# for those of you that have electric fence...



## goattee22 (Nov 7, 2009)

is it safe for baby goats? what about chickens?

i raise nigerians and am planning on doing 6 strands of high tensile electric fence. Alternating hot and ground wires..but the bottom three wires i wanted to be hot.

also can i seperate my buck pen and doe pen with the 6 hot wires as well? or will a bucks thick coat insulate him from the shock? does anyone have success keeping bucks in hot wire fencing or would it be better to just field fence? my bucks do have horns, the does do not.

please share your experiences or any advice would be appreciated!


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## Dodge 'Em (Jan 13, 2011)

I have my Boers in 2 strand hot wire. It will zap a kid, it doesnt take them but once to not try it. I have chickens too, they duck under it, but since we only have 2 wires, its up pretty high. My buck does fine with the hot wire, he just takes the gates off the hinges to get where he wants to go! LOL


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I have 4 hotwires for each buck and doe pasture... for the doe pasture the bottom wire is 5-6 inches from the ground, the next wire is 4 inches from the first..top 2 are spaced at 6 inches apart. The kids learn once they get a "bite" and run back to mama.

The buck pasture has a 4 foot wide space from the does, theirs is also 4 strands spaced 6 inces apart.

I either have "stupid" boys or they aren't too interested in the girls when the browse is green because I've never had any jump the fence or go through it.


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## goattee22 (Nov 7, 2009)

hahaha takes it off the hinges, thats funny. i had a horse that would do that, and he liked the way an electric fence zap felt too, crazy animal. but anyways, good to know! i am leaning towards putting a gap in between the does and bucks so they arent sharing a fenceline, i would have enough wire left over to do that so why not..and i guess if end up with headstrong bucks and they push through the fence, then ill just separate with goat panels, but my bucks are just babies right now so hopefully with them growing up learning about the electric fence, they will respect it, but whoooo knows when it comes to goats! thanks for the info!

oh and one more thing...so if they chickens were to touch the fence, it wouldnt kill them right?? but i guess if it does then i wouldnt have to mess with dinner that night...fried chicken anyone?? :laugh: im kidding! i love my chickens and i dont want them to get hurt with the fence, i also plan on getting that bottom wire pretty close to the ground so they may not be able to slide under without getting a zap...i wanted them to be able to roam but i may just have to build them their own pen.


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## SandStoneStable Farm (Dec 8, 2010)

I have 4 strands of wire, the lowest 4 inches from the ground the highest @ 3.5ft Only 3 are hot. I am more worried about dogs and fox then my goats going through.
I let the goats get tapped, they know better now. For everyone else I ran some chicken type wire fencing along the outside of the wire. This has helped remind the neighbors dogs (free roaming pitbulls and border collies... I love my neighbors :doh: ) to stay off and not go busting through before getting zapped. As soon as they jumped up their paws hit the top line (that only had to happens once) and chickens can't go through. If they (the dogs) lean on it, it pushes into the wire and becomes electric. As soon as they run away the fencing comes back off the wire. Hoping if fox have been here when I'm not looking the same happens to them... haven't seen one yet...
It has worked so far, the horse farm next to me had to do the same, fox will walk the perimeter, but will not pass through...


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## goattee22 (Nov 7, 2009)

oh yes, i have the same problem with neighbors dogs! a few pits and mutts and hunting dogs who are constantly harrassing deer on my property and killing the babies :veryangry: so i know they will not hesitate to kill my goats, who are currently on my parents property, so goats will be a new target for my neighborhood dogs. so the bottom wires close together and hot wouldnt be enough to keep dogs out? thats one of my main concerns...but i do have a guard dog, not a LGD, hes just a yard guard dog (boxer), lol, but hes extrememly dog aggressive and doesnt tolerate any other dogs, but i will not have to worry about him with my goats, he wont touch a wire whether its hot or not haha, he KNOWS what they are. plus he was raised around the goats and knows not to bother them. so im hoping that he will keep the dogs away from the goat pen.


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## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

I use hotwire to keep mine away from the neighbor's fence. It has never hurt any of the goats, or the babies and they learn really quickly not to touch it. You need a stronger current for bucks, however. Their coats can and do insulate against the shock. The ones I have now don't mind being in their pen and don't even have a wire. However, I used to have a buck that could do Matrix moves, and put up a wire for him. He would literally lean on it and feel nothing. If he touched it with his face or legs, it got him though.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I have a Zareba 5 mile fencer...not sure of the output but it works fine with giving a jolt...I do however keep the weeds clear to help ensure it works to it's potential.


