Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[<blademan25@yahoo.com>]

I have a buck that I am sure will test the fencing this autumn as he has always screwed with my scheduled breeding goals for the last two seasons, however with the panels being braced every ten feet the panels flex enough to be very intimidating to put their legs on. 

In four months I have yet to witness any mature goats having both front legs on the fence because of the flexing.  IF the pens were braced to be "stiff" the goats WILL try to climb the fencing as it is stable.  I read this on a goat fencing column and tried it out and found it to be very true.

Stephen Heilman
Escondido, CA

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From: Aliza Vanderlip <songbird97520@yahoo.com>
To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Fri, May 14, 2010 8:08:01 PM
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] fencing for livestock

Just a FYI - I have seen dairy bucks climb panels like that - if it were me I would have a hot wire in place as well.  They can be incredibly destructive.  I had a buck once bash and break a very heavy stock panel type gate trying to get to the other side where there was another buck that had does in with him.  I have a friend that had a buck that was so creative that she had to stack two cattle panels up to keep him in.  Thank goodness my current boys are pretty easy going even in the fall.

Blessings,

Aliza
www.eftashland.com


“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Howard Thurman

--- On Fri, 5/14/10, blademan25@yahoo.com <blademan25@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: blademan25@yahoo.com <blademan25@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] fencing for livestock
To: "Healthy soil and sustainable growing" <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Date: Friday, May 14, 2010, 4:53 PM

I just completed constructing pens for my dairy goat herd in January.  It has the 2X4 openings and is 68 inches high and VERY HEAVY GAUGE.  The panels were 24 foot lengths and we put posts every 10 feet.  I have had no issues with escaping goats or any predation from coyotes although the raccoons wasted no time in wiping out all my laying hens in there.  We also laid some thin gauge fencing on the ground outside of the pen to prevent coyotes from attempting to dig under.  The males are separated from the females and they will not be able to scale that fence either.  The fencing dealer referred to these panels as "stud panels."    I have had goats for over 20 years and this is the first fencing that I doubt will ever need to be replaced as compared to all other fencing being destroyed every 2 years (by the goats). 

Stephen Heilman
Escondido CA

rom: Norma Sutton <sweetspringfarm@gmail.com>
To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tue, May 11, 2010 7:58:18 PM
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] fencing for livestock

Hi Doug,
That is what I have for my winter barn pen.  I have to tighten it up periodically and I do have a break along the bottom.  I'm slowly switching over to the horse panels.  They are 5 feet high with 2x4 openings.  The cattle panels work, but don't contain the kids when they are young.  It also doesn't flex like the woven wire does and I've found my dairy girls are really hard on any fence that will flex and will eventually walk it to the ground.
Norma

To contain our goat herd we use heavy duty, 12-gauge wire, five foot tall, horse fence with two by four inch rectangular openings. (Not the thinner, welded wire.)  12-gauge, 2" X 4" wire horse fence is commonly available.  We go to our local Home Depot Pro Desk and ask them for a bid (on orders exceeding $2000.)  They fax our request to their home office and generally phone us the next day to offer a 10% discount.

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