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Permalink Reply by Happy on December 22, 2011 at 9:04am

What kind of chickens do you have?

Laura Merrifield said:

I would spend the money on a good perimeter fence. Good and strong - horse high and hog tight! Goats to like to jump your buck will need to be kept with hog panels with electric wire if you want to keep him up. I would use electric fencing for the interior pastures. You will need a livestock guardian for the sheep & goats. If you get a breed of chicken who pays attention your chickens will be good. I have only lost 6 baby chicks over the past 5 years and we have red tail hawks that nest on our property. Chickens need a good place to run and duck into. Good luck with your fencing. Just remember a buck in rut is a real pain to keep up! :)

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Permalink Reply by From City to Farm on December 22, 2011 at 12:16pm

Hmmmmmm....we'll have four ND at the end of the month, plus the 2 sheep....I like your idea about livestock panels though. One of our wethers is on the taller end, and he can jump ridiculous heights, the other is a shorty and he can flatten his body and wiggle under any loose wires or open spots. Would you secure with tposts? I know livestock panels are fairly rigid, but you know how goats love to lean on things....

Deborah @ Antiquity Oaks said:

I'm rather surprised that goats have such a bad reputation for keeping fenced because we had just as much trouble with our sheep, although electric fencing did keep the sheep contained for about one month after shearing. After they got a little wool on them though, that insulated them from the fence, and they'd run through it just like the goats did. Woven wire keeps in our sheep and our Nigerian dwarf goats, but not all of the la mancha goats because some of them can jump the woven wire. Electronet by Premier keeps the sheep and the NDs contained, but again, a couple of the la mancha goats can jump it. And you absolutely MUST keep it hot at all times, otherwise the ND kids will just walk right though it. It also doesn't work for poultry because their feathers insulate them. But if you get the Poultry netting from Premier, that will work for them because the strands are close enough together. Don't use Poultry netting with goats though, because it has vertical strings instead of plastic struts like the Electronet, and I've heard of kids getting tangled up in it and dieing.

If you only have a couple of ND goats (four or less), you can put together four livestock panels (like pig panels but taller) and move it to fresh grass daily.

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Permalink Reply by Deborah @ Antiquity Oaks on December 22, 2011 at 1:24pm

We just wire three of the corners together, and the fourth corner, which we use as a "gate," we put two snap clips on -- one higher and one lower. A single clip in the middle won't do it because they'll be able to squeeze out below it, and if you put it low enough to keep them from squeezing out down there, they'll squeeze out above the clip. It will take at least two people to move it standing up and connected. I know someone else who does this, and she uses clips on two opposite corners because she takes down the panels and lays them flat on the ground for moving by herself then sets it up again. If your NDs are young, this will work fine for them with the sheep this year. If you have an intact ram, however, I don't know if this will work. Rams can be VERY aggressive, and are very strong, I could see one tearing this down.

From City to Farm said:

Hmmmmmm....we'll have four ND at the end of the month, plus the 2 sheep....I like your idea about livestock panels though. One of our wethers is on the taller end, and he can jump ridiculous heights, the other is a shorty and he can flatten his body and wiggle under any loose wires or open spots. Would you secure with tposts? I know livestock panels are fairly rigid, but you know how goats love to lean on things....

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