# Goat fencing?



## Azurecowgoat (Oct 10, 2020)

My mom seems to think that goats are masters at excaping, but is that true? I want to get mostly Nigerian dwarfs and maybe two nubians. How tall does the fence have to be to keep in the goats and keep predators out? Anything else I should know about goat fencing?


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## Mini Horses (Oct 10, 2020)

And some ARE masters at escaping.  How high can they jump?  I have had them clear 4' with ease, most don't.  It's really dependent on the individual goat. But the grass is always greener on the other side.  

You need either the 4x4 goat fence or the 2x4 horse fence, good posts and no ditches at bottoms, or boxes they can climb on inside to then ump over.  At least 48' high.   Good and tight, for most that is fine.  Many use a hot wire along with that.

It's like this -- ALL dogs are cable of digging out, not all do.  Same with goats...all can jump, crawl under, if head goes thru, body follows.  Young ones LOVE to jump, onto anything.


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## chickens really (Oct 11, 2020)

My experience is build it very secure. My fences are 6 feet high and one area is 10 feet high. My one goat is an escape artist and if given an opportunity to jump out she will be out.


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## rachels.haven (Oct 11, 2020)

I have lamancha and nigerians. My fences are 4' except for a few places where the waste hay has built up to make the fence about 3'...but mine like their pen. If I remove them from the pen they panic and do their best to get back into their barn pen. The dwarf bucks can fly when they want when young but if they got out they'd be alone and they don't coordinate well with each other so in they stay. The lamancha bucks don't show interest in trying to climb or jump out either. My advice is to get 4' fences, good goats, and keep them well fed, well watered, and entertained in a good amount of space and keep your fingers crossed. 

Just as a heads up: the babies sure do like to slip out of fences and endanger themselves if you let them.


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## messybun (Oct 11, 2020)

I’ve 4ft fences, we started with gradiated wire, smaller at the bottom and bigger at the top, we had to redo everything because the goats would get stuck in the fence and then I’d have to cut the fence and then the chickens could escape and then the goats got their head stuck again and it was not fun for any of us. Goats can push under or hop over the fence, ask me how I know lol. Basically, the cardinal rule is never let an animal become hungry or thirsty, and never EVER let a goat get bored. I broke the last cardinal rule, now my fence has to have a hot wire because my fruit trees are just too tasty to resist. I have mostly Pygmy goats by the way. Heads up on Nubians, they are known to be escape artists, and you have to be careful of a mixed herd so that the littles don’t get pushed around. Which if your little ones are anything like mine, that won’t be a problem.


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## Fuchsia (Oct 11, 2020)

My goats don't get out, my baby will get out once in a while but goes back in to be with its mom.
The only time they got out was when I forgot to lock their fence  but even then they where just outside the fence eating grass. I guess the grass tasted better out there than in pasture/pen.


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## ancient (Oct 14, 2020)

I agree. Depends on the goat.i have all La Manchas. My fence is 5 feet(small section is 4 feet) I don't have a problem with the hight but there was one spot slightly wider between the bars then the rest and my fattest doe kept getting out. I thought the whole time she was jumping the 4 foot section it turns out she was squeezing through the wide section. I didn't think she could possibly fit, especially with the horns but she did. One time by buck was chained out (. Had to put him somewhere for a few hours while I was fixing his house/run). It was a heavy chain my husband uses to exercise his pit bulls. I went in to get my son lunch and all the dogs started barking. I kept going out and not seeing anything. I went after to look in at my does (who I didn't want to breed that year) . The buck got the one end of the chain that was tied to a tree loose, ran with the heavy chain behind him to the other end of the acreage and jumped my does 6 foot high fence.  By the time I realized he was already in action.


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## Nommie Bringeruvda Noms (Oct 14, 2020)

If it will hold tall, hyperactive water, it *might* hold goats, lol. 
OK, in all seriousness, we use goat panels for little ones and cattle panels for the big ones, and they seem to be working well - but they haven't been 'kid' tested, yet. We're still small - only 8 goats, but 4 Nigoras, 1 Boer/myotonic, and 3 Nubians. Last year, we didn't have the panels, we only had the 3 Houdinis Nigoras (buck, doe, & doeling), and rutting season was... like trying to cage hyperactive water. So far, this year has been much easier, with only 1 Houdini Nigora (last year's doeling), insisting we are not the boss of her. Ahem.


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## MoreAU (Oct 14, 2020)

I gave up on goats and switched to sheep. The same fences that the goats ignored keep the sheep in very well.


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## secuono (Oct 14, 2020)

🤣
I had 3 goats once. Had. Two minis and a mini mix. Even a 5ft chain link fence didn't keep them in. 
I have no clue how anyone manages to contain them...
Good luck, though!


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## Ridgetop (Oct 14, 2020)

We never had a problem with our goats getting out.  They were all in milk and most milkers won't jump anything with that heavy bag hanging.  Also they were free fed with plenty of alfalfa and water.  Their pen was fairly large and had lots of shade and sun to lie in.  They liked it  so much that when we put them on the field to graze they bawled at the gate to come back into their pen.  

They were all bottle raised too which makes a difference.  We removed the kids before they could nurse and hand raised all the kids and milked the does out every 12 hours.  I think this makes a big difference.  The kids were kept in a separate pen with small openings in the wire and their own kid house.  They didn't join the milkers until they were yearlings.


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## ConnieEm (Oct 20, 2020)

Fuchsia said:


> My goats don't get out, my baby will get out once in a while but goes back in to be with its mom.
> The only time they got out was when I forgot to lock their fence  but even then they where just outside the fence eating grass. I guess the grass tasted better out there than in pasture/pen.


And so what do you use to keep them in?


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## Fuchsia (Oct 21, 2020)

ConnieEm said:


> And so what do you use to keep them in?


Fence. 

I use this fence:  https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/hinge-joint-sheep-goat-fence
And this gate: https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/wire-filled-gate-4-ft


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## Azurecowgoat (Dec 23, 2020)

Do you think something like this would work for nigerian dwarf goats and possibly nubians?


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## rachels.haven (Dec 23, 2020)

I've seen that done before. I'm not sure if it lasts forever, but I have seen serious goaters do it. Woven wire would make sure it would work. I think the horse fence supports it if nailed on properly.


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## Azurecowgoat (Dec 26, 2020)

rachels.haven said:


> I've seen that done before. I'm not sure if it lasts forever, but I have seen serious goaters do it. Woven wire would make sure it would work. I think the horse fence supports it if nailed on properly.


thanks


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## Ridgetop (Dec 27, 2020)

Is the wooden fence sturdy and solid?  If so, putting woven (NOT welded) wire on the wood fence should work for the goats.  Not so sure about predators depending on the height and whether anything can dig under..


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