New To Goats - Do I Need To Change Fences?

[Rollochrome]

I want to introduce a couple goats to my 12 acres for weed control.

I have four and five strand barbed wire fencing currently.

Will they be contained by this or am I kidding myself?

If not, what would you suggest to retrofit an existing fence like this cheaply?

[Alice In TX/MO]

No way it will hold them in.

You can run a hot wire inside the existing fence. Goat nose height.

[CraterCove]

That will absolutely not hold most goats. I had thought about basically taking long sticks and weaving and wiring them to the existing barbed wire as a cheap but labor intensive solution.

I hope you get some good solutions!

[coso]

On twelve acres, I would take the barb down and buy you some woven wire to put up. Are your post good that are there? You can put one of the barbs back a couple of inches above the woven wire. You will need someway to stretch it tight. You can use HD come-alongs, and make you a clamp with a 2X4 and bolts. Electric might be an option also. I just never have used it for goats.

[forphase1]

Barbed wire will not keep in goats unless it is VERY tight and VERY close together. Otherwise they will get out. By the time you put up that many strands of barbed wire you are better off putting up field fence/woven wire fence. Some like electric, but I've not had very good success with it. My area that I was fencing was too wooded, and the fence was continually getting grounded by branches that fell and the like. Unfortunately there is no 'cheap' easy way to build a goat fence in my experience.

[Sam Burton]

Gotta be field or woven and at the very least, graded, if you have goats with horns. They WILL stick their heads through and get stuck.

[o&itw]

After reading the posts on this forum for seveal years, I have concluded that this is the only goat proof fencing available

http://www.destination360.com/asia/c...l-of-china.jpg

[CraterCove]

I'm not so sure there is a goat proof fence...

[Badger]

I had alot of trouble with goats getting caught in field fence. If you already have an existing 5 strand barbwire fence, I suggest 8 strands of barbwire, 4 inches apart with one at ground level. Use 48" stays every 3 feet, and catch every wire. They won't get caught, It really does help keep dogs out, and I have never had a barb wire injury with this kind of fence. I have a 24 acre field fenced in this way. Make sure your wires are tight before you add the stays, it goes alot easier.

[collegeboundgal]

Originally Posted by Badger

I had alot of trouble with goats getting caught in field fence. If you already have an existing 5 strand barbwire fence, I suggest 8 strands of barbwire, 4 inches apart with one at ground level. Use 48" stays every 3 feet, and catch every wire. They won't get caught, It really does help keep dogs out, and I have never had a barb wire injury with this kind of fence. I have a 24 acre field fenced in this way. Make sure your wires are tight before you add the stays, it goes alot easier.

This is exactly what I want to do with an existing field that is currently fenced in barbwire. Since the wire is already there and tight, I'd like to just add to it. Taking barbwire down is hard. Adding to it might be the way to go. Now, I'm raising meat goats, not dairy.

[Badger]

I've been raising boer goats for 20 years now and that's what works for me. Your milage may very. I tried many types of fence over the years. I find that once they know their boundries they will challenge them daily. LOL not really, The fence is more to deter dogs.

[Pony]

I get nervous when I see the words "barbed wire" and "goats" together. One of my goat friends had a doe lose half her udder going through barbed wire. It was... messy.

I'm with Coso: woven or welded wire. If you don't want to remove the barbed wire, then fence with the welded/woven (maybe with a hot wire) inside the barbed wire fencing.

No sense in getting the goats mauled by the barbed wire. Cows, it wouldn't be a big deal. Goats... nah, gives me the yips to think about it.