Annie Comes And Goes as She Pleases!!

[beccachow]

I came home from work yesterday morning to find Annie outside her pen, munching leaves. She squeezes under impossible places in the fence. She is the only one, the rest just stay there. I am going nuts trying to tack the fence into the ground with all the rocks. I am just hoping she won't stray far from the others. I am also very worried for predators! She is a pygmy and driving me insane. She has been doing this almost as long as I have had her, since she was a wee baby. Yesterday she calmly awaited my arrival and waltzed back into the pen with me like nothing ever happened. What do I do? Is it hopeless? Since she can get back in, too, do I just let it go? I fel pretty frustrated with trying to keep her pretty little butt in there. I am also very worried since you all know I lost Frosty, and you all know my goat history!!!! If it can happen, it WILL happen to me and mine. What should I do with her?! And don't suggest freezer camp, lol.

[pookshollow]

Only one? Lucky you. I've got thirty goats working on testing every inch of the fence for loose spots they can squeeze under. They can find new ones before I can fix the old ones.

In the spring, I plan to run a strand of electric fence near the bottom of the stock fence. For now, they're in the barn for the winter.

[beccachow]

Awww, you just made me laugh!! Sorry, I bet that is frustrating. But I am so glad I am not alone!! Luckily they are far enough away from civilization that as long as she stays near the barn and pen she *should* be safe from humans anyway. I also am thinking electric on the bottom!!!

We have 2 "goat-dini's". THey can get out of ANYWHERE. Thankfully the main hole they squeeze through is getting too small for their ever widening girth. That's one good thing about them growing up. Unfortunately I'm not sure if my little girl is preggers or just fat.

[Backfourty,MI.]

What kind of fence is it? I was just wondering like welded wire fencing you can use stakes along the bottom to hold it tight to the ground.

I don't have any girls that escape but my little Buck is the houdini around here, I always know the date I breed my doe's & due dates, well I have 1 I'm sure is already bred but don't know when exactly. I guess I should have wrote down everytime the little bugger JUMPED OVER their gates to get in there.

[beccachow]

It's welded metal, but there are so many rocks (we live in an area called Ganite, and for the obvious reasons!) that we can't really pound a lot of stakes in. Very frustrating!

[Cyngbaeld]

Something rigid, like a metal post or wooden pole or plank can be fastened securely to the bottom of the fence and to the adjoining posts. Run it along the bottom of the fence, horizontal to the ground. I have several that will scoot under the fence every chance they get.

[xoxoGOATSxoxo]

Dang pygmies.

I had my girls getting out for a week or so a while back before I found that a makeshift block of chicken wire that was keeping them from jumping a spot in the corner had come down, making the fence low enough to jump without effort. Lucky for me, I fixed it and they stopped. If only you could be so lucky!

[deineria]

I suppose I am just in luck because our goats never get out . . . lol

[beccachow]

Deineria, you just might not know it, lol.

[Alice In TX/MO]

What about offsets from the fence and an electric wire about 4" above the ground?

http://www.gallagherusa.com/electric...e.gallery.aspx

[mygoat]

Sounds like my house. I have miniatures (essentially pygmies but bred to not be so... squat) and at first one was scooting under the fence. However, they learn by observing so it wasn't long before 4 were wandering loose.

[Dale in Ar]

I have problems like this also from time to time.Usually it is just one that starts the whole show.That is the one I start on to see if the others will stop getting out.If they are jumping the fence,I started putting a collar on it with about 10 foot of 3/8 chain to drag around.This probably won't stop it from jumping but it will hang up on the fence and hold them untill you find out where and how they are getting out.Some time I add an old tire to the end of the chain to slow them down and hang up better.I have yet had one to die because of the chain hanging up on the fence.Usually there is enough chain that will go over the fence with the goat.
If they go under or through the fence,cut a sapling with a fork in it and trim all three ends down till the ends just drag the ground when put it around the goats neck.Just wire the fork together close to the neck as possible.This fork will be bigger than the goat and hang up on the fence also.Usually this doesn't get caught in the fence and the goat will back out.My dad had several goats with these on their necks and they stayed in as long as the yoke was around their necks.Hopefully,the goat will later forget about getting out,a month or two,maybe tree.Then the last resort is the action barn.Good Luck.