# least expensive way to fence 6 acres? (goat proof)



## jolly rabbit

so I have an amazing opportunity, 6 acres of land just practically landed in my lap, question is what is the least expensive way to run fencing (which materials) run post and barbed wire or post and steel mesh. I will most likely run kiko goats. Just looking for some input & advice. I also jus got my LGD pup:banana:


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## Bearfootfarm

Electric is the *cheapest *type.
*DO NOT* use barbed wire.

A well built fence should last 50+ years, so don't try to pinch pennies.
If it's worth building, it's worth building RIGHT


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## jolly rabbit

thanks, yes please don't mistake *least expensive* for *cheap*, there is a difference, unfortunately its seems like people mis interperet the two, I still want to build something that is gonna last and hold up, not cheap, good quality just less expensive. I can understand not have the barbed wire, sounds dangerous ( I am accident prone! Lol) what about regular wire (non barbed) not sure if I want to deal with electricity, not dismissing your advice I just want to lay out all my options.


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## IndyGardenGal

I use field fence, but we don't space the wood posts as far apart an use t posts in between wood posts.


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## Caprice Acres

If it were me, I'd run a sturdy perimiter fence and one line of electric at chest height to keep them off of it. Make one permanent lane down one side, and several gates into the main area. Route the animals down the lane. Then make rotational pens with electric nets. You may need 2 whole nets to span 2 perimiters for the middle area. Would be a great way to maximize use of the property, never feed hay from early spring to winter in a non-drought year. Perimiter fence would be safe and the electric netting can be moved as they graze. Let pastures get to 8" or so, let them graze till about 4", then move them. Less worms, no overgrazed pasture, and feed for the majority of the year. 

I do woven perimiters at least, but that's just me. You could do several lines of electric too. I just like a sturdy permanent barrier between goats and 'outside'.


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## haypoint

Cheap is a relative term. if the most costly fence prevented escapes, limited injuries and out lasted a less costly fence, then it would be the cheapest. You can build a cheap fence that won't last, occasionally lets goats out and causes injury and have it cost you the most.

I have always wished for a fence that cost very little but preformed as well as the more expensive fence system. I'm not alone. A thread shows up in all the livestock sections with great regularity, seeking a secure fence with little capital outlay.

A bit like the carpenter that advertises, " You can have it done cheap, you can have it done fast, you can have it done right. Pick two." 

Get the fence you can afford. Get as much security as you can afford. I prefer woven wire with a strand of electrical to keep them from monkeying around with the fence.


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## BackfourtyMI.

We prefer Cattle panels but they are by far not cheap especially when doing a big area.
We are expanding our pastures using the cattle panels we already had up but just bought 5 rolls of Sheep & Goat fence at Tractor supply.

We do like Indygardengal & wood posts at the corners & every other post is a T post. We put them about 10 feet apart.


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## wmk0002

I'll ask a question which will hopefully benefit the OP as well as me... what brands of woven sheep and goat field fence is the best? Also, which is the cheapest and where did you buy yours? A typical roll is 48" x 330' and the prices I have seen range from $180/roll to $280/roll. I'm similar to the OP in that I have about 6 acres fenced and I would like to upgrade my 5 strands of electrified high-tensile wire to field fence and with a few hot wires on it and cross fence with hot wire.


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## Badger

OK my 30 plus years of experiance with goats - I have tried many types of fence - I currently like 8 strands of barbed wire - 4 inches apart - with stayes every 3 feet. Woven wire catched heads - a caught goat screams until every predator in the area comes to eat it. Not a cheap fence, but probably not as expensive as woven wire and alot more goat friendly.


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## CJBegins

My neighbor has an 8 strand barb wire with the fence stays and electric around the inside perimeter. Talk about an expensive fence! He recently added woven wire that he cut in half long ways and attached to the bottom 2 ft of the fence because the kids were going through the 4" gaps. He should have used chain link or 4 x4 woven wire, he would have been money ahead.

I use woven wire. The last stuff I bought I paid $129 a roll. It is a light guage, which isn't the best but it was affordable. I put an electric strand about 8" off the ground and 2 strands at the top. I also have horses and cows and I don't want any of the leaning on it. It works!


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## jolly rabbit

Badger said:


> OK my 30 plus years of experiance with goats - I have tried many types of fence - I currently like 8 strands of barbed wire - 4 inches apart - with stayes every 3 feet. Woven wire catched heads - a caught goat screams until every predator in the area comes to eat it. Not a cheap fence, but probably not as expensive as woven wire and alot more goat friendly.


do you have any goat injuries with the barbed wire? Pretty much what is going on is I am fixing up this guys land and in turn I can run whatever livestock I would like and any upgrades I make to the property is deducted off my "rent", this would be beneficial to me as well as him (his land is completely open right now). I can then build small holding pens inside the main fence, which would be of no use to him of course (no livestock) but would help me, my wife and I do not plan on being here more than 4 years, but I want to build and fix his land correctly (he is a very nice guy and it is the right thing to do) so I do not plan on doing any shoddy workmanship (not on purpose anyway, just learning a lot of this stuff.


