# Barb wire fence for goats?



## knoxgal (Sep 5, 2008)

Can goats be fenced in barbed wire fence with a strand of electric- is it safe?


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## Janis Sauncy (Apr 11, 2006)

NO!

I hate barbed wire in any shape or form for any animal. I don't even know how effective it would be in keeping them confined, anyway, regardless of the safety issue. The first horse I had, as a kid, was horrible with barbed wire and had many stitches to prove it. Ever since that experience, I won't have the junk on my place so I have to be honest and say I don't know if it would keep goats in or not; I've never tried it.

Your best goat fence would be field fence or some other woven wire fencing, maybe with a hot wire on the inside to keep them off of it. I am also using a three-strand hot wire where my ground is too steep for field fencing, with good success. 

If you're thinking of using an existing barbed wire fencing, I would use more than one strand (three?) of hot wire running on its own set of posts to keep the goats completely away from the barbed.

This is my opinion based on....well, my own opinion.

Janis


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## knoxgal (Sep 5, 2008)

My ground is too very steep and this is the trouble. Woven fence is more expensive too. But I thought it might be unsafe to use barb wire if they were trying to get out.


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## Janis Sauncy (Apr 11, 2006)

Have you tried a three-strand electric? It's working well on my steep ground.

Janis


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## knoxgal (Sep 5, 2008)

yes but they can get out at first and it seems flimbsy. you have 3 stranded w/o anything else?


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## Karenrbw (Aug 17, 2004)

Our goats seem to ignore barb wire and electric fence. I watched the billy lift up the electric fence and walk under it. He just jumped a little when it hit him. I have also seen them squeeze through barb wire.


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## Janis Sauncy (Apr 11, 2006)

knoxgal said:


> yes but they can get out at first and it seems flimbsy. you have 3 stranded w/o anything else?


Nope. Just three strands, with the fence posts 8 feet apart. We had to kind of experiment with the height and spacing and they had to learn they were going to get zapped if they went through. It took a couple of days to get the bugs ironed out.

I don't know....my goats are all getting older, the youngest ones being 4 1/2 and a few being older than ten, so maybe that has something to do with my success. Plus, they have plenty of browse inside their fenced perimeters and also get alfalfa year round, so they might not have many reasons to push their luck.

I would not try to confine a buck in an electric-only fence.

Janis


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## knoxgal (Sep 5, 2008)

No bucks but I just wanted sturdy since we were putting up something new.
Thanks for the advice.


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## stanb999 (Jan 30, 2005)

Barb on it's own wont keep a goat in they will climb through. 

Here is what I did, It works well, keeps them safe, and is pretty inexpensive. I made all the grounds barb. It has worked very well. You could do it with smooth wire but unless you use a really hot charger it wont help with preditors. This was a big consern of mine.


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## knoxgal (Sep 5, 2008)

so you charged every other barb wire? total of 7 strands? And goats do not get cut up?


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## nz1h (Aug 19, 2004)

knoxgal said:


> so you charged every other barb wire? total of 7 strands? And goats do not get cut up?


No the goats get hit by the hot wire and most of them turn back
a few need to be hit 2-3 times but even they learn

my fence is 5 foot with 3 strands of barbwire and
4 strands of electric

alain


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## Rowdy (Jul 9, 2004)

I have seen some big herds (well over 100 goats) kept in by barbed wire. If I remember right most of it was nine strands of wire though. 

It is possible.

I think if I was going to have to run that many strands of wire, I'd just go with high tensile electric. It will keep goats in... if it is built correctly, maintained, and if the goats are trained to the wire.

Personally, I am mostly using Red Brand woven wire, with a strand of electric at shoulder high, just to keep them from rubbing on the fence. The rest of my fence is six strand electric.


In the long run I think you'd probably be happier with something besides barbed wire, but if that it what you want, it can be done... and it can work.


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## knoxgal (Sep 5, 2008)

Red brand woven wire- what gave and how high and how many inches spaces?


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## 6e (Sep 10, 2005)

We have barbed wire with electric fence running inbetween and it's getting ready to all be ripped out and field fence put in. The goats have learned that if they get a running start and "dive" through the wires as fast as possible there's a good chance they won't get hit. These are very young goats, not the older goats, but we had a doe take some skin off her teat on the barbs.  Not good!!! So, all the fence is getting torn out and re-done.


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## Minelson (Oct 16, 2007)

How about using barb-less wire along with electric? I don't see what barbed wire would do besides cut them up.


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## knoxgal (Sep 5, 2008)

Think we are sold on woven with electric, not much more cost.


