goat people..!

[Epona142]

Well it depends on the welded wire you're mentioning. The welded panels you can buy that are sturdy and rigid, are awesome, we call these "cattle panels", though they also come in hog panels, or sheep panels (which usually aren't recommended for goats with horns, they get themselves stuck.).

Then there's wire fencing which is flexible and comes in rolls, and is put up by stretching. This wire will eventually, no matter how well its installed, sag down from the goat's constant attention to it. I saw this in action just last Saturday, a friend put up some of it to separate some of her does, and the fence is already sagging from the goats standing on it, rubbing against it to scratch themselves, or just being plain obnoxious to the fence. This too can cause stuck goats. A strand of hot wire around the inside can discourage this type of fence damage, which makes it cheaper than chainlink or panels, just a bit more time consuming. I've seen this type of fencing work in some situations, but every goat is different, just like dogs.

Speaking of dogs, I'd be careful. I just finished treating the neighbor's goat; their dog, who "loved" the goats and was allowed in with them, tore one goat's ear to shreds and took a chunk so deep out of the hindquarters I could stick my finger up to the middle knuckle inside. The vet will be out later, but goats can die from stress, and I had a few essentials to help calm her down and clean her up until then. I do not trust any dog near my goats, its just natural instinct for dogs to chase them, as goats run and buck and act like prey, I certainly don't blame the dog. This includes even herding breeds; I used to exhibit German Shepherd Dogs, and one of ours killed a lamb we had (our fault for not securing the fencing better) and another killed a goat (again our fault). They were simply not raised from young puppyhood to be guardians of them, which is a must in a guardian dog.

There's so much to learn about goats, but the fencing is the most important! You should never bring home goats without secure fencing first.

[stangs13]

Hog panel is short and shouldn't be used for hogs. Pigs ar capable of lifting it completely out of the ground and throwing it. And cattle tare down cattle panel. So cattle panel should only be used for goats and sheep...LOL

[Epona142]

Not surprising in the least, LOL. It always amazes me how ill-fit some items marketed for certain animals are for those animals!

[stangs13]

Not surprising in the least, LOL. It always amazes me how ill-fit some items marketed for certain animals are for those animals!

Yup yup. Like chicken wire!! That stuff wont protect chickens at all, it just keeps them in a group for the coyotes to get them! It really all depends on your guage of chicken wire though....

[Epona142]

Oh no doubt. Even smaller predators can get through chicken wire like its butter! I use it over larger wirer just to keep the little peepers from squeezing out, but on the whole, it's pretty useless!

[Ginevive]

Thanks for the info! I have an area that's fenced in chainlink.. my landlord uses it for his dog but not that often.. I am going to take it over It is an area roughly 25 feet by ten feet.. attached to the garage. Oddly enough, someone used to keep goats in there years ago.. but I plan on blocking off access to the garage as it houses too much dangerous junk like rusty tools and such, and building a shelter in there for them. The chainlink is High, about 8 feet.. holds in some pretty big dogs that have been placed in it..
Now about tying them out on leadlines when I am home? Like, if I were working in the house, but had them tethered to a pole within sight of me so that if there were a problem, I could intervene? I would not leave them like this.. it Would be a cool way to get some of the brush under control though!

[Epona142]

Sure, once in a while I tether mine out for brush.

But of course, as I'm sure you know, there are precautions to take! First, always check for poisonous plants in the vicinity of the area. Always make sure you can see them at all times, it only takes a moment for them to get themselves into trouble! It's their goal in life, sometimes, I think.

[SlitherinSisters]

This is our little goaty! His name is Cookie, he came with the black mare and the owner didn't realize he was a he, just gelded. He's pretty neat other than he will ALWAYS find a way out of the pasture, under the fence, through the fence, over the fence, up a tree THEN over the fence! We have 10 acres of pasture so it's way too much fence to go through and make goat proof, it's just not worth it. Goats will stick around and go back in the pen when they feel like it. I would suggest only getting one goat, that way when it gets out (because it will no matter what) it comes back. Otherwise you're going to be spending a lot of money to keep them in. They'll test that hot wire every single day and I've got a friend who's goat goes right through the hot wire. Cookie could care less about our barbed wire. If he can find a way to get up that high, he jumps/crawls right through it. The horses respect our cruddy fences WAY more than any goat ever would, lol!

I don't know if a male or female would be better. Cookie will nail you in the back of the knees if you don't scratch his head, but other than that he's not aggressive.

[Epona142]

I find I must politely disagree

You should never keep only one goat. You'll find that goats kept alone will be destructive, bored, and intent on getting out of their pen. Goats are extremely social creatures, and must be kept in pairs at the least.

It's awesome your goat stays around, but it doesn't always happen so well, and there are dangers to a loose goat. For example, I once had a goat I found on the road, apparently lost. I didn't bother to put him in the fenced goat yard, I just let him run on our large property, as at the time, we didn't have any other goats (my parents kept a small herd of meat goats for many years). Sure, for a while he stuck around my horse, but eventually he became so lonely he left. He made his way all the way down the road, living with one neighbor after another until he found a neighbor with some other goats, where he stayed.

Sure, goats will do everything in their power to get out of their fence. If they can. The point is to insure they cannot. Which can take a bit of time and effort, but can be done! My goats got out a couple of times, pinpointing weaknesses in their enclosure, and after those were rectified, they no longer get out. Loose goats are in terrible danger from loose dogs, cars, and other people.

Anyways, your goat is absolutely darling! I love that coloring. There is no doubt he will get out of the fencing I see there, you're quite right they don't respect fencing like a horse will! It's great he sticks around even when he gets out. If you'd like to discourage him butting you, you can try a squirt bottle, I'm sure you know how much they hate to get wet. As for aggression in goats, this is less about the sex of the goat and more about how they were raised. I've had all three sexes (bucks, does, and wethers) and have experienced the extremes in all cases. Bucks however, DO have a smell and some very unpleasent habits. A doe and a wether are always a good bet, or two does, or two wethers even, if you never want to have any kids.

[Royal_Rodents]

My friends have a German Shepherd that keeps their kids (human) inside the fence.