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## Caprice Acres

I have both horned and disbudded goats. With woven wire, goats can get stuck in some kinds. MOST goats learn quick how to get their heads back out, but some of the holes are too small for them to easily get back out. The big holes in field fence are easy to get out of. There is another kind of field fence that has smaller holes, that kind is harder for them to get out of but still possible for them to learn. The smaller holes in 'goat fence' they can't get their heads through except when babies. Goat fence requires more metal and thus is pretty pricy. 

The single strand of electric will prevent them from sticking heads through in the first place. 

You can avoid goats getting their head stuck pretty much anywhere by disbudding. This is an argument going on, but I've found this to be very true the last 11 years or so that I've owned goats. Doesn't stop them from getting legs stuck in things though... lol.


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## LFRJ

We have 4/5 acres. The best thing to contain the goats we've found is cattle panels and t-posts.. Cheap? No way! (about $35 per 8 X 5 panel in these parts .... BUT every panel will outlast the goat.....so - we look at every panel as an investment that either stays with and adds to the value of the land when we sell - or we pull;em up and they come with. That simple. So, rather than fence our entire 4.5 acres - we're going at it slowly. 

We build small paddocks (40 feet by 110 feet or so, the goats eat it down, and we can add panels over time -or-easily move the panels as we need. Every tax return - more panels. EVENTUALLY, we'll panel in our entire 5 acre parcel - but it's slow and steady, and we believe - every penny is counting because our future buyer will either have much of his land fenced with the best $$ can buy, or we can take them with and re-sell them if need be!


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## chma4

Good sturdy T posts, woven 4 ft high livestock fencing, and at least 1 line of electric 1 ft off of the ground to keep them from destroying it (we prefer 2, another one on top to keep large predators out). Goats LOVE rubbing on fencing and destroying it. Electric fence is the LEAST of your expences, and is totally easy.


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## hiddensprings

I think we've tried just about every type of fencing. I use cattle panels to keep my bucks away from my does. They are easy to put up, but as others have said, can get expensive. My main goat pastures are woven wire. Royal pain the butt to put up, stretch, etc. And heaven help you if you try to use it in a wooded area and a tree falls. Totally crushes it and you have to tear it out and redo. I don't care fo barbed wire fencing for my goats. I worry about them getting cut on it. I use it strictly for cattle. I've started using electric twine fencing to move the girls around in the woods to eat all of the weedy, overgrown areas. (Mobile fencing, easy up, easy down, but only a temp fencing) LOVE IT. It did not take any time at all to break them to it. When I redo my goat pastures, I will use electric fencing.


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## jolly rabbit

great! So I gonna get either poked, stabbed and electrocuted! LOL thanks for the input guy, I will take the options to the owner and see what he prefers, he is just happy I am gonna be there, he said people keep riding on his property and stealing his trees.


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## Badger

I've never had an injury to the goats from barbed wire - I did find a coyote hanging from it one morning tho. I have 25 acres fenced for goats. The Buck pen is cattle panel, and the working pens are cattle panel with 2x4 mesh welded wire up 48 inches. They crowd it some when your working them but so far it's holding up pretty good. I sell alot of young stock for the 4H and FFA kids and I always tell them" If you want to keep them spend your first money on fence". My pasture fence is more to keep the dogs out, than keep the goats in.


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## jolly rabbit

well I at least have it down to two now, either barbed wire or woven mesh, with 2 strands of hot wire, I take it 5 ft high will work? I don't know how the electricity is on the place yet, so I want to be able to keep them in till I can out up hot wire.


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## wintrrwolf

I have friends that raise kiko's on 50 acres they use the 4x2 welded wire 4 ft with 2 strands of electric.
I moved into this place the horse pasture is fenced with barbless wire 5 strand, I hate it! It does nothing at keeping some of my more adventuresome goats in and I had to run electric along the topline to keep the horses from pushing the fence over glad I didn't waste money on that. I am in the process of revamping the goat pastures with the welded wire run along the bottom and 2 strands of electric. 
I personally will never use barbed wire...my ex landlord did and my milk goat ripped her udder open, I was trying to move the barbed wire he left after he went electric for his cows and cut my hand ...
Cattle panels are great! Especially for separation pens, frames for garden house, frame for goat housing but way expensive for large areas not to mention the babies can slip right through and goats with horns are awful at getting their heads stuck in them, then you have to add something else to avoid this so not cost effective.

solar power


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## aart

Just curious, is this land adjacent to yours? 

I could not imagine caring for animals, especially those rascally goats, that were not on my own land where I could observe them for health and safety as close to 24/7 as possible.

Wonders about the 'stealing trees' scenario. Sounds like he needs to protect his land from trespassers and why not throw a few goats in there too?


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## jolly rabbit

he lives 700 miles away, and no it is not adjacent, I will be living on it till I can afford my own and buy something larger, hopefully 10-20 acres. got my pup today as well. Meet Duke!


