Goat and sheep fencing complete!!
The trouble with goats or sheep is that once they have gotten through a fence, they do keep trying- afterall it worked once for them , it is likely to work again.
But we have outsmarted them, finally.
This wooden top rail is too high for them to jump over.
The wire is buried in the earth and david back fills with the bobcat.
The wire is strung very tight and is smallish chicken wire. ( David and i didn't build the fence itself though we had a contractor do it for us this time).
The fence with the top rail also stops the horse stretching the wire by bending over the top to graze on the other side.
The side panels in the back yard aren't quite as high and have 2 rows of barb wire at the top.They are also buried underneath.
As far as safety goes , the goats have known what barbed wire is all along and know to respect it. They checked out this top wire as soon as they came into the paddock and didn't hurt themselves on it at all because they knew what it was.
Though if I had wilder goats that weren't used to being handled and spooked easily, I wouldn't use this.I would then use the wooden top rail.
I put the goats in this paddock this morning to see what they would do.
Honey went along every inch looking for an opening.
'Hey!This is where I always get out !' she seemed to say.
Poppy checked for gaps underneath because that is her thing.
And Georgia ...well she just stared perplexed at the fence that seemed to appear overnight and didn't attempt anything ( a plus with being a fat minature goat).
And Stewart...well, unless Honey has got through a fence, he generally doesn't bother. She usually tells him whether it is an attemptable mischievious act or not.
Gale force winds today ...the one thing that did get out of the fence was the goat shed. It is now hanging over the top of it.
So there you have it , People Score 1 / Goat Score Zero . We are winning for a change.
8 comments:
Oh it's a battle! That fence wouldn't have come cheaply. I reckon Christine will be reading this post with interest coz she's having trouble with her goats. It's tough. I'd love to have our own milk but I'm not ready to try goats again yet.
Ahh, thankyou for posting this, Kim! I have read about the top rails on fences..it's good to actually see them. Your fencer has done a fine job, you must be so pleased!
Our next plan of attack is to 'raise the bar' by running two horizontal plain fencing wires above the fence..if this doesn't do the trick then rails may be our only other option *gulp*. I would be scared to put up barbed wire as they have become such proficient fence jumpers I fear they would scrape their underbellies..ouch!
No good to hear about the galey winds blowing the shelter! Yikes!! We have just picked up an old swing set a-frame from the neighbour's to turn into goat shelter #2. Number #1 is slowly caving in under their eager leaps onto the pitch to survey their surrounds.
Thanks again for sharing your fencing success, this gives me great hope that they can actually be contained!
PS - I would love to knit you a beanie! Just say the colour and your bovine wish shall be my woolly command. ;)
Hi christine,I agree with the barbed wire option...if they were already going over the top , it may be too dangerous for that 'one off 'accident when they try it for the first time. Apparently another option is a solar electric fence wire around 'nose height' when they stand on their hind legs (probably our head height).
Oh, yes please to the beanie- I think a natural brown with a black cow!! Everyone check out Christine's shop at 'Slow Living Essentials' blog.
Hi Linda,
Get the fence first , then the goat. I don't know how many times I said I was going to never have goats again ....then I sold them and I cried because I wanted them back. The fence is up now though...ahhh, though if i added up the cost of drinking goats milk for the rest of my life, you are right it would have been cheaper to buy the milk and not have goats. But we got the fences for other reasons too, these are the same paddocks that enable our sheep to graze safely.
I hope one day you are game to try goats again.
we have opted for electric fences, they are working well but we have had to instal lots more of them than we originally thought we would. Elisabet our oldest goat just has to try and get out wherever she is. As soon as she is out she tries to let us know to let her back in.
Goats are so difficult to keep fenced in. We had an enclosure with a very high fence (about 5-6ft high) and that didnt hold our girl. She jumped out regularly. We ended up giving her away to my parents who found a home for her...Electric would probably be best for these mischievious creatures.
Hi Anne, I think if you have had a goat that has managed to get out over and over, they just never give up till they are out.So funny your goat wanted to get back in though.
Hi Tania, wow that is a really high fence! She must have been extra naughty...sometimes it is actually easier with a few because one doesn't like leaving the herd behind. Georgia is so short and fat , even if the other goats go somewhere, if she can't follow they just stay next to the fence.
Thanks for the detailed pictures Kim. I'm hoping to have my own 'impossible fence' one day.
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