# Training goats on electric fencing



## SDGsoap&dairy (Mar 24, 2010)

I know people have had really mixed results with electric fencing but we decided to try it and see if it might work for our situation.  There are now 7 strands (recommended spacing for sheep/goats) and our tester was pegged (the highest light is 8,000 volts.)  

Now, I half expected 8,000 volts would knock the goats OUT, but it didn't.  Either they are tougher than I thought or our tester is bunk (though it's brand new.)  We have a 20 mile charger attached to about 1/4 mile of wire and it's obviously pretty well grounded.  No, it's not high-tensile.  We plan to use high-tensile in the future if this little experiment works out.

What DID happen was the same for all 4 goats we tried with.  1)Touch the fence 2) Squeal like the dickens and jump backward 3) Touch the fence again 4) repeat step 2 several times and lastly, 5) Run as fast as possible THROUGH the fence while screaming.  Don't even ask me how a full grown nubian made it between wires spaced 10 inches apart without any damage.  The wires just popped right back into place like nothing happened.    The other 3 are nigi kids and bolted through wires spaced 6 inches apart.

So now I feel terrible because I spent half the morning shocking the crap out of my goats with no results whatsoever.  At least if they could USE the new pasture I'd feel like it was worth it!  

So, how do you train them?


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## ksalvagno (Mar 24, 2010)

Sounds like they are training you! 

Sorry, I have no idea. I needed a laugh and I have to admit that this made me laugh.


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## Mea (Mar 24, 2010)

n.smithurmond said:
			
		

> I
> So now I feel terrible because I spent half the morning shocking the crap out of my goats with no results whatsoever.  At least if they could USE the new pasture I'd feel like it was worth it!
> 
> So, how do you train them?


Years back... when my children were much younger.... we had electric fencing,  four strands for the goat field.     We got the fencing set, then i had one of my children on the Outside of the fence with a grain dish.  I was Inside the fence with the goats on a lead.   We  "baited" them to touch the fence until they figured out that  it 'bit' .  They never  attempted to go thru it after that.

  Or at least the older conditioned ones didn't.  Every year we went thru  the Test , Bleat, Run Away training  with the young ones.  Those goats were Alpines.  ( if that makes a difference)

  Oh..... do NOT use a metal feed dish !!! ask me how i know. 


Mea.


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## cmjust0 (Mar 24, 2010)

That's really odd..  

My question is:  what's on the other side of the fence for which they felt was worth taking the hit?!?


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## helmstead (Mar 24, 2010)

I tried that with Shug and some of her friends years ago, Shug was always the 1st one to bust out...screaming all the way. 

Ah, memories...


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## ()relics (Mar 24, 2010)

I use a second hot wire in front of the actual fence but at adifferent level than the main fence.  I use the plastic stand-offs that are nailed into the wood posts...Thought being they contact the first wire, which is hot, the have to slow down to weave their way throught the main fence..._Usually_ this keeps them in...But if their mind is made up to get through the fence, they just keep going...Odd thing though...Once they are out they mostly just want to get back In....but never seem to remember exactly how they got out...so they just carry on until the gate is opened for them....


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## SDGsoap&dairy (Mar 24, 2010)

Mea said:
			
		

> n.smithurmond said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


We WERE on the other side of the fence.  That's the trouble.  They would test it, jump back, test it, jump back.  Then get a RUNNING START and just bomb through.  Then our nigi kid Chippy would just run up to me like "wow! did you see that?" 

There is nothing on the other side that isn't on the inside!  Surely nothing worth taking a hit with 8,000+ volts.  I could literally hear the pop when they touched it.  Youch!

And Shug hasn't had her turn yet Kate- I kind of figured if the rest were running through then Shug sure as heck wouldn't hesitate!  I felt defeated enough as it was... 

I have the stand-offs- maybe I'll try that.


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## mully (Mar 24, 2010)

you could use 2 strands of braided wire on the inside between the 10 in space you have. Usual goat fencing is 6 in 12in for the first 2 wires. Young (2-4) month old will challenge electric fencing ...that is why I suggest 2 inner wires. TS sells a yellow/black braided wire that works well. I had 3 young does that would get out when i first got them ... this method worked on them.  Best of luck !!


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## freemotion (Mar 24, 2010)

No idea if this is useful or not with goats....when I was a kid, my dad would put a metal chain around the neck of a calf while training it to the wire.  The chain would be like a collar with a long piece hanging down.  This gave a larger area of contact with the zap, and the swinging chain did not allow the animal to control the contact with the wire.  He also tried to do it on a day when the grass was wet....more zap!

I agree, you need to be on the inside with the goat on a long lead to control which direction they run at first.  With horses, I used to pretend to touch the wire, shriek, and run away from it.  That helped, too.  With some.  It was fun, anyways.


