Best Goat fence height

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When looking for the best way to keep your herd safe, it is important to remember that goat fence height matters. Know what will work best for your herd so you can build a fence to protect them.

Choosing the best option from the common goat fence ideas, is an important part of raising healthy animals. Know what setup will work best to keep everyone inside and reduce accidents, escapes, and unplanned breeding going forward.

When it comes to goat farming, making sure your herd is healthy and thriving is always our number one goal.

And nowhere is this more important than when you are setting up a grazing area for your goats.

Getting the correct goat fence height is essential to ensure your herd doesn’t try to escape. And the type of fence you choose will determine the best height to keep everyone in.

When talking about fence height there are two areas that you will want to consider. First is the top height and second is the lower height.

Let’s Talk about these separately.

a young nubian goat standing in front of a steel panel fence

Top Height for goat fencing.

If you’re looking at fencing in a basic pasture-style setting, a suitable goat fence should be at least 4 feet tall. This is because goats are adept climbers and jumpers, so it’s important to provide the necessary barrier to keep them from getting out of the enclosure.

If you have a goat that hates to be enclosed in a fenced area, you may want to increase the height to 5 feet or, in some rare cases even higher.

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Bottom height for goat fencing.

High tensile wire fencing is a popular option for containing goats. Since the fence is electrified, most goats will not attempt to climb over and that means the height is not a huge factor during setup. However, the lowest strand is an important part to consider and more so than some folks may realize.

The bottom wire will need to be low enough to keep your small goat kids from getting out but not so low that you are constantly dealing with breaks in the current from growing grass.

READ: Trimming the Fence Line for a more Secure Setup

For our setup, we found that 9 inches from the ground was a good height for our lowest strand. This kept our curious goat kids from exploring below the fence yet, kept it up high enough that growing grass and weeds weren’t a huge issue.

When you hire out the construction of your high-tensile fence, be sure to confirm with them the lowest strand level. Only some of the strands in this style of fencing are electrified and you will need to make sure that lower strand is.

READ: How to Train Goats on Electric Fencing

Other factors to consider

There may be a few unique circumstances where your fence may need to be higher. The most important being during breeding season.

Accidental breedings can do a lot of harm, especially with too young or two small of goat. For this reason, be sure your fence setup will be secure enough to keep your bucks in rut away from any does that are in heat.

a buck Nubian breeding a Nubian doe in heat in a barn

At what age can you breed a goat?

In most cases, you will want to delay breeding with a female goat until she is at least 10 months of age. If you raise larger breed goats, such as Nubians or Alpines, you may want to wait longer.

READ: 13 Signs Your Goat is About To Kid

The reason for that is a Nubian or Alpine buck can weigh 160-180 pounds, and your doe will need to be able to withstand that weight during breeding. Even though breeding takes just a few seconds to be successful, the attempts can number in the dozens.

The bigger your female is, the better she will withstand the rigors of breeding.

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What is the best goat fencing inside of a barn?

When using fence in a barn to create separated areas, you will want a material that can withstand the abuse of a curious goat.

The best two options are steel or wood.

Steel panel fencing is a great option and works when you need a temporary setup. I have found that 3-4′ high works just fine inside a barn. If you have a larger area you may need to go higher as more room usually means more mischief.

a young nubian goat peeking over the fence smiling

It’s important to keep in mind that the correct goat fence height can vary depending on the breed of goat and the style of fence.

It will also depend on the age of your goats. Younger kids can fit through small openings, even small than you may think. An example is one year we separate off younger doelings in our main pen while breeding. The fence we used was hog panel fencing with openings of about 2″x4″. I was sure my kids could not and would not try to squeeze through.

As you may have guessed, they did!

And it still amazes me even today. To fix that problem, we used 2 panels, staggering them so that the openings were eliminated altogether.

What’s the lesson? Always be one step ahead of your goats.

goats playing in a fenced in pasture in early spring

Be sure to do your research and choose a height that will provide optimal protection for your entire herd. With the right fencing in place, you can ensure your goats remain safe and sound all year long.

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