkie]

the one thing we found about fencing in goats is to leave the sides of the fence a little loose. when they rub against it and it moves a bit (very little bit) it bothers them and they won't push it.

we have always had dogs to protect, manage and befriend the goats we have. our pygmy goats connected with the dogs after a few weeks and now, they think they're dogs!!! we also like the donkey idea, but haven't tried it, yet.

[houseodessey]

The barbed wire is already there. Maybe I should use something to make little pastures for them that is dog proof and mobile. It's a four acre pasture so I couldn't possibly afford to re-fence it all, at least not at once. It is totally overgrown with ragweed and wild berry brambles and the goats should love that, but I guess they'll have to tackle it in chunks, which is okay. And yes, I have a little girl goat who climbs a crooked oak tree so I know she can get out of anything. The other 2 are less agile and not so smart. I do have someone willing to give me an excess donkey who is used to goats. Not as cute as two mini's, but he's spotted and very sweet and hopefully protective, too.

PN, yes, we finally found a property. It's six acres total and already has septic, co-op water and electric, as well as an ancient farmhouse and rickety old barn. We're trying to hold onto the city house until the market comes back. If things get bad, we'll probably rent it for a loss and move to the new place and sell when things look better. This place was a foreclosure and we were able to scrape up enough cash to not have a payment so if all else fails, we'll just bail on the city house. Not that I want that, but it's possible in a worst case scenario. The property itself is lovely and fairly secluded, and it's pretty much turn key so it's a lot more realistic than the dream property of yore. I'm excited about it and am happy that I didn't take the plunge on the prior place, considering the recent economic calamities here in the US and abroad.

I guess now my question is, what type of secure mobile setups are good for goats? Electric fence, kennel panels? I really don't want my goats to get eaten but I want them clearing that pasture asap.

[cff]

We use range fencing with two strands of hot fence and one strand of ground, we never had any problems with the goats rubbing the fence after the first time one got popped with the hot fence. I had a second pasture that I kept all the young bucks / sometimes the brood buck in to avoid mishap breeding's that was all barbed wire. I didn't have any trouble keeping the goats in but the next door neighbor had a standard size poodle that was way up in years, this dog really didn't seem to be a threat to the goats but one summer afternoon he ran them till they all piled up in the barn. I lost 6 out of 16 young bucks in the pile and none of them had a bite mark. Heat stress from being down in the pile killed all of them.

It doesn't take a lot of fence to keep a goat in but you do need a pretty good one to keep dogs out, I'm pretty sure a few extra stands of hot fencing would do the trick on a budget.

[canadamike]

Hey! Here's a man who knows how to treat a goat !! ;D

[houseodessey]

What do you think of the solar electric fence set-ups? I'm afraid to leave the main breaker on at the house until I figure out how safe the wiring is. Sorry for all of the questions but this is very new territory for me.

[johno]

I've heard good things about the solar electric fences, but haven't bought one yet.

If it wasn't such a large area, 2" x 4" wire keeps dogs out pretty well; of course, I bury it about 8" deep and that really makes a difference in dogs getting under it. But that's for relatively small areas... My buddy in missouri tells me he put up a 7 strand electric fence for his goats and sheep, and it has worked perfectly for keeping them in and dogs out.

I've seen them in action, and it made a believer out of me: Anatolian shepherds are the best livestock guardians available. They put other livestock guardian dogs and donkeys to shame for predator protection. But then, they all pretty much get the job done.

[plantsnobin]

I would think that a couple of strands of electric fencing should work for the dogs. We use solar powered chargers, and they work very well for us around here. Your property sounds great, hope you can post some pics.