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

We ran 4' plastic snow fence around behind 3 strands of hot smooth wire. The bright coloring and more solid appearance give the goats something to remind them of the boundries. I have seen them squirt through the wires if the snowfence isn't up in a spot.


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## betsy h. (Sep 28, 2008)

Electrified barbed wire works well- I think a friend of mine uses 5 strands and a hotter than hell fencer.


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## thomasallen63 (Mar 14, 2012)

Premier 1 Supplies GreenCote barbed wire has barbs that are closer together, longer and galvanized to last much longer.

Electric Fencing - Premier1Supplies


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## Ford Zoo (Jan 27, 2012)

Besides considering keeping the goats in, also consider keeping predators out. I don't know where you are or if you have a LGD, but predators should also be considered with fencing in some areas.


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## CJBegins (Nov 20, 2009)

My neighbor has an 8 strand barb wire with fence stays between the posts. The post are about 8ft apart and the wires about 4" apart. He used electric inside it to teach them to stay clear of the fence and then took it down. The only goats that get out are kids and they find a low spot occasionally and shimmy under. His GP stays in also.

I can't help but believe that those 8 strands and fence stays cost the same or more money than woven wire.


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## wintrrwolf (Sep 29, 2009)

I have 3 strand hotwire run on 2 pastures one for the girls and one for the boys, on the boys pasture one side is the big (horse) pasture which was done with barbless wire I ran one strand of hotwire between the 2 lower barbless wire and my boys have not tried to get out.
Now on the girls pasture occasionally the baby will scoot under the lowest wire only when its grain time she gets excited, so I could lower all the wires and put a 4th in....
If you are going to use hotwire do NOT skimp on the charger I wasted money on ones that should have worked and finally bit the bullet bought one that runs about 400 and the ZAP is good even if weeds are trying to ground it out.


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## CaliannG (Apr 29, 2005)

I had a horse once that would stand next to the fence charger and listen to the "clicks". Then she'd dive through the electric strands in between "clicks".

She taught the goats this horrible habit.

My goats just LOVE barbed wire. It's so easy to just step or jump through, even with the electric strand.  Not only that, but once they are brought back in, they get to watch Mommy go crazy over them, looking for scratches. They never did figure out that the round of tetanus shots was DUE to them getting scratches from barbed wire. They probably thought I was punishing them.

At any rate, those are some of the many reasons that I do not advocate barbed wire for sheep or goat containment.

The "barbs" on barbed wire were originally put there to keep cattle, horses, and yes, bison, from rubbing on the fence and damaging it. It was never meant as a deterrent to keep a determined animal from going through it, because there is no real deterrent that will keep a frightened or angry animal from going through a fence. Nowadays, even cattle ranchers are going to woven stock wire, or if they feel cheap, barbless wire with an electric strand hooked up to a solar fence charger to deter fence rubbing. Barbless wire is safer for both the humans handling it, and the animals contained within it.


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## Copperhead (Sep 12, 2011)

First, I strongly prefer 6-strand High Tensile Electric, with Wires 1,3,5 (from the ground) being HOT and wires 2,4,6 being GROUND. I space the wires on an even 8-inch spacing. God and I have both dropped trees on this type of fence and it held the weight of a 12" diameter red oak without allowing the goats or pigs to escape.

New goats do have to be trained to electric. The quickest way is to halter them with a 10' leash and tie them to the middle GROUND wire. When they dart under or through the fence, you drag them back the way they came, making sure they get the "message" or 6,000 reasons not to do something stupid 

Speaking of 6,000 reasons, 6 kv (aka 6,000 volts) is the minimum for fencing goats in my opinion. 8kv, or 10kv or even 12kv is even better. They higher the better, the quicker and more permanently they learn. I highly recommend the Kencove Fence Compass. I won't be without it.

Having said all that . . . I have 20+ acres leased with 10 cows and 15 goats. It came with 3-5 strands of Barbwire, so I added 2-3 strands of high tensile electric between and slightly inset of the barbwire. The goats have never gotten out, but a couple of newborn calves did . . . once. They had a little trouble getting back in, but have never even considered attempting that stunt, ever again!!!

After having the fence fully powered for a year, the deer have finally been leaving me alone. Now, they either jump OVER the fence, or go somewhere else to graze. I always consider my youngest/smallest goat to be "coyote bait", but haven't lost it, yet. Honestly, while there might be a few places in the fence where I coyote could get through if it were determined, having a super-hot bottom wire should discourage coyotes and dogs from entering the field twice.

Finally, Nigerian Dwarf goats are too small for my setup and Pygmies are too clever. I actually do have a pygmy wether, but I quickly sold 5 pygmy does that continually attempted to outsmart me.


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