Have you ever wondered whether you could contain your goats with electric fencing? It\u2019s not always easy to answer the question, \u201cwill electric fence keep goats in,\u201d since this depends on many different factors. Fortunately, our experts are on hand to help you find out more about using electric fencing with goats, including how this works and the benefits and drawbacks this might offer. Hopefully, this may help you find the most effective solutions for your beloved goats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An electric fence is, unfortunately, not guaranteed to keep goats in. In most cases, a well-maintained electric fence should be enough to keep most goats in; however, goats are often troublemakers, and this means that they often attempt to escape. As such, it\u2019s not uncommon for goats to attempt to escape from electric fencing, and some goats may simply climb through it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moreover, if there are any weaknesses or breaks in the electric fence, you can be pretty confident your goats will discover it at some point. After all, their penchant for escaping really is legendary!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An electric fence, as the name would suggest, is a powered form of fencing that features metal wires throughout the length of the fence. These metal wires are incredibly conductive of electricity, which means that when an electrical current is applied to the fence, it becomes charged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Touching any metal strands within the electric fencing will cause an electric shock, which is a strong deterrent. As such, it\u2019s important to consider that electric fences require a stable power supply to keep them working effectively. In addition, if the power supply is broken or interfered with (e.g., earthed out by surrounding grass), it may not provide a powerful shock or an electric shock. This will stop it from working as normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Goats are, by their nature, very curious animals. Unfortunately for goatkeepers, this often means that their beloved four-legged cloven-hooved friends have a particular tendency to escape and causing mayhem. As such, strong and secure fencing is vital, especially if dealing with goats you know are likely to escape or attempt to get out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your goat is respectful of an electric fence, you can potentially use an electric fence to contain them. So long as the electric fence remains powered at all times without being earthed out, your goat should stay contained, but this is not always the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For one thing, it\u2019s important to note that electric fences are usually quite thin. As such, it is possible for the electric fence to snap, preventing it from working effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Furthermore, there is always the potential for your goat to get incredibly hurt with electric fencing. An electric fence won\u2019t necessarily turn off just because something is touching it. As such, if your goat gets caught up in the electric fencing, the results could be dire. This is even more of a concern for horned goats, which may be more prone to getting stuck in fencing, but any goat \u2013 horned or otherwise \u2013 is at risk of getting stuck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, it\u2019s worth considering that, since electric fencing doesn\u2019t have much strength in its own right, it\u2019s impossible for your goat to simply ignore it. It\u2019s not unheard of for goats to just climb through electric fencing \u2013 squealing as they go if it\u2019s on \u2013 so this may represent a welfare issue for your goats. As such, this is crucial to consider as part of your decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In order to keep your goats contained with electric fencing, you should always carry out regular maintenance of the fence. This should always include checking that the fence remains taught at all times and that there is nothing touching the electric fence that may earth it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, if using an energizer for your electric fencing, you\u2019ll need to ensure that the battery has plenty of power to keep it running effectively. There\u2019s also always the possibility for mains electricity to suffer a power outage, so it\u2019s worth keeping spare batteries and energizers to hand to ensure the electric fence has a \u201cback up\u201d just in case something goes wrong! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In our herd, we do use an electric fence with goats, but we don\u2019t tend to use it exclusively. While we have never had an issue with goats \u201cfighting\u201d electric fencing, we just don\u2019t trust it entirely! With this thought in mind, we use electric fencing alongside post-and-rail fencing and stock netting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The electric fencing helps prevent the goats from trying to stand on or climb the stock netting or getting their heads through the stock net; meanwhile, the post and rail and stock netting provide a strong physical barrier to stop the goats from just pushing through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019ve been wondering, will electric fence keep goats in, this really comes down to your individual animals and the quality of your electric fencing. In theory, in most cases, a well-maintained electric fence should keep goats in. However, goats are incredibly curious little troublemakers, so relying on electric fences alone may be risky. In addition, you should always make sure your goat knows what the electric fence is before leaving them alone with it; otherwise, they may get tangled and panicked while you\u2019re not there to save them, which could prove deadly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Have you ever wondered whether you could contain your goats with electric fencing? It\u2019s not always easy to answer the question, \u201cwill electric fence keep goats in,\u201d since this depends on many different factors. Fortunately, our experts are on hand to help you find out more about using electric fencing with goats, including how this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":289,"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288\/revisions\/289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/herdiac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}