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## SDGsoap&dairy (Mar 25, 2010)

mully said:
			
		

> you could use 2 strands of braided wire on the inside between the 10 in space you have. Usual goat fencing is 6 in 12in for the first 2 wires. Young (2-4) month old will challenge electric fencing ...that is why I suggest 2 inner wires. TS sells a yellow/black braided wire that works well. I had 3 young does that would get out when i first got them ... this method worked on them.  Best of luck !!


The spacing on the first 3 wires is 6-6-8; we followed the goat spacing guidelines found in most fence resources.  We're going to try adding an inner wire with the stand-offs when we have time.


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## cmjust0 (Mar 25, 2010)

cmjust0 said:
			
		

> That's really odd..
> 
> My question is:  what's on the other side of the fence for which they felt was worth taking the hit?!?





			
				n.smithurmond said:
			
		

> We WERE on the other side of the fence.  That's the trouble.  They would test it, jump back, test it, jump back.  Then get a RUNNING START and just bomb through.  Then our nigi kid Chippy would just run up to me like "wow! did you see that?"
> 
> There is nothing on the other side that isn't on the inside!


Ahhh, but there was..  When Chippy got through the fence, he even showed you exactly what it was by running straight to it.

You are what's on the other side of the fence that'a worth taking an 8,000V hit.  In his mind, anyway..

Chippy wouldn't happen to have been a bottle baby, would he?  Is this Chippy's first real experience at not being able to get at you whenever he wants?


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## aggieterpkatie (Mar 25, 2010)

I've got a woven field fence as my main fence, and I subdivide using 2 strands of 1/2" polytape.  One strand is about 8" off the ground, the other is about 20-22" off the ground.  This keeps in all the adult animals. The lambs can sneak through, but I don't mind that so much.  They're harder IMO, because their wool sometimes lets them touch the fence without getting zapped. If they touch it with their nose, they'll get zapped though.  

I'd try putting a wire or two of electric on the inside of the fence, maybe in between the first and second strands so they get more of a challenge and can't "dive" through the fence.


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## Mea (Mar 25, 2010)

freemotion said:
			
		

> No idea if this is useful or not with goats....when I was a kid, my dad would put a metal chain around the neck of a calf while training it to the wire.  The chain would be like a collar with a long piece hanging down.  This gave a larger area of contact with the zap, and the swinging chain did not allow the animal to control the contact with the wire.


That is what we did with our big bucks.  For some reason they did not try to get thru the fence.... even during rut.    ( sometimes i think we were just plain lucky back then !  )


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## SDGsoap&dairy (Mar 25, 2010)

Yes, the little turd (Chippy) is a bottle baby.    AND he's DH's favorite so he is spoiled... big time.  In fact we just had a conversation about not letting Chippy actually climb IN your lap when visiting him because I'm sick of going to work with hoof prints on my pants after feeding them in the morning.  But, that's another discussion altogether... 

He's had other experiences not being able to get to us, but there was a solid barrier in his way!  If I was on the inside I've no doubt he'd hang out in the paddock happy as a clam but since I'm not planning on spending the rest of my life in a pen with my goat the problem remains.

Our next day off we're running another wire on the the inside and attempt to "train" them again.  Maybe I should feel flattered my goat will suffer 8,000 volts just to be under foot?


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## jlbpooh (Mar 25, 2010)

n.smithurmond said:
			
		

> I'm sick of going to work with hoof prints on my pants after feeding them in the morning.


 I have this problem every morning too. Good thing I make mud pies for a living. I get dirt on my pants 2 minutes after I get to work, so a few hoof mark aren't a problem. 

What I hate is when I forget and wear clean, freshly washed jeans out in the goat pen on the the weekends and then end up with hoof marks. I think I need to get some coveralls, LOL.


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## cmjust0 (Mar 26, 2010)

n.smithurmond said:
			
		

> Yes, the little turd (Chippy) is a bottle baby.    AND he's DH's favorite so he is spoiled... big time.


There's your answer.  

So far as Chippy's concerned, you're mama.  Baby livestock -- calves, foals, kids, lambs, name it -- would walk through fire to get to mama.  

I think the thing to do here is not to "train" him to the fence at all, since it's going to be counterproductive..  All it's training is that he can run through it without getting snapped too bad, and that's not good.

What I'd do in this case is go out there and sit with him inside the enclosure until he gets totally distracted with something else.  Or, just flat-out distract him with something.....like, throw a grain pan down or something.  Then get yourself out of sight while Chippy's still in the enclosure, without him seeing you leave.  

Go back in the house...don't let him see you.  If he doesn't see you, he won't know where to run through.  Chances are, he'll run around bawling for a minute and then resume being a goat.  

That's what I'd do, and yeah...we've had bottle babies look up and see us and go "MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!" and come shooting straight through the fence like it's not even there.

 

The goog news is that they don't actually want to go anywhere, and that they do learn...eventually.


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## SDGsoap&dairy (Mar 26, 2010)

We're going to have to run really fast.


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