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## Dreamchaser (Oct 30, 2008)

I have an electric fence and swear by it. I have used it for horses, goats, a pot bellied pig, geese and chickens. Lambs (as well as kids) quickly figure it out, though I would wait until they can walk well. I had one sheep that insisted on lambing right next to the electric fence and the poor baby got shocked before it could learn to walk. So I would put your expecting does/ewes somewhere where the babies won't have a chance to get shocked right at birth.


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## jay13 (Apr 12, 2009)

awwwww Dreamchaser, poor baby getting shocked at birth! I can only imagine! I did have one problem with my electric fence and my chickens, that is they tried to get through a hole in the fence and got their foot tangled in the hot wire at the bottom, they got popped a few times before they got free, but are none worse for the wear. This was a 50 mile Zareba charger btw on about a mile of fence line so this was a serious zap to the jolt!


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## Dreamchaser (Oct 30, 2008)

LOL. Yeah, I had a Zareba 15 mile, and put it on a small paddock (about 1/8 of an acre). I walked into the wire on a rainy day, trying to duck under it so I didn't have to turn it off. I ended up face-planting in the mud. Even my teeth hurt!


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## SandStoneStable Farm (Dec 8, 2010)

goattee22 said:


> oh yes, i have the same problem with neighbors dogs! a few pits and mutts and hunting dogs who are constantly harrassing deer on my property and killing the babies :veryangry: so i know they will not hesitate to kill my goats, who are currently on my parents property, so goats will be a new target for my neighborhood dogs. so the bottom wires close together and hot wouldnt be enough to keep dogs out? thats one of my main concerns...


Once they know it's hot it's fine, but the first time charging through, they don't know it's electric yet. The problem for me was, they charged through, got in then were afraid to leave the fence and stayed trapped inside. Fortunately I was home to witness it and got my goats while dh got the dogs out. That's why I decided on a reminder fence, so any new dogs (or fox) wouldn't have a chance to just charge straight in.


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## Robynlynn (Jan 18, 2011)

oh yes, i have the same problem with neighbors dogs! a few pits and mutts and hunting dogs who are constantly harrassing deer on my property and killing the babies This just burns my britches! :angry: we've had 2 different nieghbors with pitbull crosses this year. They always find my house and go after animals. the first group chased the goats along the fence line~I was home a ran out to chase them one wanted to take me but changed his mind and ran. 
the most recent group my DH peppered in buckshot....so far they have not been back.

Seems these animals are getting into the wrong hands~irresponsible people!
I think the electric fence might be the ticket to help protect your goats as well.......


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

You do have to be careful with new kids.....I watch them very close...because they sometimes ...will get the eartag stuck on the hotline and then ...I have to unplug real quick....and unhook them...........
they get zapped...a couple of times ....then they learn...but... the other kids are curious... as to why.. the other yelled out....and have to go investigate.....and "ZAP"!.... they get it too..... :doh: 

I had one chicken ....that was real stupid... :doh: she was trying to get out of the field and would touch the hotline.... squawk and retry and retry ....until... I unplugged the line ....so she could go back through....


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## jay13 (Apr 12, 2009)

LOL toth, I can see that in my mind right now that darn chicken going over and over...lol. As to the back up fence I have regular field fence for my main fencing with hot wires top bottom and middle to keep the critters out and the goats off the fence. I agree that you have to have a back up if you have a lot of neighbor dogs that run loose, they look at the goats as a new fun chew toy just for them! Oh, it also helps if there is ever a power outage or your charger is out for any reason. The animals have gotten used to the fence being a no-go space and leave it alone. We had to add the middle line in our buck pen to keep him from using it as a scratching area, he was tearing the fence up.


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## goattee22 (Nov 7, 2009)

Thanks for all the info I feel better about my chickens ...but I'm not sure how dumb they are yet lol, but ill soon find out!! We are starting on my fence and barn today I'm so exciteddddd!
My goats will be in my backyard and not across town. 

I do agree with pits getting into the wrong hands too, I have some friends that own 3 and they are amazing dogs But they are disciplined! But my neighbors are about to get shot...they almost killed my cat and start fights with my dogs and come after me when I check the mail. But they never pay attention to their dogs and they roam the neighborhood. Its horrible but ima keep a close eye on my goats, I'm home all day so it shouldn't be an issue. 

But thanks everyone! I will post pics when its all finished.


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