Which fence?

Reluctant Farmer's Wife said:

One thing we did for our goats was to pick up a discarded metal road brush from a tractor at our county’s road maintenance department. The metal brush (Think of a baby bottle brush, on steroids!) The brushes are used to sweep up sand from the roads when winter snow and ice weather is gone. They didn’t mind not having to pay for the rollers to be dumped. It was free! They’re 3 ft in diameter and 7 ft long! The goats LOVE LOVE LOVE to scratch on it! We are SO HAPPY because the goats feel better AND our fencing isn’t destroyed by itchy goats! Yay!one

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Greetings and welcome to BYH @Reluctant Farmer's Wife from NE TX! So glad you (finally!) joined us. What took you so long to finally jump in after a year and a half? Glad to have you here! OK, curious... why are you reluctant? or did you just start out that way? or STILL feeling that way? As I'm sure you know, there's a wealth of info, knowledge and experience shared in the multitude of threads. Browse around and see what interesting stuff you can find. By all means post away when the desire strikes you, especially if you have questions (provide as much detail/info as possible and pictures truly help)... With all the great folks here, generally someone will respond in no time at all. Please make yourself at home!

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kdogg331 said:

I have also recently heard that welded wire is not recommended for goats? Why? It says they can bust through it?

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I have broken the welds with my string trimmer. I only have it on the north fence line. I was originally going to put proper fencing on there but too much ledge and time was short so I put up 5 strands of electric on the outsides of the posts and hung the 2x4x48 welded wire (which I already had from a cheap fix to a crappy chicken wire fence) on the inside to keep the chickens from hitting the electric. All my fence has hot wire running at 5'. Alpacas aren't hard on fences, I've never seen them rub on it. They do like their dust bath bowl though, made it themselves.

kdogg331 said:

but they are certainly convenient, especially in the woods

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Cattle panels are easier to put up because you don't have to stretch them. I have them on my south fence line with a T post every 8'. BTW, welded doesn't stretch well. Put too much tension on it and the "welds" will pop.

kdogg331 said:

And my store has them 23.99 cause they're all $1 off right now. Tempted to go to RI though. Or NH. NH is 23.99 too but no tax there.

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Have you ever transported a nice floppy 16' x 52" cattle panel? I wouldn't want to move them those distances unless I had a flatbed trailer long enough to hold them. I've carried some on top of my car roof racks on top of a 12' pipe gate. That leaves only 2' unsupported on either end, not too floppy. And for carrying them without buying a gate every time I fix two 14' 2x4s to the car rack.

I personally prefer corn cribbing. It's over 5 ft high and comes in different length rolls. It's light enough to manoeuvre and strong enough to stand up to the elements for years.
I know many people that use 3 strands of electrified high tensile smooth wire to contain their goats.
Whatever works for my budget and other abilities is best.
Best of luck to you.

kdogg331 said:

Which of these fences should I use for goats? Or should I use something else entirely?

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/feedlot-panel-cattle-16-ft-l-x-50-in-h

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/welded-wire-48-in-x-100-ft

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/non-climb-horse-fence-48-in-x-200-ft

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/red-brand-goat-fence-48-in-x-330-ft?cm_vc=-10005 (or other "sheep & goat" fencing, they have a few)

I have heard that the horse one is the best for them but I also can't really justify spending that kind of money when the welded wire is so much less and/or the other fences are way more wire for the same amount. But I will if it's really the best or only option. I have also recently heard that welded wire is not recommended for goats? Why? It says they can bust through it? Is that always the case? I would likely be getting 2-4 wethers. Probably either Nigerian Dwarf, Alpine, Oberhasli, Toggenburg, or Boer.

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When we first bought our farm three years ago we went with welded wire. It let us get goat into a larger area on a budget. What we have found is that in areas they want something from behind the fence they have broken a lot of the welds and the kids can get through. We are now replacing all the perimeter fence with wound wire fencing on a 2"x 4" grid starting in the areas they climbed before. We have Nubian goats so 4' fencing has been fine. I have a neighbor with Nigerian dwarfs that can go over 4' fences. Also check the pricing at Home Depot. It's cheaper than Tractor Supply except when TS is running a big fencing sale. Also keep in mind that 330' of fencing is HEAVY. We move the big rolls with a front loader.

I had gotten welded wire the first time I fenced in my back yard. Inhad to replace it 5 years later because it rusted and several strands got broken where my dog kept poking his nose thru it while he " hunted" the perimeter. I fot the 2x4 inch woven wire to replace it. Yes it cost more, but almost ten years later, still shiny, nomrust, and no holes.
As Ive seen many say on here, pay for good fence now or you will pay for it later. Wish I had known that before I fenced with that crappy welded wire.
And my fence is 4 ft high and the deer have no problem jumping it.

Sorry everyone, forgot to reply aha anyway, thanks for all the help and info!!