12V Electric Fence-help 2 new girls and I am nervous

[Wannatryitall]

Hi, I'm a secret Backyard Herds reader, up until now I've only read posts and never posted anything. However, I am stressed to the max tonight and am looking for advice. We just confirmed an offer to buy 2 5-month old Boer doelings to add to our 2 6-month old Alpine girls. So, here is why I'm stressing: #1 we sold our old truck and haven't yet found a replacement, thus I have a minivan that can basically convert to a cargo van-how am I going to bring these girls home in that???? I have one x-large dog kennel, but haven't ever owned a Boer, how big are they at 5 months and can they ride together? Please bare with me, we are new at this, but genuine in our interest and love for our animals so I want to do what's best. Should they be medicated to make the 2 hour ride home and to adjust thereafter?

My second big stressor- the fence covers a 3/4 acre wooded mess, it is 4 strands of combo polytape and polywire run off of the strongest 12v battery charger we could find (solar is a joke) and thanks to the former owners being insane, there is no longer electricity running to either of our 2 barns or acreage. Our alpine's were bottle babies and have escaped MANY times, but only when wanting to follow us. They are seriously like puppies, you just have to turn around and lead them back in over and over until they are distracted. I am terrified that our new girls are going to bolt and never come back and we have a busy highway just a few acres away. What do I do???? Ahh maybe I made the wrong choice by committing to these girls. I know farming comes with it's own messes, but I like to prevent as many as humanly possible. Should I add another wire? Keep them in the barn a few days? The initial reason for them being here is to help us clear and clean-up our property, but they are also hopefully a start to my children's beginnings in 4-h so I don't want them confined in a small pen forever.....suggestions? Does polytape and non-electric-electric fencing just not work on goats??? Why is it not stopping the girls we have (one goes under, the other literally jumps right on top of the 4ft fence like a deer, but lands right on it and wiggles her way across)?

 

[SheepGirl]

I have a dog kennel that we bought when we had bullmastiffs. It is 4' long x 2 or 3' wide and 4' tall. I am able to transport my 160 lb and 130 lb ewes at the same time. They are a little squished, but that's okay because it prevents them from bumping around too much. We normally put it in the back of our truck (it won't fit in our Expedition). I would not medicate them when you transport them. They will probably lay down and be calm as soon as the vehicle starts moving.

When they get home, I strongly suggest you quarantine them first. You have no idea what germs they could be harboring that they're immune to that could make your current goats sick. So when you quarantine them, put them in a sturdy pen that they can't escape out of. By doing this, not only does it protect your current critters, it helps your new goats become accustomed to YOU and learn to trust you. I would quarantine them for at least 2 weeks but 1-2 months is better. THEN after they're done with the quarantine period, I would start to introduce them to your current goats and then put them out in your pasture/woods.

As for the electric fencing issues....I can't help you there as I have no experience with it. We've always had woven wire, and when we put up a fence for my sheep at my house, we built a woven wire fence.

 

[MuttlyCrew]

Hi there I don't post on here much either but anyway we are running 14 boers with electric fencing what I found was that the spacing is the most important our spacing is 6 to 8 inch apart for 3 high then one foot for how ever tall you want the fence. The other thing we do is after the quarantine time is over we put them in a small pen (10'x10') right off the charger that way it is the hottest and let them get zapped with ours it only take hitting it once or twice and they get it, then they get to go in the big pen. We have done this since we got our first couple of does and it has really worked for us. The girls and now even our buck do not get with in a foot of the fence.

Hope that helps
Stacy

 

[treeclimber233]

I think your problem is the poly tape. You will get much better results with regular wire and not the plastic woven stuff with tiny wire to carry the current. The wire must touch skin to work. With my horses when I first put up the polywire they had a heavy winter coat. They could lean on the polywire and not get a shock until they leaned enough to hit the bare wire (I had a combo of wire and poly wire). The wire certainly got their attention. I learned the poly wire is best used for easy visibility. The wire carries the "load".