Question about goat fencing

[bradley]

Hey folks,

I have an unusual question about goat fencing, wondering if any of you can help. I have a 3.5 acre wetland where I graze goats during the summer months. It's very overgrown and shrubby so there is plenty of forage. It has a secure 5-strand high-tensile electric fence around the perimeter. However, there are a couple small areas within the fence that I would like to fence off, to keep the goats out - both about 10x10 square.

I'm wondering if I could just use some 5' or 6' welded wire fencing or plastic netting for this, or whether the goats will bust through. Would they really care enough, since it's such a small area and they have plenty of food? Does anyone have experience with something like this, or general advice?

Thanks so much for your help.

 

[Mike CHS]

We have 5' wire around our fruit trees and it's kept them off the trees so the same should work for your wet area.

 

[sprocket]

My experience with welded wire fencing is that they'll stand on it and break the welds. I'd go with woven wire, if feasible. I generally assume that if there's something to stand on, they'll most definitely stand on it, and that I should build it to either prevent standing or make it durable enough to withstand it.

 

[sawfish99]

Woven wire would definitely be better. Stock panels would be the easiest, but more costly. Don't bother with the plastic.

 

[Southern by choice]

welded wire...not good This was just a divider... everything we have is woven wire field fencing. This has been replaced. :/

 

[OneFineAcre]

My experience with welded wire fencing is that they'll stand on it and break the welds. I'd go with woven wire, if feasible. I generally assume that if there's something to stand on, they'll most definitely stand on it, and that I should build it to either prevent standing or make it durable enough to withstand it.

I have welded wire fencing and I am constantly patching because like you said, they stand on it and break the welds. Hind site is 20/20.

It would probably work for such a small area, I guess depending on how interested the goats are in what it is you are trying to keep them away from.

 

[bradley]

Thanks y'all, this is extremely helpful! I'm so glad I stumbled on this online community. You have probably already saved us a lot of trouble. . .

maybe i can hit you up for one more piece of advice: do you think I can use T-posts to put in the woven wire? I'm reading that you need stronger anchor posts for corners, but since it's not the "main" fence. . . do you think that is necessary?

Thanks!!

 

[SheepGirl]

We've used T posts for woven wire. We also used regular wooden posts.

With wooden posts, I feel that you can make the wire tighter, more secure. Mainly because it seems like you have more leverage when tightening the wire.

With T-posts, if you're just putting the fence up real quick, it will be very loose and won't take much for critters to go under or over it (of course whenever we use T posts, we use zip ties instead of wire to hold the fence to the post, since that's usually what we have on hand). When the sheep started going under the fence to go back to the barn they had lived at for 2-6+ years, we had to put in step in posts in between the T posts. You can kind of see it in this photo. You can also see how much the fence is sagging because of the pushing against it from the sheep and also because we didn't properly tighten it. Just wanted to get it put up because the sheep had to move in that night.

I just recently put in this new pen with my dad's help -- well, who am I kidding? My dad did all the work while I supervised Okay, anyway, lol, we put in a wooden post for the gate, but otherwise we used T posts, even on the one corner. We did tighten the fence, however my grandfather was out there helping again and he put the wire on the OUTSIDE of the fence instead of inside and Hank (my ram) started going under the fence AGAIN. The wire became loose and it is now being tied to the T posts with baling twine.

I guess what I'm trying to say is:
1) Use wooden posts if you can afford it. They are much stronger and will probably last a lot longer.
2) Do not use zip ties. When attaching woven wire to the T-posts, get wire you can tie it with. I think they make T post clips--so you could use those also.
3) When installing the fence, put the woven wire on the inside of the fence. Like this:

 

[bradley]

This is super helpful. Thank you so much. One final question, if I may - can you turn corners with the woven wire fence, or do you have to cut it and attach each side separately? Just trying to plan out how this is going to go. . .

 

[sprocket]

This is super helpful. Thank you so much. One final question, if I may - can you turn corners with the woven wire fence, or do you have to cut it and attach each side separately? Just trying to plan out how this is going to go. . .

I've only made really long pulls (ie. the length of or longer than a roll) so we cut and attach each section separately. I prefer to have mine tight and use a home-made tensioner made from angle iron and a bit of chain that we attach to the tractor (or probably a pick up truck even) to pull it tight.

The tighter you have it, the less it'll sag over time. If you're going to turn corners, you're probably not going to be able to get it that tight.

I would also recommend an offset strand of electric in front of the mesh to discourage them from standing on it.