Barb wire fence for goats?

[knoxgal]

Can goats be fenced in barbed wire fence with a strand of electric- is it safe?

[Janis Sauncy]

NO!

I hate barbed wire in any shape or form for any animal. I don't even know how effective it would be in keeping them confined, anyway, regardless of the safety issue. The first horse I had, as a kid, was horrible with barbed wire and had many stitches to prove it. Ever since that experience, I won't have the junk on my place so I have to be honest and say I don't know if it would keep goats in or not; I've never tried it.

Your best goat fence would be field fence or some other woven wire fencing, maybe with a hot wire on the inside to keep them off of it. I am also using a three-strand hot wire where my ground is too steep for field fencing, with good success.

If you're thinking of using an existing barbed wire fencing, I would use more than one strand (three?) of hot wire running on its own set of posts to keep the goats completely away from the barbed.

This is my opinion based on....well, my own opinion.

Janis

[knoxgal]

My ground is too very steep and this is the trouble. Woven fence is more expensive too. But I thought it might be unsafe to use barb wire if they were trying to get out.

[Janis Sauncy]

Have you tried a three-strand electric? It's working well on my steep ground.

Janis

[knoxgal]

yes but they can get out at first and it seems flimbsy. you have 3 stranded w/o anything else?

[Karenrbw]

Our goats seem to ignore barb wire and electric fence. I watched the billy lift up the electric fence and walk under it. He just jumped a little when it hit him. I have also seen them squeeze through barb wire.

[Janis Sauncy]

Originally Posted by knoxgal

yes but they can get out at first and it seems flimbsy. you have 3 stranded w/o anything else?

Nope. Just three strands, with the fence posts 8 feet apart. We had to kind of experiment with the height and spacing and they had to learn they were going to get zapped if they went through. It took a couple of days to get the bugs ironed out.

I don't know....my goats are all getting older, the youngest ones being 4 1/2 and a few being older than ten, so maybe that has something to do with my success. Plus, they have plenty of browse inside their fenced perimeters and also get alfalfa year round, so they might not have many reasons to push their luck.

I would not try to confine a buck in an electric-only fence.

Janis

[knoxgal]

No bucks but I just wanted sturdy since we were putting up something new.
Thanks for the advice.

[stanb999]

Barb on it's own wont keep a goat in they will climb through.

Here is what I did, It works well, keeps them safe, and is pretty inexpensive. I made all the grounds barb. It has worked very well. You could do it with smooth wire but unless you use a really hot charger it wont help with preditors. This was a big consern of mine.

[knoxgal]

so you charged every other barb wire? total of 7 strands? And goats do not get cut up?

[nz1h]

Originally Posted by knoxgal

so you charged every other barb wire? total of 7 strands? And goats do not get cut up?

No the goats get hit by the hot wire and most of them turn back
a few need to be hit 2-3 times but even they learn

my fence is 5 foot with 3 strands of barbwire and
4 strands of electric

alain

[Rowdy]

I have seen some big herds (well over 100 goats) kept in by barbed wire. If I remember right most of it was nine strands of wire though.

It is possible.

I think if I was going to have to run that many strands of wire, I'd just go with high tensile electric. It will keep goats in... if it is built correctly, maintained, and if the goats are trained to the wire.

Personally, I am mostly using Red Brand woven wire, with a strand of electric at shoulder high, just to keep them from rubbing on the fence. The rest of my fence is six strand electric.


In the long run I think you'd probably be happier with something besides barbed wire, but if that it what you want, it can be done... and it can work.

[knoxgal]

Red brand woven wire- what gave and how high and how many inches spaces?

[6e]

We have barbed wire with electric fence running inbetween and it's getting ready to all be ripped out and field fence put in. The goats have learned that if they get a running start and "dive" through the wires as fast as possible there's a good chance they won't get hit. These are very young goats, not the older goats, but we had a doe take some skin off her teat on the barbs. Not good!!! So, all the fence is getting torn out and re-done.

[Minelson]

How about using barb-less wire along with electric? I don't see what barbed wire would do besides cut them up.

[knoxgal]

Think we are sold on woven with electric, not much more cost.

[sammyd]

We ran 4' plastic snow fence around behind 3 strands of hot smooth wire. The bright coloring and more solid appearance give the goats something to remind them of the boundries. I have seen them squirt through the wires if the snowfence isn't up in a spot.

[betsy h.]

Electrified barbed wire works well- I think a friend of mine uses 5 strands and a hotter than hell fencer.

[thomasallen63]

Premier 1 Supplies GreenCote barbed wire has barbs that are closer together, longer and galvanized to last much longer.

Electric Fencing - Premier1Supplies

[Ford Zoo]

Besides considering keeping the goats in, also consider keeping predators out. I don't know where you are or if you have a LGD, but predators should also be considered with fencing in some areas.