# goats and hot wire ?



## Jo~* (Oct 26, 2007)

I have most always "lined" my fences with a strand or two of electric wire no matter what I was fencing in.
The reaction I have gotten from horses, dogs, chickens and cats have always been loud and run. 
Today I put up some electric wire around the goat paddock and when they touched it they didn't seem to upset about it? I know it was working. The Lamancha eyes it but still sneaks up on it and trys. 
So are goats not as sensitize as other animals?

Thanks JoAnn.


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## goatkid (Oct 26, 2007)

I haven't used hot wires, but know several people who did. The goats managed to escape. They are much sneakier, or maybe just more persistant than other animals. One of my neighbors ran 5 strands of electric fence around her goat yard. The goat kept getting out, so she sold the goat. Kathie


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## Guest (Jun 2, 2008)

Jo..........First, make sure the grounded terminal of the fence charger is getting a good ground. I assume that your charger has some type of indicator light on it, so it should light up too. They also make a little hand held tester that you can use to touch to the fence to see if it is working right.

I have found that goats are about sensitive as anything else to the "juice". I guess a soil type the doesn't conduct well, or that is extremely dry, would cause poor results. I have 2 different chargers.....one cost about $30, and the other about $75. I'm using the $30 now for this 1 acre area, and they have no desire to mess with it. 

I think that something is not working properly if your goats continue to ignor the wire.
Be sure that the ground rod is at least a couple feet deep in the ground, and has a good connection to the ground terminal of the charger...... and that your Hot line is not grounding out to something down the line.
If you check these things , but keep getting poor results....then come back on here or PM me, and we will see if we can figure the problem out.

Whim


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## eliya (Mar 11, 2008)

Sometimes it takes them a little while to figure out that it will always hurt them. It helps if the hot wire is ADDED to an existing fence. If the electric is your only fence, the goats will find that they can bolt though it between the pulses. They are SMART little animals!!! Once they are convinced that it will always give them a shock and that they can't get though, they'll leave it alone.


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

another key is don't have your wire more than 4 or 5 in apart and either get a GOOD fencer handling weeds and grass or keep the grass off the bottom wire. I used elec fence for years and years but a couple of the goats would eventually always get out. Never went anywhere but just out.


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## Jo~* (Oct 26, 2007)

The hot wire is added to the inside of the 4 foot nonclimb fence we just put up.
I just put the hot one up to get them used to it. 

Its the same system I had up for my horse. I have a tester and everything says its working. I just don't think its working as good as it should. 

I am going to check my ground today, as Whim said maybe somethings not right there, thats the only thing that I haven't payed much mind to cause its kind of hard to get to. There are weeds or anything touching it. 

Thanks


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## kidsngarden (Oct 28, 2007)

I have found it can't be that plastic stuff or tape - needs to be the old school wire for goats IMO. and 5-7 strands unless it's backed up by field fence.


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## Kaye White (Oct 25, 2007)

Also check their feet. If a goat's hoof is left to grow out...the wall will curve under the sole...thus instant insulater. 
:blush Don't ask how I found this out.
Kaye


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## eliya (Mar 11, 2008)

WOW. I never heard of that! How does that work??? I wouldn't think that would insulate.


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## stacy adams (Oct 29, 2007)

I was going to say that I have to agree with what Whim said. I've used one strand of yellow tape before, yes, with goats, and after one zap that was it they wanted nothing to do with it! And yes, there is one knoodle that will test it again, but really, if your ground in working well then no, you shouldn't have any problems.


