Best/cheapest goat fencing

[Alaskan]

So far the only thing I have gotten to contain my goats...is a pallet fence..and WOW IS IT UGLY.

But it works for my big girls (not the bouncy half dwarf).

The smaller the enclosure the more the goats will work on busting and getting out of the fence.

The more space and toys, the less likely they are to bust out. And they are STRONG as well as smart.

Latestarter is right..dogs are your biggest enemy, and they can easily get through a pallet fence. Coyotes can sometimes be worse, because they can be clever and bold.

 

[greybeard]

The number one predator of goats is dogs... yours, the neighbors, strays.

People are often prone to say and think "Oh MY dog would never do that! He/she knows better."

Bull hockey. Let a feral dog or 2 appear and run the stock and cute little fluffy will join right in. Instinctively.

 

[kdogg331]

The number one predator of goats is dogs... yours, the neighbors, strays. Dogs cause more goat damage/deaths than just about anything else. Next would probably be coyotes. Again, fencing is probably the single most important issue and I and most others here will advise you NOT to scrimp. It just isn't worth it in the long run. Cattle panels will work but price per foot is substantially higher than the cost of good woven wire fencing.

Yes you can use pallets for fencing, yes you can use pallets to build a shelter. A 3 sided shelter is fine as long as the goats can get out of the rain/wind/snow/sun. They are deathly allergic to falling water under most circumstances. If I recall, you are located in PA and you have winter. Having a completely close-able shelter might prove beneficial but that's your decision.

You can build a "shelf" inside for them to climb up on to get off the (wet) ground if you wish. You probably know that goats LOVE to climb. If you didn't know that, you will find out quite quickly after they arrive. They will scratch on whatever they deem feels the best and cures the itch.

So far the only thing I have gotten to contain my goats...is a pallet fence..and WOW IS IT UGLY.

But it works for my big girls (not the bouncy half dwarf).

The smaller the enclosure the more the goats will work on busting and getting out of the fence.

The more space and toys, the less likely they are to bust out. And they are STRONG as well as smart.

Latestarter is right..dogs are your biggest enemy, and they can easily get through a pallet fence. Coyotes can sometimes be worse, because they can be clever and bold.

Thanks for all the info everyone, it's really helpful. And I think I'll try to save and just buy the good fence then. Or try to find it elsewhere.

And Latestarter, we are in MA but close we actually have family in PA hah. But yes we do have a winter, although this past winter it barely got cold and it's supposed to be a bad tick year this year. But yeah, I'm thinking I'll make the housing lockable because I just don't think I'd be able to sleep worried about the little baby goats.

As for the dogs, I hadn't realized dogs could be such a big threat to goats. I knew about that for chickens but not for goats. Interesting. And unfortunate.

But we actually don't really have to worry about dogs here. We are in a condo/townhome development with a real street/houses behind us, and we're set back on like 3 acres (only house they left) so it's really private but suburban enough that there aren't strays or anything. Most of the neighbors do have dogs but they're mostly all small house pet type dogs that go for a walk or two a day. There's a few more medium sized dogs too but all are on leashes, never had issues with free roaming dogs here.

The only issue we have is one of the neighbors in the back has a little doodle that has gotten loose and come into our yard a few times but he hasn't gotten loose in a while and that's really far from where I'm putting the goats.

As for my dog, he won't be allowed with them unsupervised. But I am going to introduce them as babies cause we didn't do that with the chicks and training is harder now.

But that said, I really think he will do better with the goats than with the chickens.

The chickens he tends to more think of them as flapping squeaky toys because of the Lab but I think laying down and relaxing with goats is much more his style.

He's half Great Pyrenees and his mom watched goats so I think it might be easier for him.

But of course I know that's not guaranteed, especially after 5 years as a house pet, and I'll still be careful.

And of course being that he was raised as a house pet, I won't force him to stay outside with them overnight or suddenly guard goats. But he will be allowed to visit if he behaves