fencing questions

[marlowmanor]

DH has finally been talking about expanding our goat area so we can add more goats and get into breeding and selling the kids. So now I have a few questions. Originally when we bought fencing to make the goats a lot that extends off their sheltered dog lot we bought the cheapest option which was just regular field fencing, which of course they can get their heads through (most of the time it is no issue for them to get their head back out themselves). Well now that we are looking into fencing more of the property we will have to buy more fencing. Now I want the best option for us fencing wise.

Situation 1: Right now I don't think we are planning to run electric with the fence so I want to know the best option for us considering we will not be using electric with it. Do we go with the field fence again or spend the extra money on the goat fence? How far should T-posts be placed? I think when we did the lot the goats are currently in we did 8-10 feet between posts. The goats have been a bit abusive of the fence though so we have had some sagging issues, but then again the fence may not have been tightened up enough too.

Situation 2: If we decide to run electric what all do we need for that? We are on less than an acre so I don't see us needing a huge charger. I have no clue what all we would need to install electric either or how difficult it is to install.

 

[ksalvagno]

We used all wood posts. Placed no more than 8 feet apart. We used woven wire no climb 4' horse fence. The openings are no bigger than 2"x4". We have not had problems with animals getting in or out. Certainly an animal could dig under it but so far that hasn't happened and we really can't afford to dig a trench and put fencing below ground. We learned the hard way that it is cheaper to get the best stuff you can afford. We don't have any rusting and bent T-posts and our woven wire fence looks just as nice with no rust 7 years later unlike the welded wire fence we had.

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

I would prefer 4x4 goat fencing but is is soooo much more expensive than just field fencing. We have all field fencing here (where it is small at the bottom and gets bigger as you go up). I like and have not really had issues with it expect for the dumb LaMancha who is bent on killing herself. :/ I think she would get her head into the 4x4 too. For T-posts I set mine every 8 feet apart unless there is a stretch where it is say 27 feet between wood posts, then I will just place three posts and that would make them every 9 feet. No point in wasting a 4.29$ post. But as a rule of thumb you should do it ever 8-10 feet. In a perfect worl I would have only wood posts but it's not a perfect world. lol I have to use T-posts but if it is a long stretch I will place wood posts in between.

There is a new (I just heard of it not too long ago so it's new to me) that there is "High Tensile Field Fence" and with this fence you can go further between posts, something like 20 feet I think. It is supposed to be able to stretch really well and some farmers talk about their cows leaning into it and it stretches but when they get off of it it goes right back. It is also a bit less expense because they use smaller wire but I guess it is stronger than the regular field fence. It is supposed to bring the cost down but does just as good a job. Like I said, I have not used it so I don't know how well it works. Just some food for thought.

As for electric fence. It is not hard to install at all and all of it is pretty cheap. Wire for 2000' is something like 20$ and all the plastic pieces you need are all less than 10$ for a bag of them. gates only cost a few bucks too. What gets you is the ground rod(s) and the charger itself. That is what will bring the bill up. Chargers cast cost 100$ or more and ground rods are expensive too. They are one time things though and I am a firm believer that electric fence is a life saver and the best investment a goat rancher can buy.

 

[marlowmanor]

We used all wood posts. Placed no more than 8 feet apart. We used woven wire no climb 4' horse fence. The openings are no bigger than 2"x4". We have not had problems with animals getting in or out. Certainly an animal could dig under it but so far that hasn't happened and we really can't afford to dig a trench and put fencing below ground. We learned the hard way that it is cheaper to get the best stuff you can afford. We don't have any rusting and bent T-posts and our woven wire fence looks just as nice with no rust 7 years later unlike the welded wire fence we had.

So what kind of wooden posts would we need? Do they end up being cheaper than T-posts? Can you just drive them in the ground like you can T-posts? Where would you get wooden posts? I'll have to look at Lowes and TSC to see about cost and availability for wooden posts.

 

[Tmaxson]

We used welded wire (Redbrand) 2x4 openings and the metal fence posts. The fence is 4 ft tall and each post at 8 feet. Each gate opening has wood posts on each side and some of the fence is attached to trees. The metal posts are rusting and the fence is sagging a bit from them rubbing on it, but we have 11 acres and move our animals around at times so we didn't need anything that had to last years. It's worked fine for over a year. You can see some of it in the background of this picture.

 

[Tmaxson]

Tractor Supply has them and probably cheaper than Lowes, however I do think Lowes will price match. You would need to dig holes or get a auger and probably be best to set with cement or something.

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

I would recommend against any welded wire fencing for goats. Woven is good but welded can kill them. I know a guy with Boers and he had the same and they were getting their heads and necks stuck in them. The LaMancha I just made mention to does the same thing. We have a stretch when we did the same fence because we didn't know what we were doing and now there are places all throughout it the has holes or the wire that was welded is now dangling. I'll try and get some pictures to show the danger of the fence.They are not welded all that well and the welds break so easily and when that happens you have a strand of wire hanging there where a goat can easily get it's get in it and strangle. I'll get some pictures today to show you.


ETA: It also does not stretch well at all. It will end up being loose in the end and makes it more dangerous.

 

[Tmaxson]

I would recommend against any welded wire fencing for goats. Woven is good but welded can kill them. I know a guy with Boers and he had the same and they were getting their heads and necks stuck in them. The LaMancha I just made mention to does the same thing. We have a stretch when we did the same fence because we didn't know what we were doing and now there are places all throughout it the has holes or the wire that was welded is now dangling. I'll try and get some pictures to show the danger of the fence.They are not welded all that well and the welds break so easily and when that happens you have a strand of wire hanging there where a goat can easily get it's get in it and strangle. I'll get some pictures today to show you.


ETA: It also does not stretch well at all. It will end up being loose in the end and makes it more dangerous.

Wow I didn't know that. It's worked fine for us so far, but it does sag, however hasn't broken in any place. We'll have to keep our eyes out for that.

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

You're lucky you have good goats then!! haha Ours are always leaning on the fence and always think "the grass is greener on the other side" so the aren't nice on the fences. You're goats look small enough to where they aren't ready to mess with it yet.

 

[ksalvagno]

Wood posts you would either have to dig a hole, cement and cover up or pound in. You would need a post pounder that attaches to a tractor or something to pound them in. They come in 4" and 6" and we used 6" for all corners and then the 4" around the rest. Ours were pounded in and we have had no problems with them even in the areas where water sits when we get bad rains. I have no idea if they are cheaper than T posts. We were just very unhappy with T posts at our other place so went with all wood this time.