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## Kaye White (Oct 25, 2007)

I used to use electric fence...YEARS ago...and if the feet weren't trimmed they would walk right through the wire without getting shocked. Feet trimmed...they got the snot knocked outa' them.
There were some goats moved from here and let's just say the owner didn't do maintainace...they were moved into 3 strand electric wire. Within the hr. several does had walked right through the fence. When questioned...I said to try trimming the feet. Feet trimmed, the does recieved the shock needed to deter any more escapes.
Kaye


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## Guest (Jun 2, 2008)

I did think of one other thing. During extremely dry weather, you may wan't to take a hose and wet the ground around where your ground rod is at. Moisture and minerals are your 2 main grounding conductors the makes the "ground" better. 
Deep sandy ground is a poor conductor when it is dry. This iron ore/clay/shell mix that I live on will knock you down when you touch the fence......even when you're wearing rubber boots. 
Now ask me how I know that..

....and if your petting a goat, and the stupid thing touches his nose to the wire......guess who gets bit too.

.....and for heavens sakes.....if you are a man that stops to Pee while working on his fence, then be dang sure of which way that your aiming that stream.

:crazy :crazy :crazy Whim


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## Feral Nature (Oct 26, 2007)

My neighbor in houston, back in the day, had a hot wire on the inside of his backyard fence to keep his pit bulldog in. The dog peed on it and then would never pee outside again :rofl


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## Guest (Jun 2, 2008)

Feral Nature said:


> My neighbor in houston, back in the day, had a hot wire on the inside of his backyard fence to keep his pit bulldog in. The dog peed on it and then would never pee outside again :rofl


 LOL... oh my gosh.. just the mental image of that pitbull gave me a case of the giggles.. Hubby has a friend that visits on occasion.. city boy.. maybe I can somehow convince him that all the *boys* pee over there..yeah, right on that wire!
susie, mo ozarks


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## Truly (Oct 26, 2007)

Well, I was gonna add what Whim said, to water down the ground rod.

I don't have any trouble with my goats on my electric fence, but mine is Hi-Tensile wire. A goat could not break it by trying to run thru it. It is a six line fence. For the most part, they keep 12 inches between them and the fence, despite the good things growing on the fence line.


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## pokyone42 (Oct 26, 2007)

One thing I do also, that might seem kind of mean, is that I hold the babies, and let them get zapped on the nose. That seems to deter them. Once in a while, one needs reminding, but not often at all.


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## SamSpade (Apr 21, 2008)

I have a 5 strand (HGHHG top to bottom) hi tensile fence and a good fence charger and I never have a grown goat out. Babies do get out on occasion, they can get between the bottom strands. Once the get up to size, though, the babies stay in also. Right now I have them in a temporary paddock with just three strands of poly wire inside plastic snow fence on temprary fiberglass posts and nobody gets out. Maybe my saanens are just too sedate to try, but I don't have any trouble with electric keeping them in.


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## Thermopkt (Oct 25, 2007)

Try to get them to chew it. Worked quite well here.


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## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

I feed my babies next to the electric fence, and they have learned that if they are not careful, they get "bit". My adults never respected the electric much, but the babies, who are now several months old, can be counted on to avoid the electric fence. Cool. 
Anita


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## Whitney (Oct 27, 2007)

That's interesting about the hooves Kaye.


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## Jo~* (Oct 26, 2007)

We worked on that fence all day, and redid everything. The light on the charger said it was working, the fence tester said it was working but when my husband would grab hold of the fence he could barley feel it. After about three hours I convinced him to call the hardware store and after hubby explained it all to the guy then the guy asked hubby if he had rubber soled shoes :blush hubby took off shoes (muck boots) touched fence and ZAP. OK so now you'd think problem solved---wrong :tearhair goats come over to investagate lipping the wire and nothing happens, I'm trying to get hubby to touch wire again but he said no way
(big baby)  Now I'm about ready to say the heck with it since I already have new nonclimb and the hot wire was just so they would get used to it for when I let them out in a different area. I decided to try one more thing, I dumped the water bucket by part of the fence were they like to jump on the gate--bingo it worked!!
The water must have made a better ground for them. Their hoofs are not long but they do have some rubbery stuff on the bottom, think maybe thats the problem as some said ? and the water just gave them a better ground??


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