Goats Part 3: Fencing and Housing for Goats

       As one decides the economic model one wants to pursue with goats, the breed of choice becomes clear. Our choice was to follow the meat model, due to ease of sale through the stock pen. But no matter which avenue one chooses, housing and fencing must fit the breed and not the other way around. Some goat breeds are reported to jump fences like gazelles, while others only require basic fencing. Some breeds require substantial housing, while others have been bred to need only rudimentary forms. Also, there can be a lot of differences in even the same breed as to their temperament and hardiness.

Fencing For Goats

       Oberhalsi and nubian breeds have a reputation for jumping fences. To prevent this, fencing needs to be closer to 5 feet. We buy the four foot woven wire and add a strand of barb wire about 4 inches above the fencing to increase the height and to prevent cattle from giving their chins a scratch on our woven wire fencing.
       A strand of electric fence in front of the fence prevents goats from getting too close...if they are contemplating jumping. It also prevents a huge pet peeve of mine! Goats love to rub against a fence, particularly in the spring when their winter coats are coming off. THEY will ruin a fence quickly this way, making it stretched and saggy and weak. I despise weak and saggy fencing! 
           We also use the cheaper woven wire with large holes due to the cost difference between it and special goat/sheep wire. But beware that some goats will be able to get their heads in/through these holes but not out! Their horns hook on the wire and they are stuck! This makes them susceptible to predators, and death to dehydration. A line of hot wire in front of the fence, about 18" off the ground, keeps them from even considering the idea.We use barb wire as our electric fence line and a pretty cool, cheap trick to put it in front of the fence and keep it from shorting out. Check it out!
           Daniel used soft steal rods with a diameter of about a quarter of an inch. The front end is kinked to keep the insulator from sliding off. Then he welded a little knob to keep the insulator from sliding back too far toward the post so that the wire is not grounded out on the woven wire fence. He then drilled holes in the wooden posts and stabbed the steal rods in place.
             

       On metal posts we simply used clips and some scrap wood to hold it to the fence. This is an example of cross fencing where we have electric on both sides of the fence.

     We love Gallagher fencing and this was just a cheaper way to achieve the same goal of the below gadget made by Gallagher.

  To save on costly posts we do two things. We space posts on our border fencing to 10 ft, alternating between metal T posts and wood posts. To save on wood posts we pull red cedars out of our wood lot and make them into 8 foot posts. Red cedars are environmentally friendly posts because they are not soaked in carcinogenics to preserve their strength. They are naturally resistant to bugs and decay. We had an ice storm a few years ago that broke the tops out of a lot of cedars, effectively killing them slowly. It is from this inventory that we collect. Our cross fencing is made up entirely of t-posts. Corner bracing in fences should be on the outside of the fence or goats will climb on it. Fencing in bucks away from girls will require a stouter fence! Think Fort Knox.
       A few more things to consider! Gates are major escape points around here. And any weakness in the fence will be capitalized! Please note that some in your group will be more mischievous than others. They will be the ones that are escaping or in your creep feed. They will drive you nuts. A wiser farmer would probably drop them off at the next stock pen sale.....I can not claim to be one of those. But they are tireless. They will always be showing me where my fence is weak. They are the resistors and the underdogs.
        So here are some things to keep in mind! Goats will try to go under a fence if they can fit their head underneath. They will lift a gate off its hinges while trying to fight each other on either side. (They will butt each other through a gate and lift it up in the process.) They will squeeze between two gates that join if they can see any space between them. Large goats will still put their front feet on a fence to jump up and reach a tasty leaf off of an over hanging tree. I have two 200lb whethers that could lean a fence into the ground if they wanted to. I think they just have not wanted to yet.
       IF THEY ARE BOARD OR HUNGRY OR IN HEAT THE FENCE WILL BE TESTED. Keeping your goats well fed is a top priority and spring is the hardest season because the grass will be greener on the other side of the fence sometimes.
       Keeping our escape rate to a minimum is piece of mind. Goats in the road, in our neighbor's corn, or even in our own garden, is a recipe for ruining our day.

Housing For Goats

       Housing for goats is essential because they do not like to be wet and will get sick in cold, wet weather. But it varies to what extent they require! Some farmers just string up a tarp in the woods! (Kikos are known for their hardiness!) We have some crosses that this would work well for.
        But a barn works best for us for three reasons. We like the protection in kidding season! It keeps hay clean and dry! Lastly, we think it reduces stress on our less hardy boers. Reducing stress reduces sickness and parasite overloads.
         Our barn was built inexpensively with rough cut lumber from a local sawmill. We used metal roofing off a barn that someone wanted torn down. To prevent leaking from the old screw holes we simply caulked them with clear silicone. We used old windows to allow light in without making it too drafty....though we are learning the hard way that glass might be a mistake in a goat barn. The higher up the windows, the better. Roller doors cost a small fortune, so we reused some old broken ones and used large hinges on our other doors. The less these doors are used the stronger they will stay as the weight of the doors is hard on our hinges. We use them only when we need to put hay in the barn or during clean outs. Barn posts are cedars! Those suckers come in handy!

         We have a little hay loft up top that we use to put up square bales.
         We think the coolest shelter would be one that could be moved from pasture to pasture. This type of shelter would prevent the build up of parasites and bacteria that a stationary barn can not help but to collect. Just move it and the goats to a new pasture! This would also help our kids not waste so much energy going from one end of the farm and then returning to the barn. We think it slows their growth as all that movement wastes energy.
      Anybody out there have a neat design for a movable shelter for goats?