Monday, August 1, 2011

Goat Fencing

A problem I've had in the past is how to keep my goats where they are supposed to be. They are great at finding holes in the fencing and fencing is expensive. With my woven wire, they would stick their heads through until the wires broke over time or stand on the fence and pull it down until it broke. You need five strands of electric to keep goats in. With cattle panels I would get broken legs because they would do a combination jump/climb and get a leg caught and then their body would flip over the panel. That happened twice to me.

I've been luck enough to get some net fencing recently and it is everything I hoped it would be. It's been recommended by several friends who have goats but it's cost and wondering whether or not it would work kept me from buying it. It is electrified with a tiny pet fencer that I bought at Ace Hardware for $27 and the combination is a great one.

When I first got the fence, I hooked it up to my regular charger and put the goats out so they could learn not to touch the fence. They kept forgetting and would touch the fence, get shocked so badly they would jump forward and end up tangled in the net. It happened over and over again. After a bit, I took the fencer off and hoped they would just stay away from the fence but the minute the fencer was removed they were right through the fence. I needed a new fencer fast so I would be able to have the goats where I wanted them without running long wires from the existing fence. I bought this fencer because it was cheap but I love it because it works without making the goats jump into the netting. It's enough of a charge that they don't like touching it but not enough to frighten them.

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