Barb wire fence for goats?

CJBegins · #21 10/05/12, 03:24 PM

My neighbor has an 8 strand barb wire with fence stays between the posts. The post are about 8ft apart and the wires about 4" apart. He used electric inside it to teach them to stay clear of the fence and then took it down. The only goats that get out are kids and they find a low spot occasionally and shimmy under. His GP stays in also.

I can't help but believe that those 8 strands and fence stays cost the same or more money than woven wire.

wintrrwolf · #22 10/05/12, 04:52 PM

I have 3 strand hotwire run on 2 pastures one for the girls and one for the boys, on the boys pasture one side is the big (horse) pasture which was done with barbless wire I ran one strand of hotwire between the 2 lower barbless wire and my boys have not tried to get out.
Now on the girls pasture occasionally the baby will scoot under the lowest wire only when its grain time she gets excited, so I could lower all the wires and put a 4th in....
If you are going to use hotwire do NOT skimp on the charger I wasted money on ones that should have worked and finally bit the bullet bought one that runs about 400 and the ZAP is good even if weeds are trying to ground it out.

CaliannG · #23 10/05/12, 07:53 PM

I had a horse once that would stand next to the fence charger and listen to the "clicks". Then she'd dive through the electric strands in between "clicks".

She taught the goats this horrible habit.

My goats just LOVE barbed wire. It's so easy to just step or jump through, even with the electric strand.

Not only that, but once they are brought back in, they get to watch Mommy go crazy over them, looking for scratches. They never did figure out that the round of tetanus shots was DUE to them getting scratches from barbed wire. They probably thought I was punishing them.

At any rate, those are some of the many reasons that I do not advocate barbed wire for sheep or goat containment.

The "barbs" on barbed wire were originally put there to keep cattle, horses, and yes, bison, from rubbing on the fence and damaging it. It was never meant as a deterrent to keep a determined animal from going through it, because there is no real deterrent that will keep a frightened or angry animal from going through a fence. Nowadays, even cattle ranchers are going to woven stock wire, or if they feel cheap, barbless wire with an electric strand hooked up to a solar fence charger to deter fence rubbing. Barbless wire is safer for both the humans handling it, and the animals contained within it.

Copperhead · #24 10/06/12, 05:25 AM

First, I strongly prefer 6-strand High Tensile Electric, with Wires 1,3,5 (from the ground) being HOT and wires 2,4,6 being GROUND. I space the wires on an even 8-inch spacing. God and I have both dropped trees on this type of fence and it held the weight of a 12" diameter red oak without allowing the goats or pigs to escape.

New goats do have to be trained to electric. The quickest way is to halter them with a 10' leash and tie them to the middle GROUND wire. When they dart under or through the fence, you drag them back the way they came, making sure they get the "message" or 6,000 reasons not to do something stupid

Speaking of 6,000 reasons, 6 kv (aka 6,000 volts) is the minimum for fencing goats in my opinion. 8kv, or 10kv or even 12kv is even better. They higher the better, the quicker and more permanently they learn. I highly recommend the Kencove Fence Compass. I won't be without it.

Having said all that . . . I have 20+ acres leased with 10 cows and 15 goats. It came with 3-5 strands of Barbwire, so I added 2-3 strands of high tensile electric between and slightly inset of the barbwire. The goats have never gotten out, but a couple of newborn calves did . . . once. They had a little trouble getting back in, but have never even considered attempting that stunt, ever again!!!

After having the fence fully powered for a year, the deer have finally been leaving me alone. Now, they either jump OVER the fence, or go somewhere else to graze. I always consider my youngest/smallest goat to be "coyote bait", but haven't lost it, yet. Honestly, while there might be a few places in the fence where I coyote could get through if it were determined, having a super-hot bottom wire should discourage coyotes and dogs from entering the field twice.

Finally, Nigerian Dwarf goats are too small for my setup and Pygmies are too clever. I actually do have a pygmy wether, but I quickly sold 5 pygmy does that continually attempted to outsmart me.