# He keeps breaking out



## terrilhb (May 19, 2011)

My 1 male goat keeps breaking out of his pen. He grazes 5 to 6 hours a day. No matter how much time he has he will  not stay up. I don't know what to do. It was cute at first but know it is getting really old. Any ideas on how to stop him. He even has his brother escaping with him now.


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## freemotion (May 19, 2011)

More info is needed.....what is your fence?  How tall?  How is he getting out?  Jumping over?  Squeezing through the gate?  How?


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## terrilhb (May 19, 2011)

The fence is 5ft. He is literally tearing it up. Ripping it with his teeth, hooves and horns. Seperates it. Digs underneath it and crawls out. He used to climb it but he does not do that anymore because we made it taller. Will an electric fence help?  When he gets out he comes looking for me. He is a buck. He hollers until he finds me. I love him but sometimes. We just had to replace a 6ft section the day before yesterday because he destroyed it literally. He ripped the chains completely apart.


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## julieq (May 19, 2011)

A couple strands of hot wire will stop that immediately.


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## patandchickens (May 19, 2011)

terrilhb said:
			
		

> The fence is 5ft. He is literally tearing it up. Ripping it with his teeth, hooves and horns. Seperates it. Digs underneath it and crawls out. He used to climb it but he does not do that anymore because we made it taller. Will an electric fence help?  When he gets out he comes looking for me. He is a buck. He hollers until he finds me. I love him but sometimes. We just had to replace a 6ft section the day before yesterday because he destroyed it literally. He ripped the chains completely apart.


It sounds like you are using chainlink? If chainlink is not installed VERY VERY TIGHTLY AND CORRECTLY then yes animals can pry holes in it. Which unfortunately also damages it to the point where it can never BE tightened correctly thereafter and becomes basically scrap metal.

Ideally perhaps you could get a roll of 2x4 no-climb fence -- not garden-type or corncrib welded 2x4, but the good knotted stuff designed for livestock use -- and replace the chainlink with that. With a bottom rail to prevent him straining the bottom edge out enough to go under; and perhaps another wooden rail at "butting height" as well.

If you can't do that, then a couple strategically-placed hotwires sound to me like your only "cheapie" solution (and if you have to buy a charger and all that, it isn't going to be _that_ much cheaper than simply replacing the fencing) and would be fine in a largeish paddock but if this is a small pen then I would be leery of doing the hotwire solution for several reasons.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat


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## 20kidsonhill (May 19, 2011)

julieq said:
			
		

> A couple strands of hot wire will stop that immediately.


x2


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## Roll farms (May 19, 2011)

I am the one who posted and said I thought your boy was a Kiko...this helps reinforce that for me...lol.

Our Kiko buck WOULD NOT STAY PENNED.
We joked (but didn't laugh) that he 'scratched his butt on barbed wire and flossed his horns on hot wire.'    The dangerous / scary part is, he did not "love" me, he saw me and came for blood.  One day he went after my daughter w/ his head down at a full run and I got between them and was sure I was going to die.  He was 18 mos old and 200# at the time and how I managed to catch / control him (I weighed about 120# at the time) is still beyond me...musta been that 'mama bear' thing / adrenaline.

He was also in 5' chain link.

Anyhow, we ended up putting RR ties at the bottom w/ big staples to keep it from being so flexible.   We put 3 strands of sharp barb wire across the top (had to install taller fence posts to string it on).  Then we ran a hot wire along the bottom, about 6" out / off the ground, so that he either got shocked in the face if messing from the bottom, or the legs if trying to go over.  Sold him (THANK GOODNESS) not long after that, but it did keep him in until then.

I do NOT miss that boy, not one little bit.


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## terrilhb (May 19, 2011)

Thank you all so much. We are putting electric on it today. We have one from when we needed for the dogs. He does not come after me for blood. He wants me to pet him. And he loves to rub his head on me. This weekend we are going to start putting up goat fence for him. Will this work?  I am only guessing but he seems jealous of the girls. That is when this behavior got worse. Goats sure teach you alot.


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## 20kidsonhill (May 19, 2011)

Goat fence wil be better than chain link, but pretty much one or two strands of electric  really helps keep the fence from getting beat up.


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## greenfamilyfarms (May 19, 2011)

Roll farms said:
			
		

> I am the one who posted and said I thought your boy was a Kiko...this helps reinforce that for me...lol.
> 
> Our Kiko buck WOULD NOT STAY PENNED.
> We joked (but didn't laugh) that he 'scratched his butt on barbed wire and flossed his horns on hot wire.'    The dangerous / scary part is, he did not "love" me, he saw me and came for blood.  One day he went after my daughter w/ his head down at a full run and I got between them and was sure I was going to die.  He was 18 mos old and 200# at the time and how I managed to catch / control him (I weighed about 120# at the time) is still beyond me...musta been that 'mama bear' thing / adrenaline.
> ...


Holy Moley! 

I think I would have killed that goat.

I agree that some electric fencing will help. We have the kind that is designed to keep bulls in the fence and it works very well. *evil laugh*


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## carolinagirl (May 19, 2011)

Goats are masters at escaping. Once they learn how to do it, they teach others too!  I had a beautiful red boer goat doe who started going through the holes in the field fence when she was really little.  It wasn't cattle fence, the holes were larger so the goats could back their horns back through if they stuck their heads out.  Anyway, she started squeezing through those holes as a kid.  she did it daily.  As she grew, she kept on doing it until finally she was an adult.  It was the most amazing thing to watch her work herself through those holes.  It also annoyed the crap out of me!  The final straw was when she had kids....and soon she had taught them to do it too.  So I got rid of her and her kids.  This was a paddock area where the goats were confined at night so I didn't want to put electric wire up.  Electric wire is really the only cure for a goat that does not respect a fence.


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