Fencing questions

[knuckledragger]

I would like to have goats someday, but I hear that they are notorious escape artists, so... I need suggestions for what kind of fencing I will need for goats.

Also, how far apart should the posts be? and ...

How much would it cost to fence in about 3 or 4 acres (about 1600 linear feet of fence)?

[DQ]

around here you can buy a 330' roll of field fence that will keep all but little babies in (and they stay with their mums) for around 100-130$. a few bucks each for t posts and clips. I set the t posts 9' apart. you will need some good corner posts also. cost can vary quite a bit depending on what you use.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Then, you will need an electric fence charger, a grounding rod, and wire to run a hot wire around the inside of the net wire at nose height.

You'll need gates, too.

Take a diagram of your place to the nearest farm/ranch supply store and get local prices.

[Cheryl aka JM]

We use the field fence DQ is talking about~ it's about $130 a roll here. Put the T posts in every 10 foot~ every 10th post is a wooden post set in concrete~ all corner posts are wood posts set in concrete and with two diagnal posts going the direction of the fencing set on a concrete block. It can add up fast~

Lets see~ for 1600 foot of fence~ asuming 4 corners and one gate you would need:
4.84 rolls of 330' fence~ we'll go with 5 rolls as no one is going to sell you 0.84 of a roll so fence would be $650

4 corner posts and one more corner post for the other side of the gate~ those all need to be pretty heafty posts so I'd go with the $10 each ones~ so thats $50

You can get away with smaller wood posts for the every 10th post~ so you'll need 3 of those per side times the 4 sides~ 12 of them plus the diagonals for the corners and the gate post (2 on three of the corners~ one on each gate post going the direction of the fence) so 8 of those at say $8 each is $65

You'll need the T posts~ you'll need 36 of those per side~ thats 144 at $4 each thats $576 (the post clips come with most places here so be sure to insist on getting them rather than buying seperate)

You'll need a bucket of fence staples~ $10 if you get lucky on price

You'll need a gate~ depending on how big and nice you go figure around $60

So just for the basic fence we are looking at $1411. Wow~ I knew my fences were expensive but maybe I messed up the math somewhere cuz that seems a bit high.....I was guessing around $800......maybe check my math before you panic. See if you can borrow a fence puller from your neighbors and you won't have to buy or build one of those too.

[Cheryl aka JM]

Oh yeah~ and as Alice points out......after all that.....my goats are destroying my fences that have only been up for a year. The climb on them, rub on them~ stick thier heads through them and get stuck (one has to wear a PVC pipe taped to her horns ALL the time to keep her from getting stuck in the fence) so I'm currently working up my nerve to try electric fencing run on the inside as well. More expense.

[Cannon_Farms]

If your going to have horned goats or not would be a big factor in what kind of fence you build. For horned you have three choices, horse fence which is incredibly expensive but looks better, electric fence which is my choice or goat wire, which they can still get horns stuck in though not as much.
Field/hog wire you would need to have hornless goats or be able to keep a good eye on them as they will always stick their heads through over and over again despite having an abundace of good stuff on the inside.
If you go on TractorSupply.com we have a fencing guide on our site, and also in our blue books. It can get expensive but if you buy a little at a time its not so bad since your still in the planning phase.

[vfence]

Well, the fencing for cattle's differs depending upon the cattle size. You say that you're gonna have some goats, & yes, they are great escapers.

So make sure your fence meets your needs as well as doesn't makes any harm to your cattle.
My suggestion will be either a Chain Link fence or a Wooden Fence (Shadow Box or a Horizontal type). You can also opt for Masonry with rock or brick columns with wood or iron fencing

[Painted Pony]

The cost for fencing will depend on so many things it is hard to estimate what it will cost you. I fenced and cross fenced 4 acres with pipe and welded wire, four welded wire gates at 22 feet wide, at it was much more than a thousand dollars, but it will last a long time and my goats aren't going to tear it up in a year or so. I prefer to invest more initially than spend more time fixing it later...that's just me though.

Maybe you can fence in one acre initially with a gate that would allow you to add on another fenced acre later on. Eventually you could have 3-4 separate areas for the goats so you can divide them by size/age, rotate them through the pastures, etc. Your shelter could be built at the four point corner so the goats could use it regardless of which pasture they are in. It would save in building costs.

I like the graduated 4X4 square fence panels that are almost 5 feet tall and 16 feet long. I wire them up with t-posts that are 8 feet apart. The graduated panels with the biggest openings being 4 inches keep even my small ND kids inside them. Being almost 5 feet tall I don't worry about the goats jumping over the fence either. The gates can be fancy ones or simple panel pieces cut and wired to open inward so the goats can't push it open easily.

[Alice In TX/MO]

$1100 isn't bad at all.

[Backfourty,MI.]

We use the welded aire for Nigerian dwarf goats & it works great. Dh has made all our gates using wood & those are all great too. Our oldest pen is almost 6 years old, same gate, post's etc. We put wood or T posts 8 feet apart then we run small pine posts(downed from our woods) to run horizontally around the inside at there belly heights for rubbing, etc. that keeps them from rubbing on our fence.
Seems to work for us. Can really tell you the cost though because I can't remember exactly either.

[deineria]

Welded wire works great our Nubian kids and Pygmy does, kids and bucks. It is not high enough without electric for the Nubian Buck.

It is a lot cheaper than horse or field fence. Pygmy goats are pretty easy on the fences.

[vfence]

We can use electric fences for horses only when you think nothing can be done to prevent them from escaping. That too make sure that the electric fence doesn't makes any harm to your pet. Initially you might not notice anything, but in the later stages, the mild shocks can affect the nervous systems of the animal.

[Wags]

We put up field fence with t-posts spaced at 8 ft apart for our Dexter cows. After we sold them we moved the Nigerians into that pasture with no problems keeping them in either. No wooden posts, we used Wedge-Loc bracing hardware for t-posts. Very easy to work with and makes for very sturdy corners.

[3crow]

I have boxed wire (some refer to it as horse wire) only because I have a small paddock (3/4 acre) for my 4 girls. I used T posts with the wire ties and 4x4 treated corner and gate posts I have a hot wire on the inside to keep them off the fence. I use a solar fence charger and it works great. I haven't had a problem with anyone getting out including the visiting buck who was noted to escape. Take the time to price your fencing, many companies will price match but you have to do your homework. I know I bought my t posts at one place and wire elsewhere. Oh and I used the long electric wire holders, they work better.

[Alice In TX/MO]

They won't get zapped more than a couple of times, so cumulative effects are not a problem.

I've been shocked more than that, and I'm just fine. Just fine. Just fine. <twitch twitch>