fencing?

[ranger4327]

this has probably been discussed before but was curious what most folks do who use electric fencing use?

polytape, polywire, or polyroap? what guage of polywire? how strong of an energizer? number of strands? any luck with solar chargers?

i plan on starting out with just a few goats and looking to enclose 2-3 acres.

any thoughts? will goats eat young spruce trees?

thanks
chris from maine

[thatcompchick]

Really depends on what kind of goats you want to keep. I have a good friend who keeps nigie and pygmys behind 3 strands of electric polytape - i have no idea HOW.

As to solar chargers, I wouldn't recommend them unless you absolutely must. The shock required to 'get your point across' with goats usually cannot be achieved by just solar alone.

Key is mostly training, and having everything a goat needs INSIDE the fenced area. I have fainters and we have gone mostly to 32" field fencing, but they respected the 4 strand barb with hot offset for quite a long time.

You may end up worrying about tight fencing more to keep predators and the local dog OUT.

HTH

Andrea
www.arare-breed.net
www.faintinggoat.net

[reicheru]

I use 4/5 strand polywire crotch height... not sure on the charger... but it clicks and shows the voltage on the front.

I agree. The key is training. Mine respect it for the most part [I have one named PITA who occasionally forgets] by luring them to touch the fence while it has a really good charge.. they know it bites.

[Alice In TX/MO]

You need to spend the money on a 6 joule output charger if you are going electric.

I couldn't keep mine in with strands of anything.

We use (depending on which pen they are in) five foot high stock fencing or electric net fencing with the high output charger.

Some folks use cattle panels for fencing, but I have a Nubian who thinks she is a deer, and that didn't work for us.

[sammyd]

We have had luck with 4 strands regular wire or the yellow string. Kept our first doe and kid confined for a summer/fall with it.
We currently use 3 strands of the yellow plastic string with 4' plastic snow fence behind it. One strand at about 4' one strand about 8" and the other about 2'. I think the snow fence lets them know exactly where the fence is. When we seperated the kids last year and kept them in a different but close pasture we didn't have any escapes even though they would bleat at each other.
We did have problems with just 3 without the snowfence.
I can't remember how big the fencer is but it wasn't the biggest one on the shelf.

[Nancy_in_GA]

I was confused about chargers when we got ours, but lucked out, so maybe you can make some use of this information.

We have two predator wires, 12 gauge galvanized steel, total 15,000 linear feet (7500x2 wires) offset from a field fence around our property (about 70 ac).

We have a Zareba Bulldozer rated at 6 joules, 50 miles ($169). It maintains 7800 volts when tested against the ground rods. 7800 volts will make our goats scream very loudly. So to maintain that level of charge with say 5 strands of hot wires would be 3000 linear feet perimeter. If I'm correct this is about 13 acres if the property is a perfect square.

However the charge tested against our soil can vary from about 3000 to 7000 depending upon the dryness of the soil. We've had severe drought here, so we had to make the field fence the ground (ie, connect the field fence to the ground pole of the charger). Unless you live in an area where the soil is consistently damp I would alternate hot and cold wires, attaching the cold wires to the ground pole, like we do the field fence. The goats have to touch one of each to get the maximum charge, but it will be consistent.

[Bearfootfarm]

"Polywire" and the assorted "tape" wires will only carry about a third of the voltage of REAL wire. I use 12 1/2 ga aluminum for my fencing. It offers the least resistance, and is soft enough to work with by hand. It's a little more expense up front, but it will NOT rust.
Alternating hot and ground wires is the way to go in dry soils, and installing extra grounds around the perimeter really helps too.
And as was stated, if you keep them HAPPY inside, they wont TRY to get out

[ET1 SS]

We use polywire netting in the summer, mostly jsut to keep them out of areas like our garden.

In the winter, I fenced off an area of forest using wooden pallets, and put 2 strands of ribbon on top.

It is all about training.

[sadie6447]

I have had a heck of a time keeping my goats in this summer. It seems that I have a couple of daring does. Once they stuck their heads down and ran under they all followed. So I use 4 string metal wire with old hog wire behind to keep them from putting head down and trying to run under. So far it has worked for 3 months. I have found that the places I have regular wire they would shoot out there they do not like the medal wire at all they avoid it, but there are some places with regular wire and that is where they were shooting out at. I have boer goats.

[Rowdy]

I have the same charger that Nancy in Ga has, and have kept goats in with wire as small as 17ga by running six strands. I like real wire at least 14 gauge, 12 1/2 is better.

The key to using electric is to be sure your fence is tight and hot before ever putting goats into it, and then also training them to the wire. Most people suggest putting the goats in a very stout smaller area when doing the training, and I have to agree on that. Once they respect the wire they can be turned out into the bigger area.

I have used electric fencing as my only fencing before without too much trouble, but you will have much more peace of mind if you have something like woven wire for your perimeter fence.


All that being said, electric fences are just a psycological barrier. If the area outside the fence is lush, green and filled with goat yummies and the area inside the fence is grazed down to the nub then you'll never keep them in with just electric. So, I guess I should have said that the key to keep goats behind electric fencing is a good hot fence, and keeping the goats happy.

[nitrors4]

I use electric fence and love it! I have poly rope 5 strands, BUT this is for my interior fence. I use an eight foot game fence for my entire perimeter. A pack of dogs will come through the fence so fast that the shock may not stop them. I have a 50 mile charger that goes over my tester which is 5500 watts. I have watched my dogs pass through the fence many times. They somehow can time the shock and pass through. For the most part they stay away, but if they really want to cross they stand there and study the wire and then run at the right time. Pretty crazy! This has showed me I will never rely on an electric fence for my perimeter.

Now I would be interested in trying a high tensile 12 gauge galvanized fence with the strains very close together and electrify all of them or every other one, but my animals are just too important to test with.

Just my two cents.

[reicheru]

"Polywire" and the assorted "tape" wires will only carry about a third of the voltage of REAL wire.

hahahahaha my crotch/butt says that 14,000 - 17,000 volts is plenty strong enough. for some reason, I keep touching it... took me long enough to learn to not step over the fence. raaaaaaaaawr.

[Bearfootfarm]

Originally Posted by reicheru

hahahahaha my crotch/butt says that 14,000 - 17,000 volts is plenty strong enough. for some reason, I keep touching it... took me long enough to learn to not step over the fence. raaaaaaaaawr.

I've never seen a charger that put out more than 8-10,000 volts, and any resistance in the wire, measured in ohms, subtracts from that.

[HilltopDaisy]

My experience with electric tape/rope is that if ONE goat dares to run through, all the rest will follow.