Who doesn't use electric fencing???

[kidsngarden]

We have five goats, one a young buck, a whether, 3 does. Thier pen with thier shed is fenced with 3 wires of electric. It is pretty temporary as we are using them to clear thier own pasturing area so the fence is being moved a lot.

We Let them out of this rather large area to eat in the woods (more clearing) and keep the backyard "mowed". There are these rigged fences we have put up to keep them in back. Old trashed field fence and one made with pallets. They certainly are not great fences.

my buck and nubian doe will simply wander through electric, but never get past the sloppy fences of pallets and old field fence. what is up with that? They give off plenty of charge too, my hubby knows from experience and the pigs keep away from theirs.

We were going to put field fence with electric inside, but now I wonder if we should just start with field fence for thier permanent fencing then add electric if we have to.

Just had a thought though - they like to "stand" on the fence all the time - I guess electric would keep them off the field fence!

kids

[mary,tx]

We use field fencing, and have not found electric to reliably keep them away from tempting vegetation. My husband did just what you suggested on one line. He put an electric wire along the inside of the field fencing to keep them off it. I don't like it because they will not eat up close to the electric. So, of course, the weeds grow up into it. It's a hassle to try to keep the weeds down so that they do not short out the rest of the line, where the cattle are.
mary

[ozark_jewels]

If you get a charger that has a weed-killing charge, you don't have to worry about it. Any charger that is hot enough to do a *good* job with goats, will kill the weeds that grow up to it. I haven't weed-eated at all this year and the electric fence kills the weeds and the charge is still good.

[mary,tx]

My dad had a grass fire one year when the deer knocked down his electric fence. That's actually my biggest concern about the grass growing into the electric. It seems to me that an electric fence strong enough to keep the grass down would be a fire hazarad. Wouldn't it?
mary

[mpillow]

I dont have any electric....

I have field fencing 6ft high...sometimes I walk the goats and sometimes I tether...

My pigs are inside the barn for now...but will be moved out to a remesh fenced area (inside goat pasture) dug down 6 inches into the ground w/cedar post

[Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians]

I think electric fences best job on a goat farm (other than the tape electric fencing Priemer sells, is best for keeping goats off your fence. Here we are on an iron ore hill, any fencing is just a conductor of lightening, so we had chargers blowing up across the barn, and our electric fences hit so often it was scarry. Trained correctly to respect the fence it is a good option, except during breeding season with older bucks, no way is a little piece of electric fencing no matter what the voltage is going to keep an amorous 3 year old or older buck away from a doe in raging heat.

The best fencing is cattle panel, think small, right around their barn, than walk them in the large parts of acreage. As you have the money (milk sales, kid sales, breeding stock sales) fence in more and more. If I had all the money I wasted on all sorts of fencing...non climb horse wire (what a joke), field fencing, barbed wire, electric (chargers, connectors), I could have fenced our 13 acres 3 times with cattle panels! Field fence works excellent for perimeter fencing, but for day to day use, especially up at the barn on fencing goats stand on to yell at you that you are late to come to milk, cattle panels are excellent. Vicki

[ozark_jewels]

But when you have 70-100 acres to fence in.....its very possible that electric is going to be the only feasable solution.
But not for my bucks, they certainly get cattle panels!!

[wardarden]

I have to agree with Vicki. We use the 16ft cattle panels that are 52" high and I absouletly love them. I wish I could buy a tractor trailer load! However they are expensive, right now we just have the goat lot fenced with them. The side of the goat lot where it meets our neighbor property we had old field fence (can you say OLD!) and we just attached the cattle panels to the old field fence. It is a very strong fence now the girls stand on it all the time cleaning the bramble from the neighbors side. I have really clean fence there now! I also like the cattle panels cause dogs, etc cannot get through there. BTW, we sometimes find damaged/bent cattle panels at TSC my DH makes them and offer and usually they will take 1/2 price!

[kidsngarden]

Heard those weed killer fences are illegal - at least around here. Start a fire with those and you are in deep doo-doo.

Cattle panels - that's a good idea. They are pricey though. My biggest concern is when we leave our neighbor in charge end of august while we vacation - I don't want them to get out then or he'll never watch the farm again! I think I will do cattle panels in a smaller pen.

kids

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by kidsngarden

Heard those weed killer fences are illegal - at least around here.

Nope, at least not the kind I'm talking about. They sell them several places near here.

Cattle panels are the best for around the barn and for small areas.

[full sun]

I have cattle panels and love 'em! They were so easy to install. I have a small fenced area, so it wasn't too expensive. Vicki's plan of buying them as you can seems brilliant!

Jennifer

[Freeholder]

I agree -- cattle panels are the best. But put posts in the middle as well as at the ends, because the goats stand up on them and bow them. I haven't had anyone get out that way, but they've put quite a curve in some of the panels! Also, small kids (such as my Kinder kids) can go through the cattle panels. They don't go anywhere, just hang out near the goat pens, but if a stray dog came around they'd be in danger, and sometimes they get underfoot when I'm trying to work outside.


Kathleen