Our goats are expert fence jumpers...sounds familiar? We finally had to picket them to keep them from destroying our garden. Does anyone have a different method of keeping them in, apart from refencing the whole pasture (can't afford that yet...)? Thanks a lot!

-- Monica DeCollibus (c.decollibus@ocsnet.net), March 08, 2000

Answers

Electric fence is a wonderful thing even alone especially if strands are fairly close together and tight. Be sure the charger delivers a real punch so they don't even think about testing it a second time. Years ago I had a cunning old doe that would chase a kid into the electric fence to see if it were turned on. She was a challenge!

Would it be possible to fence the garden? In picketing animals, be sure they can't tangle and hang themselves, dump their water or be at the mercy of stray dogs. Also be sure they always have shade as they can quickly die of heat, especially black goats. Again, good luck.

-- Marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), March 08, 2000.

I have electric fence and my goats either jump it or go in between the strands. I even tried to put a chain on her neck and let it hang to her knees, hoping it would hit the fence even if she didn't.Well it didn't help!I am putting in new higher fence in spring.It amazes me what they can get out of.

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), March 08, 2000.

I had to grin at the replies, goats are like houdinis (sp0 when it comes to fences. We use woven wire fence about 6 feet tall and run 3 strands of electric inside, it sort of helps. I too have goats that are jumpers no matter what, so i fence in the garden, its easier. Good luck and if anyone has a cure please please.... share!

Bernice

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), March 08, 2000.

I have the cow panel fencing. That has kept my nubians in and they haven't jumped it. The gate is what gave me problems. If they can get part way thru - wave goodbye. I know this fencing isn't cheap but I personally would rather invest in something permanent than have to keep checking to see if they got out.

-- Pat (pmikul@pcpros.net), March 08, 2000.

We also use cattle panels to keep the goats in. Never had a problem. It is 5 feet high by 16 feet long. Has 8 inch squares. Runs about 15.00 bucks( no Pun} per panel. I started a fruit tree orchard, and if my goats ever got out it wood be by to the trees. When I feed the goats I just put it on the ground outside the fence, and they stick their heads threw to eat. Works real good.

-- Linda Hess (hesscat@cot.net), March 08, 2000.

We use a goat pen made of wood and woven wire with a wooden frame (to give it more rigidity) that has two electric wires running inside the perimeter, one about 9-12" off the ground, and another near the top on the inside so they can't get their feet up on the fence without getting shocked. They would have to clear the fence without touching it, and the fence is about 5 feet high, to avoid getting shocked. There is a section that is not electrified, and sometimes a young doe will jump it, but doesn't go far because she wants to be with the herd. That is the pen that they stay in- the barn lot- during the winter. During spring,summer,and fall, this pen has gates at each corner and the goats are let onto the pasture and can come back into the barn lot at will. The pasture is fenced using New Zealand portable fencing the kind that has the plastic twine with metal strands in it, and is solar powered. It has only two strands, the top strand is three feet high and the lower strand is maybe 18" off the ground. You can wind the string up and pull the posts up and rearrange the fence- the posts are just pushed into the ground by stepping on the base, and they are flexible fiberglass with built in insulators to carry the wire. Our goats have NEVER jumped this fence! Sometimes if the string gets old and rotten it will break if a goats inadvertently runs into it, or a dog will run through the fence and break the string, or a sneaky goat will slip under it if the fence goes over a dip where the lowest wire is high enough (just slide the insulator down the post farther). But as a rule, they respect the fence and will even stay in it if it is down in an area or turned off by accident. We try to keep it working all the time so that they will continue to respect it though. If your goats are escaping or jumping electric fence you might need a different charger or you could try spraying them all with water one summer day so that when they hit that fence it really nails them! Our garden and fruit trees are not fenced at all.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@transport.com), March 09, 2000.

Years ago i had a string of goats, I let them run free, all with bells so I knew where they were. I fenced the garden in, and around the house. They knew when to come to the barn for milking and grain.

I have a deer problem when it comes to gardens but, I have 8' fence, 2' high 2X4" welded wire along the bottom for rabbits and such, 6' of 2" chicken wire, neither the deer or the elk jump these fences, my gates are 11' wide so I can get in with the tractor or pickup.

-- Hendo (OR) (redgate@echoweb.neth), March 09, 2000.

Trade them in for Angoras! ;)

-- Jean (schiszik@tbcnet.com), March 09, 2000.

Monica, Though we have the 13 acres fenced in field fencing, we have found that it eaiser to put troublesome spots and troublesome animals into cattle panel fencing. During rut my bucks live in cattle panel fencing, with that said my now deceased Nubain, has a head profile smashed into one of these panels that is still here today, he did not get through though. My gal friends LaMancha buck can stand and clear a cattle panel so during rut he wears a chain with a weight at the end. (Who'd know he had Champion daughters!) I have cattle panels on the parts of the fence that get the most wear, the watering site, the haying site and where the girls look out to see when I am coming to milk. Goats are a challenge, but the longer you have your does, the eaiser going they get. Or perhaps it is just us who resigns ourselves to them. Most goats who jump have actually been taught to jump, you start with a 3 foot fence, that as they grow they can jump over, you then add 2 strands of barbed wire, and they learn to bend it down and jump it, so you add another wire....get the idea? Vicki McGaugh

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), March 09, 2000.

I just wanted to mention that barbed wire can be dangerous to use for goat fencing. I realize everyone has their own preferences. I personally don't like barbed wire for goats or horses as they can get sliced easy. I don't use it and don't recommend it. We are fencing in 25 acres this spring using a combination of woven wire and cattle panels. Goats are highly intelligent and will try to weasel their way out, however, if fencing is done right it will be "goat proof."

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), March 09, 2000.

Always teach your animals to come to a treat, a pan of grain rattled can make catching much easyer.

-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), March 09, 2000.

Just when you think you have a good answer about fencing, a goat comes along and defeats it. All those great recommendations for cattle panels and my goats easily clear them. One goat can stand perfectly still next to the panel and in the next second be over it. Our Nubian buck jumped over three panels in succession to escape his pen, go through the kid pen, and get into the doe pen. Some days the electric fence works and other days they just jump it. They also sniff the electric fence to see if it's on. We have found that they tend to get out less if they have lots and lots of room to roam. We have decided that when a fence works it's because the goats don't want out. We ended up fencing the garden with 6' woven wire. When the goats get out they are too interesting in freedom and checking out everything else to jump the fence into the garden. This doesn't help my fruit trees or my flowers though. Oh well, can't win them all.

-- Dee Oberg (oberg@watervalley.net), March 09, 2000.

Monica, It is really hard to keep a goat in a pen once they know how to get out. The cattle panel idea is the best one. Also if you have a hay feeder inside the pen, this gives them something to munch on and usually will help keep them inside. I cull goats that like to escape. Most of mine are happy to stay inside a regular field fenced pasture. All my pens have hay feeders in them. The bucks have cattle panel pens, and even the big boy got out one time when he got love-struck by a particularly fetching young doe. karen

-- Karen Mauk (dairygoatmama@hotmail.com), March 12, 2000.