# Progress on Fence & Shelter



## tcmers (Sep 5, 2011)

Well....it only took a year, but all of the posts are in and the fence wire is strung.  The goat shelter is about 90% complete.  Could have finished a lot sooner, but other projects got in the way.  Have to finish the interior of the shed, and we are making hinged panels to close in the top section to combat the Indiana winters.  Still have some interior fencing to complete too, but that shouldn't take more than a day.  We'll be looking for a couple of myotonic goats for next spring.  

Tried to post pics, but as a new member, it wouldn't let me.


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## freemotion (Sep 5, 2011)

You need ten posts, then you can post pics....so get posting!  Hop into a bunch of threads with a little comment, and welcome all the newcomers, and in five minutes you can post a pic here....which I'd love to see.


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## kstaven (Sep 5, 2011)

Just one of those pain in the neck things we had to do to keep spammers out.


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## tcmers (Sep 5, 2011)

kstaven said:
			
		

> Just one of those pain in the neck things we had to do to keep spammers out.


I understand.    Here are the pics:


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## Ms. Research (Sep 5, 2011)

Hey it might have taken a year, but you kept going with it.  It really looks nice.  Can't wait to see the pictures of the goats you put in 

Good Luck


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## freemotion (Sep 5, 2011)

Very cute!  Now where are those goaties?


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## kstaven (Sep 6, 2011)

Looks really good. Well done!


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## SheepGirl (Sep 6, 2011)

Just curious...how big is the shelter and how much did it cost to build?


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## 77Herford (Sep 6, 2011)

kstaven said:
			
		

> Just one of those pain in the neck things we had to do to keep spammers out.


  So what's your excuse Kstaven?............Just kidding..


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## 77Herford (Sep 6, 2011)

Wow, nice detailed work.  The Goats or Sheep will love it.


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## tcmers (Sep 6, 2011)

SheepGirl said:
			
		

> Just curious...how big is the shelter and how much did it cost to build?


The shelter is 8X10.  I really don't know the cost.  All of the 4x4 posts, siding and plywood were leftovers from a few years of other projects.  The only thing purchased new was roofing and paint.  Spent a total of $100 or so.  The fence is another story....


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## kstaven (Sep 7, 2011)

77Herford said:
			
		

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## kstaven (Sep 7, 2011)

tcmers said:
			
		

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Rule #1 is never add up the cost. None of the leftovers you mention come cheap anymore.


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## tcmers (Sep 7, 2011)

kstaven said:
			
		

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Definitely!  Knowing the true cost would just be frustrating.  My pack rat tendencies tend to annoy my wife at times, but in this case it paid off.


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## DonnaBelle (Sep 7, 2011)

Yes, I've got a pack rat, never throw anything away husband too.  

But there are times when he uses the leftovers and saves us a ton of money.  Our goat barn is made of metal from an insurance job we paid $300.00 for. He took down the cypress barrels at the old cotton gin, cleaned up the wood, and has made stalls and stall doors from it.  He's really happy when he can reuse materials.

Donnabelle


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## 77Herford (Sep 7, 2011)

kstaven said:
			
		

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## motoclown (Sep 9, 2011)

Nice shelter.


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## mek (Oct 11, 2011)

Just curious, how much fenced area have you provided for your "x" amount of goats?


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## Fiberfling (Oct 31, 2012)

That really looks good.  We recently refurbished an old out building. It had to be 75 years old +--. The roof was down near dangerous with two levels on it. One the original and a second on top of that. I guess it was an Ozark way of repairing. Anyway the first one began to rot because the upper one was allowing water in, the whole thing flooded every monsoon season and I was getting skeert of going in there much less my girls. This spring I decided to purchase some CVM/romeldales and told hubby it WAS going to get fixed.  The uprights were old cedar trunks with Corrugated metal and oak walls.  Mostly in serviceable condition, except the roof.  The shed/barn/loafing pen is about 16 by 24. We re-roofed the west side and are now attacking the east side. There are two adult Finn ewes, one ram lamb and 2 ewe lams and a whether in the west side. I close them in at night and they have access to the entire area.  Within the next two weeks I want to separate the girls from the boys as the ram lamb is beginning to mount the older females and I don't what them bred.  So I will have two loafing pens next to each other where the girls can live and the boys can live and hopefully the ram will not be able to touch noses with the girls. I hope.  At near 70 this is a real chore.


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## GrimshelsGrazingGoats (Jun 10, 2014)

tcmers said:


> I understand.    Here are the pics:


is that electric fencing yall went with,if so how has it held up? what is the spacing on it. might have to go all electric next time


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## HobbyFarmerJen (Jul 4, 2014)

I'm just dropping in to see how other members build their shelters.  Yours is very cute! Good job. I will keep the red paint in mind when designing mine - looks like a mini barn.


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## greybeard (Jul 6, 2014)

(I realize this is a 3 year old thread) and I know nothing about goats or their shelters but that is an excellent job on the fence.
BUT, I'm going to say a few things that may at first seem unflattering, but they are for the benefit of those of us that often find it difficult to find the $$ and time to build good fencing. You are using high tension wire. For those members with not-so-deep pockets or like me, a thin wallet, one of the advantages of high tension wire is that it doesn't require as close line post spacing as traditional woven or even barbed wire. Traditional fencing rule of thumb was 10-16' minimum distance between line postsfor woven, welded, or barb wire. That, is a lot of posts, and a lot of post holes. A lot of backfilling and a lot of tamping. I know, I've built those type fences since 1966. HT wire has been very popular overseas, especially on the cattle and sheep stions of Australia/New Zealand for decades, but is relatively a  late comer here in North America.  It has caught on quick tho and there are reasons for it. Because HT wire can be pulled so tightly, adequate spacing between line posts is considered to be as much as 100' apart. I'm presently building an electric HT cattle fence and am placing line posts 65' apart. If I had a more docile breed cattle, I would go maybe 80' apart. (My breed is 1/2 Brahma-1/4 Hereford-1/4 shorthorn).  
I like your insulators--the tube type are much better than the old nail in plastic pieces of crap. 
Another $ and time saver on an HT fence is being able to use floating braces both in corners and in the middle of a long stretch instead of the traditional H braces you used. Nothing wrong with an H brace corner, but again, to save $ and time, and still have a very strong corner, a floating brace is more than adequate. You only dig one hole for each corner and one hole for each mid-run brace. You use 1/3 less big posts per fence. With 8"x8' posts running close to $20+ ea, that is a lot of savings. 
Please understand I DO like that fence!! But, I have always put the wire on the containment side of the posts. If you want to keep something out, the wire goes on the outside. Keep something in, the wire goes on the inside of the posts. This, is to prevent the contained animals from just pushing against the wire and popping the staples out, then pushing up or down on the now unfastened wire and squeezing thru. (A fence charger always seems to malfunction the same time animals get frisky)

For those who have never built a HT fence, take notice of the apparatus on the lower right of picture#1. It's a spinning jenny, costs from $40-$100 most anywhere and is absolutely a life saver and a necessity when playing out HT wire. It's an investment. Don't even think about cutting the bands on a 1000 or 4000' foot roll of HT wire until the whole roll is firmly secured in the spinning jenny.  (don't ask how I learned this)  

A little information on HT fencing here:
http://beefmagazine.com/pasture-range/grazing-programs/0301-common-fencing-mistakes

Again--a very nice, efficient and strong fence!!


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