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## Minelson

Duke is darling!!


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## trimpy

Electricity works great once you train them to it. Just make sure everything is grounded well and that you have enough juice to deliver a consistent strong zap. I use a 2 joule DC charger rated for 10 miles hooked up to a battery that is charged by a 45 watt harbor freight solar kit. I run 4 wires of 17ga aluminum (conducts electricity 4x better than steel) and keep my fence line weed whacked.

Best thing ever.


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## airwolftruker

I have 4Ã4 stock fencing, but its old ..
When i moved here the fence was already up for 20 year.
Im having problems with my goats pushing the fence down and getting out.
So i had to split my pasture in half so i can repair wooden brasses, and restretch the fence.

I dont know what kind of time line you have for your goats. But i would maybe start building a prmanent fence say at a corner up to your barn. Maybe a acre or two.
So you have a place for your goats while you complete the rest of the fence.
But at any cost! Hang a hot wire.
It will make your fence last.
i learned this the hard way.
Good luck


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## Copperhead

I keep 15+ goats (soon to be 35+) on 25 acres of hillside with cattle. For me, goat fencing is 6 strands of high-tensile about 8 inches apart. The trick, besides keeping voltage above 6kv, is alternating HOT and GROUND wires. From the ground, wires 1,3,5 are HOT and wires 2,4,6 are GROUND. Not only does it save on insulators (ground wires are stapled), but even in dry conditions, the offending animal gets a perfect shock as soon as it touches both wires. 

To be fair, I do have a couple small corrals (that double as gardens in the summer) where I can train new goats. The newest is about 50x50 and made from 3' woven cattle fence with a HOT wire 4-6" on top, a HOT wire inset 5" in the middle, and a HOT wire about 6" from the bottom. After a week or two in these corrals, the goat/pig/horse/cow/dog may never, ever touch a fence again in its lifetime. 

The initial cost of high-tensile is intimidating, especially the cost of the crimpers, but the price per foot is much cheaper than barbwire. Do your research because 4000' of 12.5ga tensile wire is probably cheaper than 4000' of 17ga "soft" wire. FWIW, I gave up on the 17ga but am on my 2nd spool of 14ga soft wire just for use as tie wire. Post spacing with tensile is about 30ft, while barbwire requires an expensive post every 8 ft. Tractor Supply makes a dual-purpose woodpost/T-post pinlock insulator that beats everything else and isn't too expensive. For high-pressure inside corners, use a 10d nail or even a fence staple instead of the plastic pin.

Cattle panels make great gates. A hot wire, or a piece of 1/2 electric tape connected to an insulated handle ensures nothing will ever touch the gate, much less try to climb it 

Trees make awesome corner posts and come already "braced". Eyebolts, screw-hooks, and carabiners are just useful, especially with the pressure of high-tensile. A good pair of fence pliers can torque open an eyebolt just enough to slide in a tensile wire. Kencove makes an adapter for a cordless drill to screw in the insulated eye-hooks -- works just as well with the uninsulated hardware store variety.


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## francismilker

A good, straight shooting rifle is about the most goat proof fence I can think of right off hand. 

Actually, there's no such thing as goat proof unless it can hold water. I've had goats for some time now and have decided they're about as retarded as any creature on the Earth. No kidding, if they can get their heads or horns hung on anything in 50 acres they'll find it. If they can stand on top of something they'll do it, and if they can get bloat, worms, or copper deficiency they'll get it!


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## JBarGFarmKeeper

wmk0002 said:


> I'll ask a question which will hopefully benefit the OP as well as me... what brands of woven sheep and goat field fence is the best? Also, which is the cheapest and where did you buy yours? A typical roll is 48" x 330' and the prices I have seen range from $180/roll to $280/roll. I'm similar to the OP in that I have about 6 acres fenced and I would like to upgrade my 5 strands of electrified high-tensile wire to field fence and with a few hot wires on it and cross fence with hot wire.


We used "Red Brand" or "Oklahoma" sheep and goat fencing for the perimeter and some cross fencing. We just got our first electric net this past week and it didn't take long for our Boers to figure out that they didn't want close to that. I will be getting more. I got the heaviest grade "Perma-net" fencing from Premier 1 Supply.

The 330' rolls were $220-250 and were purchased from Orscheln's and MFA. The electric net was less than $150 for 150'. The net was free shipping and post are included.


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## Shygal

Goat proof.......... baaaaaahahahahahahahahahaha!


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## jolly rabbit

alright, alright. I know nothing is "proof" anything. stop giving the newbie a hard time LOL. what I had meant by goat proof was something that for the most part will hold in the goats! alot of perimeter fencing i see is t-post and 3 strands of wire about 4 feet high, that is not goat proof but would be less expensive, hence my wording on the subject. I have gotten plenty of ideas though which is great. I think I am gonna end up making a small pen for right now, just to hold the goats and either pick or buy their food. meanwhile i wanna take my time and do the fence correctly. I like the idea of the electric net. can you run that solely? or it needs to be reinforced?


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