# Baby Goat got Head Stuck in the Fence



## madelynmccabe (Jul 5, 2016)

Today I was out with my baby goats that I've had for a little over a month now and I went in to eat dinner. When I came back outside I heard some very loud and unusual bleating. I looked out to see my nearly 3 month old baby goat, Maggie, with her head stuck in the fence. She and her friend usually stick their heads out of the fence to eat grass, (even though it's the exact same grass that's inside their pen) and this time her horns were too big. I tried at first to work her head out but that didn't work. I have no idea how she got her head through the tiny square, it seemed to be smaller than the other squares that made up their pen. She was also on her knees which made it much harder. I eventually had to cut her out of the fence with bolt cutters. I gave her a small handful of corn to calm her down since she was pretty scared, but she ate it well, she has been drinking normal too. I'm still a little worried about her though, since I have no idea how long she was stuck for. Just wondering if there should be anything that I should watch for in the next couple of days. I'm a first time goat owner and have never delt with any animals getting their limbs (or head) stuck in anything. 

Madelyn


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## Ferguson K (Jul 5, 2016)

That's a pretty usual thing for goats to do. They get stuck in the strangest places. If she's eating and drinking normal, and not swollen and cut up, she's probably okay.

Be prepared to rescue her again soon. Once they figure out they fit somewhere, they usually do it repeatedly.


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## Latestarter (Jul 5, 2016)

This is one of the reasons some folks take off the horns... they get stuck "less"...


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## babsbag (Jul 5, 2016)

All I can say is "welcome to my world" 

I had one little goat that had a scur and she would stick her head through every 4x4 square she could find but wouldn't pull her head back because of the scur.  First it was the feeder and I cut her out twice. Then I moved her to a kid pen and she did the same there, only through the fence. My new LGD thought that goat ears stuck through a fence were very tasty. So I put plywood in front of that section of fence and she found another section. So more plywood...repeat. And repeat the behavior from my dog as well. So I finally put her in with the bucks where there were no 4x4 squares. Then I just gave up and gave her away. 

She would stick her head through where there was nothing but gravel on the other side, nothing tasty to eat. I did get pretty good at figuring out how to turn her head to get it back through as I was not cutting up any more fences just for her. One day I was so frustrated with her that I just gave her some water and left her for a few hours. This was a multiple times a day occurrence.  If she had been a kid I was keeping I would have been running hot wire around the inside of every fence.


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## madelynmccabe (Jul 6, 2016)

Thanks for the replies guys! It's very helpful to know that it's not just my silly goat that does this kind of stuff, I'm sure I will be pulling several heads outing the fence in the near future until their horns get too big to fit through the squares.

@Latestarter I wish my baby goats were dehorned, but when I got them, their horns were already so big I was afraid it would be too painful for them. I saw a video of a goat getting dehorned and just didn't have the heart to do it to my goaties. 

But thanks again for some answers! I'm sure this won't be the last time I rescue one of my goats from a fence!


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## Latestarter (Jul 6, 2016)

You know, it might be a bit expensive/excessive (depending), but you could always double fence... Cover the existing fencing with 2x4 welded wire that they can't fit their heads through... Or just run a line or 2 of hot wire around the inside which is probably cheaper.


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## madelynmccabe (Jul 6, 2016)

Yes that would be a good idea. Might look in to the hot wire.


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## cjc (Jul 6, 2016)

Our lambs did this so we had to chicken wire the entire pasture they were in. We attached chicken wire to all of the 4 board fencing to stop them from doing this as one of them ripped their ear right off trying to break free!!!


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## chiques chicks (Jul 6, 2016)

I lined my pen with 2x4 welded wire. It works well. I have stock panels behind it for strength.

I have electric netting around their browse area. It took two zaps for them to respect it. There was a section down the other day, therefore shorted out, and they still wouldn't cross it. Mine is orange, so very visible.


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## misfitmorgan (Jul 6, 2016)

Our goats do this quite often, most learn how to get back out eventually. I have never heard of anyone cutting fence to get a goat unstuck we always just turn their head the right way, then shove the tips of their horn into the hole their head is in and they generally pull it out themselves.

If your worried about doing that you can always tape a pipe to their head like other people do. You duct tape or gorilla tape a piece of pvc or dowel rod to their horns that wide enough they wont be able to get their horns thru the fence.


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## samssimonsays (Jul 6, 2016)

I had my buckling who was disbudded did this last week with a pallet... I had to take apart the pallet to get him out.... Some of them just will get stuck no matter what. All of the advice is very good from the above posters!


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## madelynmccabe (Jul 6, 2016)

Yes! Thanks so much. I guess goats just like to get themselves into trouble! I will be looking at some hot wire to put on my fence soon.


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## babsbag (Jul 6, 2016)

Here in CA where summers are hot my friends have had goats die by getting heads stuck in fences or feeders. The hot wire around the inside works great on fences. I put it at baby goat head height which is about adult goat knee height. No heads in those fences. The 2x4 welded no climb would work...maybe. My goats would stand on it and simply break it, hence the hot wire. I have 2x4 woven no climb and when the fence if off they will "climb" it looking for branches. The wire doesn't break but the welded sure would. My hot wire saves a lot of fences.


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## madelynmccabe (Jul 6, 2016)

@babsbag Thanks!


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## secuono (Jul 6, 2016)

I had an adult ewe, no horns, get her head stuck in iron gate with vertical bars, it used to be railing for a deck. No bolt cutters would work on that, I'd have to call the fire department to slowly saw the bar out...
Luckily, after a lot of shoving, turning, repositioning her head and body, I eventually found the right mix and got her free...I had to shove her lower jaw back and turn her head 90 degrees and then tilt her nose to do it. 

I chose naturally polled animals because of the fact that horned beasts love to get stuck.

Had a lamb get stuck, too. He is polled, but his ear tag got in the way when he tried to back out. That and he had knelt down low to shove his head through a tiny hole...

My horse went through (not over) 6 lines of barbed wire, unharmed. Had to cut it down to get him back. It makes no sense as to the why and the how...

If an animal can get stuck, hung up or injured on it, then they will do so in time!


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## Goat Whisperer (Jul 6, 2016)

secuono said:


> I had an adult ewe, no horns, get her head stuck in iron gate with vertical bars, it used to be railing for a deck. No bolt cutters would work on that, I'd have to call the fire department to slowly saw the bar out...
> Luckily, after a lot of shoving, turning, repositioning her head and body, I eventually found the right mix and got her free...I had to shove her lower jaw back and turn her head 90 degrees and then tilt her nose to do it.
> 
> I chose naturally polled animals because of the fact that horned beasts love to get stuck.
> ...


I'm shocked you didn't have to get some OB lube!


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## Ferguson K (Jul 6, 2016)

I had a doeling get her head stuck in a PVC feeder. I have no idea how she got it in there, or how she didn't suffocate before I found her. She was making this muffled maaaaaa and I couldn't figure out where in the WORLD that sound was coming from.

Had to go drag an extension cord and hook up the saw, and VERY CAREFULLY cut her head out. It was nerve racking.

A few years back we had a mare flip in her stall, and embeded herself in one of the vertical bars that separates her from the horse next to her. Six people picked her up while she calmly waited for help. We pried her off and doctored her back up. No one saw her to it, we found her hanging after the owner went to get tack. 2 minutes tops.

Let's not forget the time my mustang mare tried to go through a pipe fence and got stuck in it. IN it.


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## babsbag (Jul 7, 2016)

When there is a will there is a way and believe me they will. Animals excel at making us shake our heads in wonder.


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