I hate to butcher my new milking does!

[TSYORK]

But if these vixens don't quit jumping the fence, I am going to have to do something. I have a 5ft woven wire fence, plus a hot wire. The fence charger is rated for buffalo and it is working very well. I am so tired of going out and putting these hussies up. Any suggestion? I am at wits end. They're sweet as sugar, but I work 40 min away from home, and I sure don't have time to come home and put these fools up everytime they want to play Red Rover and go right over the fence!

[Cannon_Farms]

it may be rated for buffalo but what is it really putting out? I did away with the electric fence when my goats figured out it was only going to bite them once before they could get out.
try putting big bells on their necks its about the only thing other than making sure the grass isnt greener on the other side. Guess we know what the real deal is now Im sorry your having to go through this on top of everything else

[pookshollow]

Hobbles? Tie one back foot to the opposite front foot and they can't get their front feet up far enough to jump. Just make sure whatever you use isn't going to cut into them.

[pookshollow]

Oh, and are you sure they are jumping over the fence? Mine like to squeeze under, and it doesn't take a lot of slack for them to do it.

[TSYORK]

They're definitely going over the fence. The fence is giving 8.7 joules at first touch, then hits them with 6.5 there after. It's very hot! It sounds like dynamite going off when they hit it!

[Cannon_Farms]

thats not enough for the goats I had, 9.5 is what it took for them to get the point, and I had to run an additional inside wire, at that point I just bought goat fence. Mine where going in between the fence though.
How many ground rods do you have and how wet is the ground around them? I had a 20 mile charger on three strands of about an acre

[TSYORK]

The charger is rated for 150 miles. The ground is wet, and I have three 8ft rods, ten ft apart.

[thaiblue12]

How big is the area you are keeping them in? If it is small then they want out to graze.
What do they have in the pen to keep them occupied a bale of hay?
Green things growing around them is very tempting, and is always better then what they have available to them.
If they are annoying you to the point you can't take it I would sell perfectly good milkers before I would butcher them. If someone had them on say 5 or more acres they may never try to jump and would be a good addition to someone else's herd.

[sammyd]

Put some food in their pen.

We routinely keep ours in pasture with only 3 hot wires at the most about 4 foot high and a
cheapie 10 mile fencer

[mygoat]

If there is food/browse in the pasture and they're just getting out because they're trying to follow you because goats are needy creatures... Try hobbling.

The best hobbling system I ever learned was from running hunting dogs. Put a dog collar on them, with a big d-ring (where you clip the leash). Run a rope through the d-ring, and between their front legs. Tie it above their rear hocks so that they can't go faster than a walk. If they try to stand up or jump, they will collapse. It keeps hunting dogs from running as fast as they can and keeps them within gunshot range of hunters. It is also used to train dogs not to jump up on people

Just be sure that the knots are NOT slipknots. The ones I see commercially for sale have their own d-rings for the velcro hock attachments, and bolt snaps to attach the rope to the hock straps. It wouldn't be too hard to find velcro straps, a big d-ring or two, some snaps, rope, and a dog collar.

[arcticow]

Originally Posted by mygoat

If there is food/browse in the pasture and they're just getting out because they're trying to follow you because goats are needy creatures... Try hobbling.

The best hobbling system I ever learned was from running hunting dogs. Put a dog collar on them, with a big d-ring (where you clip the leash). Run a rope through the d-ring, and between their front legs. Tie it above their rear hocks so that they can't go faster than a walk. If they try to stand up or jump, they will collapse. It keeps hunting dogs from running as fast as they can and keeps them within gunshot range of hunters. It is also used to train dogs not to jump up on people

Just be sure that the knots are NOT slipknots. The ones I see commercially for sale have their own d-rings for the velcro hock attachments, and bolt snaps to attach the rope to the hock straps. It wouldn't be too hard to find velcro straps, a big d-ring or two, some snaps, rope, and a dog collar.

AMEN to this! It works!

[TroutRiver]

I stopped my jumper by tethering her inside the paddock for a few weeks. She hated it, but after a few weeks she must have stopped thinking about it, because I was able to untether her and she hasn't jumped the fence since. Although I hadn't heard of the hobble method, I think that sounds like a better bet in your case, since your girls sound really determined!

I also agree that if you decide to get rid of them, you'd be better off selling them than butchering them.

[TSYORK]

Originally Posted by sammyd

Put some food in their pen.

We routinely keep ours in pasture with only 3 hot wires at the most about 4 foot high and a
cheapie 10 mile fencer

They have plenty to eat. They have a lot of fresh green browse, they have fresh hay, free choice alfalfa pellets, and get grain every day.

They don't escape while I am out there, they're usually already out by the time I get out there in the mornings.... they do it all on their own.

I guess I was too harsh in my terminology regarding butchering. I would never do that to these girls, they've got too good milk lines to become burger. My goal is to figure out how to keep them from being jumpers. If I can't then I might have to take other measures, like selling, but not butchering. I was just using it as a figure of speech, trying to explain my exasperation.

[mary,tx]

Last time I got a fence jumper, I ended up selling him, after trying everything else I could think of. Shame, too, because he threw gorgeous kids.

[Alice In TX/MO]

I disposed of my jumper, too.