just got FREE fence charger, have a few questions

BamaSuzy · #1 11/08/05, 02:46 PM

I just got a FREE electric charger for my goats....a family friend's mama passed away this year and they no longer have goats....haven't had them in a while....

Our Billy goat can jump just about any fence. Where would be the best place to put the wires to deter his jumping? He is pretty happy as long as his harem is in the fence with him but Baby is growing broader so will likely have babies of her own in a month or so....

Should we put the wire about waist high or higher???? STill have to buy the wire and the stands off.

BamaSuzy · #2 11/08/05, 03:53 PM

one more question, does the wire have to make a continous loop, in other words, come back and stop where it started????

ejsmomma · #3 11/08/05, 04:51 PM

in my personal experience, i had 3 strands from about 6 inches up to about 3 -4 feet, depending on the terrain. if there was something they could ge on and could possible use to jump the fence then it was higher. if it is a really hot fence then they should stay away from it. i've heard they can smell the electricity........ i'm not sure. i know my boar goats were getting out on the side of the fence away from the charger and we ran a wire to make it hotter and they never got out again.
it doesn't have to be a continuous loop. my cousin has barbed wire on one side and then electric fence on the other 3 sides and all he did was run the wire back onto itself and not on the barbed wire.
electrified barbed wire is very dangerous. it is harder to get away from it if you or someone else of an animal gets into it and gets tangled up. someone or something could get hurt very bad or electrocuted.
i'm not an expert on this stuff as i didn't have my goats long. they all died from undetected wild cherry trees. but i can tell what worked for me. i'm also learning sooooooooo much from this wonderful website.
hope you find all the info you need.......
renae in tennessee

Oxankle · #4 11/08/05, 05:19 PM

Suzy;

If you have a common charger of the kind stockmen use you must ground it well first. There will be two terminals, a hot and a ground. To work well you will need two and possibly three ground rods driven 8 feet into the soil and connected to the ground terminal on your charger with wire clamped to the rods. Damp gumbo soil gets by with one or two ground rods, dry sandy soil may need more than three.

Then connect your fence to the hot side. It does not have to be a loop--you can run a wire out there 5000 feet and every inch of it will be hot if it is insulated from the posts.

If you find that your animals are not getting shocked, perhaps because they have thick fur or the ground is very dry and they are not conducting well, you may want to run a grounded wire near the hot, or a grounded wire between two hots. If you do this any animal sticking its head thru and contacting both wires will get zapped.

I would not worry about harming an animal with a charged barb wire fence. More likely than not you will find that goats will go thru or over an electric fence unless it is built like one of the New Zealand high tensile electrics.

I held pygmy goats behind a three-wire electric for a year or more. Then I was given a nubian wether and within two weeks my goats were thru, over and around my fences. To the sale they went.

Good Luck.
Ox

foxtrapper · #5 11/09/05, 07:32 AM

A fence wire nose high, that is quite visible, with something on it to inspire sniffing. You want the goat to experience the pain of the electric fence. They work by fear and you need to instill that fear.

The ground side of the charger goes to the ground via good grounding rods. The hot side goes to the fence wire. The longer out along the fence wire you go, the less power the shock gives. Looping back cuts the distance in half, which is a good thing for maximizing shock on long fence runs. However, you can get some interesting feedback problems with this potentially. If you're worried about it, cut the loop at the middle. It still has the wire runs half the length.

Additional wires above and below the nose height, quite visible, and important for further deterance. Goats are smart and will figure out electric fences. If it hurts and they are not sure about cleanly jumping the wires they are hesitant to do it.

popscott · #6 11/09/05, 09:08 AM

I have electric fencing here......four strands with the bottom 2 barbed wire....round electric wire will not bite through to the skin like barbed wire will...really need about 6 strands for my pygmy goats , (babies are going on through 4 strand openings)....ground it well with a copper rod at the charger box, which works here in "Virginy" soils, but may need a ground wire run around perimeter in dryer locals.....
I've used it for many years and have had no problem with it killing anybody or goats, but make sure the charger "pulsates" on and off, so if they do get into it, they have the off time to pull out. I had a neighbor that had an older "continuous" weedzapper model, and one of his goats was not as lucky...
Yea, mine know (smell) when the fence is on or off. We turn ours off during day and the whole "flock" will be out in the hay field before long. Nothing "Mel, the Wonder Collie" can’t get back in…
Don’t be fooled though…if a goat wants out of an electric fence, a good "30 ft. runny go, head first through it" is all it takes, no matter how well built….

Thanks,
Pam and Scott
http://www.justkiddinfarm.com/