Hey Sally
I have a herd of 15 goats and strongly believe in the 6 strands of high tensile. From the ground, wires 1,3,5 are HOT and wires 2,4,6 are GROUND. The ground wires are stapled to posts and trees (yep, I'm as cheap as possible) or wired to T-posts, but I really prefer a quality pinlock screwed to the posts and trees to insulate the HOT wires -- just don't screw them all the way into the trees -- leave some room for growth. Speaking of HOT, I believe 6000 volts to be the minimum for goats. On my 20+ acre rented pasture, I maintain between 6 and 7 kv, but at home, my charger is putting out about 10kv. A nice side effect is the ability to find faults in the dark because they look like a camera flash
I space my wires 8 inches apart. Some will recommend 6 inches, some will have them as close as 4 inches at the bottom and as far as 12 inches at the top. I also have cows and pigs in the paddocks with the goats and this arrangement has worked well. I strongly recommend you invest in the Kencove Fence Compass. Not only does it tell you exactly what voltage you are producing, it tells you the direction of the nearest fault -- especially when your dear spouse throws away a short piece of copper wire that accidentally lands on the fence
Don't ask me how I know. lol
You will need to TRAIN your goats to this fence -- and I hope they are full sized goats! Nigerian Dwarfs are too small and Pygmies are too clever, but I raise Boer and Kiko with no problem. Young goats are small enough to get back in as long as their mother is properly confined. They get trained "on the job!". To train goats, you can put them in a woven wire pen with a hot wire at the bottom, top, and half way in between (and inset 5 or 6 inches). After a week (for new goats that have never experienced electricity), the goats can graduate to the tensile. Goats that escape the tensile are put on a 5 to 10 ft leash and tied to one of the GROUND wires. When they put their new knowledge to work and dart over/through/under the tensile, they should get a firm shock, but when you take the leash and DRAG them back through the way they came, you can ensure they get 2 or 3 shocks. If you have at least 6000 volts on the fence, I call this "6000 Reasons not to touch the fence!"
A few goats will need 2 such lessons. The most was a stubborn pygmy doe that required 3 lessons. I usually leave them on the leash and fence for the day, and untie the leash from the fence in the evening. If you really think the goat will try to escape again, and if it is difficult to catch, leave the leash on the goat. Most goats will allow you to walk close enough to step on the leash before they run away.
