Goats, Fences, Cuts, Scrapes, & Abrasions.
Welp, sure enough, after I finished parts 1 & 2 of the fencing articles, and moved the goats to the new pasture, I found more work needing done fast.
When we ran the fences, we used woven wire all around Jaimes garden, and 4 strands of barb wire for the rest. That looked good and solid a fence as any to me, an admitted newcomer to this sort of thing. As sure as God made little green apples, we moved the goats into the new pasture and I got the unwanted surprise of my life to watch them walk right thru the barb wire like it was not even there.
So today was spent adding 3 more strands to the outer perimeter fences, adding numerous shiny new cuts, scrapes and abrasions to my ever growing collection. When that was done we herded the goats back inside the new fences, and watched them try several ways to get out, to no avail this time around. There are only 6 inch gaps in the bottom 3 foot height of the fence and a 1 foot gap above that until the next strand is hit now. So far, so good.
The man we made a deal for the kids ponies called today and said we would surely have them this coming weekend, the kids are all excited and babbling about names for them already. It appears he also has a bull and cow he wants to trade for the price of this past winters feed bill, which is considerably less than we would normally have to pay for the same cattle elsewhere, so we may take him up on that as well, still pondering if we want to spend that much money at one time or not right off.
Also spent some time helping Jaime with her garden again today, planting stuff from our neighbors hothouse which he was kind enough to have left over and offered to Jaime for free. New tomato, cabbage, and pepper plants ready to drop in the ground.
That’s about it for today, God bless and have a wonderful day tomorrow.
funny thing is that i did the same thing with my goat pen a few weeks ago. 3 sides were woven wire and one side was barbed wire covered in thick brush. They walked through it like it wasn’t there just like you said they did on yours. i coaxed them back with feed and ran another side of woven wire layered up against the barbed wire which was the property line that the neighbor installed. no more escapes.
Hi Jason, welcome to our little place on the web. Glad to see I am not the only one who made that mistake. *grin*
We just put up a six wire barb wire fence out in a remote pasture. Yesterday hauled out 16 pairs of cattle and I felt so proud of that fence!Plus there’s an electric wire there too! Was hauling manure out in that area last evening, took a look a quarter mile away from where I was hauling over to that super fence and there was a week old calf out in the field with its mama bellering away behind the super fence
So much for the best laid plans!
There is an old joke about testing a fence to see if it will keep the goats in - throw a 5-gal bucket of water on it and see if any water got through. If it did, so will the goats
Also, I know it may be too late now but next time you need a fence you may consider high-tensile electric fence. It’s often cheaper to build than barb wire and they’re much safer for the goats. And yeah, no cuts and punctures for you
Anyway, good luck with that and I really enjoyed your post about building a dehumidifier a while ago, thanks.
Heyas ND, welcome back.
Leon: Hahahahaha, cute.
I don’t remember if you said, or if I asked, but I was wondering what kind of goats did you get? One in a picture looked like a kiko, but I wasn’t sure. Just curious.
Hi Jason, To be honest, when we bought the goats we were still kind of new to this all. They are as far as I know now an american cross of kiko, boer, and nubian. Those are the 3 strains the seller has at his place and it looks like over the years they have basically been interbred. We did not know this at the time. I am looking to find some pure nubians next time round tho.
yeah, that is kind of what i got with some of ours; Boki goats. Boer/Kiko. I have to say though, I am leaning towards getting more kikos since I can already tell a difference in their resistance to health issues. But we all want that goat milk right? so you have to have some of those… good luck, and try not to let them get pink-eye, that is a big headache…