Goats are impossible to fence. The old adage "If it won't hold water, it won't hold a goat" is wrong. It may hold water but the goat will just rip a giant hole in it and escape to rampage through the garden, break into the chicken coop and eat the scratch, jump on the cars, and shove past the first of the littles to open the door and spread chaos and discord through the house. They are goats after all.
This past summer we started fencing for goats. There actually are several good options for fencing in goats. Tight weave no climb fencing is excellent for goats. It will also amount to the same kind of expense as buying a small mansion on your own private island resort. Even basic livestock fencing with a few electric strands will hold most goats with minimum fuss. Our problem is that we live on a very steep and heavily wooded hillside. Standard woven wire fencing doesn't maneuver well enough to deal with rough terrain and the ups and downs of tree roots and hillsides. It also just can't ever come back from a tree or even a large branch falling on it and causing it to stretch. After several months of evaluating our options, Mr.Man over ruled my (very loud and frequently voiced) opinions and chose a high tensile 9 wire fence. And, boy, am I glad he did!
It was way more work than we expected but in the end we have an excellent and effective fence that will be low maintenance and last for decades.
This fence is also electrified. the second and last strand are ground wires and all the others are hot. There is only 3" of space between the first 5 strands and then the gap grows to 5". This keeps the goats in even when the power is out. Being a high tensile and high tension fence there is no play in the wire either so they can't push or stretch it (especially as it shock the tarnation out of them if they tried!).
I love that this fence follows the lay of the land without looking forced or stretched wrong. It is also very easily repaired if a tree falls and snaps strands. The tension is released, wire cuffs bring the ends back together, and tension is reapplied! To keep the tension, and have a strong fence, we chose to use pipe as our corner posts. An insulated connector keeps the current flowing through the entire fence and solder on the connections keeps it strong.
I love this fence. Mr.Man doesn't thinks it's an attractive fence but I do. I love how it follows the land. I love how it keeps the goats in. I love that the cows don't try to rub on it. I love how low maintenance it's been.
I love this fence. It's the best argument I've ever lost!
