My three goats have recently started jumping their fencing. Is there any way to keep the goats confined without putting in a new fence, like a deterrent around the garden and house?

My three goats have recently started jumping their fencing. Is there any way to keep the goats confined without putting in a new fence?

— Melissa Szymanski
Lapeer, Michigan

I’m glad you got some goats. They’re great. They do, however, like to get out and go on adventures.

Are you sure your goats are jumping out? They do jump, of course, but most goat owners discover that their animals are more likely to go under the fence than over it.

Either way, the goat owner’s friend is electric netting. Electric netting is relatively affordable and can be charged either from a battery at the outlet or from a solar unit. Best of all, it’s easy to move, so you can put it around the berries in berry season and around the tomatoes during tomato season. And because the goats won’t want any contact with the netting, they aren’t likely to go under or over it.

If you can’t afford to enclose the whole pasture, you can easily move the netting every few days. It’s a great way to manage your forage.

— Bryan Welch, publisher and editorial director, Mother Earth News

Comments

James Tanis 10/4/2008 6:49:51 AM

I had huge issues with my two pygmy goats getting out and joining my alpacas this summer! After weeks of "being sure they'll stay in" to seeing them munching my petunias the next morning, I put 2 X 6 boards around the bottom of the fencing. Goats like to push against the fencing, eventually bending the fencing and even disconnecting the wire. The boards were installed one month ago and they have never "busted loose" since.
PamV 7/25/2008 1:25:41 PM

When goats get out, there is usually a reason. Mine will force open the gate to get to fresh pasture, seek a cool spot on a hot summer's day or go visit the buck's barn to check out his hay supply, etc. Electric fence, electo-net fencing or a tight wire fence will slow them down. I have had success with the heavy wire combination panels, but these are expensive and need strong posts or the goats (enough of them, anyway) can push steel posts over and walk over the panels. The late Harvey Considine would say to build your fence a foot taller than necessary. Goats that have no experience with getting out usually won't try, but adding an 'escape artist' will soon have most of the herd experimenting. They have all day to test fence, gate and shed, so be sure to check for potential escape points at least once a week.
Best bet is to fence them in as best you can, and put fences around anything you need to keep the goats away from.

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