Affordable goat fencing options?

[Mini Horses]

Me too -- Wood corners, T-posts between work well. One 100' roll is about $130. plus posts. Easily does 20X30 enclosure and that's nice for several goaties....especially in winter when feeding hay. Then when grass weather arrives, you will be ready for more fence. Hey -- the electric fence from Premier that is white, moveable, could be used for moveable areas until you got around to more permanent. Just a thought. I use mine to corral chickens, make temporary areas when moving animals or things, building, working -- keeps things in and out of the way.

 

[mandi224]

Thanks guys for all the help -- y'all have no idea how grateful I am to have found this forum!!

I think, as you all suggested, we're going to shoot to do approximately a 20'x30' fenced area to start (and expand in the future), using wood posts in the corners, and t-posts on the line. I also want to have a gate so I can get a truck/tractor into the barn when I need to haul things in and out.

So I'm trying to make my shopping list (Tractor Supply is our nearest store for these things) and I have some lingering questions.
(Forgive me, I have zero knowledge on fence-building, so I really appreciate the help.)

Fencing -- Which one of these would be best? I only need the 100' (the barn will take up most of one side of the fence), but they don't seem to have 60" fence in smaller than 200' rolls. Is 48" tall enough, or do I need the 60"?
- Non-climb horse fence 48" x 100' = $129.99
- Non-climb horse fence 60" x 200' = $349.99
- Horse (field) fence 60" x 200' = $179.99

Gate-- Would something like this or this work? Or is there something better y'all can recommend? I'm anticipating I'll need additional wooden posts on either side of this, rather than t-posts, yes?

Wooden posts -- what thickness/height should I get? Tractor Supply has 4", 5" and 6" diameter. I was thinking 8' posts?

T-Posts -- What height? All the ones on the TS site say "1.25 lb. per foot", is that ok? Is spacing them approximately every 8' a good plan?

 

[Latestarter]

I would go with the 48" no-climb... with Nigies, you really don't need the 60". Either gate should work just fine. I would probably go with the second one, even though $10 more expensive, because the goats will put their front hooves up on the lower sections and I'd be worried they'd stick their heads through higher up and get stuck. If I got the first one, I'd be wiring no climb fencing to it... just me.

Since your enclosure run line is so short, 4" posts at the corners should be fine (you could beef it up to 5" but 6" would be serious overkill). 8' length with 3.5' buried should provide plenty of strength over such a short run. By leaving a little extra above fence level, you can always add a hot wire later if you want. I would put 2 T-posts evenly spaced on the 20' side and 4 on the 30' side. Should be more than enough.

I would go w/the 7' posts: http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/studded-t-post-7-ft-125-lb-per-foot

primarily because the goats will want to rub (scratch) against the fencing which will put strain against the posts. Pound them in 2.5' and leave 4.5 feet again, leaving room at the top for an hot wire if you decide to install one.

Hope this helped.

 

[mandi224]

@Latestarter That was HUGELY helpful! THANK YOU! I hate having to ask such basic questions, but I'm hoping to save myself some headaches later.

 

[Latestarter]

ask away... we all like to be of help, and better to get a good answer than make mistakes and have to revisit stuff later.

Edit to add: even though sometimes the answers may seem completely different... we all deal with different issues... so take what's best and leave the rest!

 

[Latestarter]

Sorry. went back and re-read... not 4 on the 30' side, but 3 breaking it into 4 sections... happy fingers.

 

[secuono]

Have a neighbor that sprung up with goats. They use the 2x4in wire, but 5ft high. They expand pastures as money comes in. Goats love to escape, but they don't seem to of gotten out yet from their fencing. They have the smaller ones who are super escape artists and meat/milk cross.

Spend the money up front for great fencing. You will have less issues down the road and over time. Do like they did, fence in a 300x300ft area at a time if you can only afford so much, nothing wrong with that.

 

[OneFineAcre]

I'm going to disagree on the T posts. If you are going to initially do just a 20x30 area, and that's going to be where your barn/shelter is, I would just use all wood posts.
Not much difference in the cost if any.
It's just more work in that you have to dig a hole and set each post in sack crete
It's easier with the T posts when you are doing a large area
But, for a 20x30 area you are only talking about 12 holes total. You would be doing 4 holes if you do wood posts on the corners any way.
In fact, normally with wood you do 8 ft spacing. Make it 32 x 24.
Just my opinion.

Edited:
My suggestion to do 32 x 24 may not be a good idea. If you add that up it's 112 feet (at least, you will never get it perfectly tight)
So, if you want to do it with one 100 foot roll, you may want to make a little smaller than 20x 30.
But, I still think you should just do all wood posts.

 

[Hens and Roos]

we went with all wood posts, DH rented a post hole digger and within 2 hours had all the posts dug. We like the wood posts as the goats like to lean and rub on them and not so much on the fencing.

 

[chiques chicks]

I just built an enclosure for two young ND in the past months. I used all wood posts, lined it with 50" cattle panels, lined that with 60" welded wire, and am putting hit wrote inside that.

Not cheap, but hopefully secure. I only sink the posts 2' and have cross pieces between most of them at the 50" height, so the cattle panels are attached at the top as well. Overkill, but I live next to a busy rural road. The gates are the tube type that u attached cattle panel and welded wire as well.