Re: goats and woods growing too bushy

Posted by JRSutton on June 29, 2015 at 12:28:39 from (96.237.169.35):

In Reply to: Re: goats and woods growing too bushy posted by ohiojim on June 28, 2015 at 08:20:09:

and of course for every rule there's an exception. In this case MY goats.

I've got a way overkill sized charger, three grounding rods - all done right. It'll zap the living daylights out of even my draft horses.

But the goats figured out not to touch it with their faces - they can just duck under it and slide right through, the hair being a good enough insulator to keep from getting too painfully shocked.

They'll still get a good jolt, but they just don't care - they'll do A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G to be on the OTHER side of a fence. And if ONE of them gets through - the others would rather DIE than be left behind. Once they figured out how to minimize the shock, it was all over - the usual comedy show of me going around to the neighbors apologizing and offering money for all the decorative and garden plants the goats ate. They will ALWAYS go for the expensive stuff first - it's not even murphy's law - it's a universal, cosmic goat truth - THAT is what they like to eat, a well kept rich green shrub or deliciously fertilized garden plant is totally irresistible.

I wouldn't use the electric netting, I can too easily picture them getting their horns stuck in it - and dying a pretty cruel and unusual death.

As others have said - 16' cattle/hog panels - 4' high. You can get some at tractor supply for about $20 per panel - a great buy. Mount those tightly to solidly planted posts every 8'. I've got pygmies and dwarfs - so that's tall enough to contain them. If you have bigger goats, you might need to add something for more height.

As others have said - you just can not over-stress the importance of SOLID fencing.

Those heavy panels are also strong enough to keep the goats from wrecking them over time by rubbing on them. With weaker fence, like weld-wire, they rub and rub every day until the fence bows out and finally splits.

Give them a big enough area - cover to get out of sun/rain - keep them well fed and watered, and all that will reduce (not eliminate) their desire to escape. They seem to prefer to be at the top of a hill, so if that's an option, that's where you want to locate them.

Feed them nightly with grain or table scraps and they will learn to come to you for food when you have a bucket (often the only way to catch the inevitable escapee).

By the way - coyotes WILL take a goat, so keeping them protected is even more work - you really should have a goat house you can lock them up in nightly - but that can be a pain in the butt.

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