Anyone that know us, knows that we have an unconventional way to raise our goats. It is for a multitude of reasons, one being that when I grew up we 100% free ranged our goats. This helped to keep parasites down, improve forage availability and was a cost savings. As we bought goats at our home. I adopted the same technique, mostly because we only had one goat and when we fenced our property in we put in electro
braid, which is great for the horses, but is like trying to hold water in a net with the goats.
Ivy was an angel, she never bothered our landscaping, didn't damage the barn and regularly would eat out in the field with the horses, as we have added more goats they have added additional complexity. Chloe taught Ivy about how tasty our decorative garden plants are, and Moots taught the rest of the girls how to break into the feed containers.
We love having the goats loose, it allows them to join us when we are on the front or back porch for spontaneous scratches and snuggles and helps to build our bond with them. It also helps them stay close to the house and we believe helps prevent preadation issues. We do however keep our bucks in a portable net fence that I move two weeks or so, to prevent unwanted, or untimed breedings. We are beginning to think we are going to have to begin fencing our property for our girls as well. Not only do I sweep a significant amount of pellets off of our front porch and sometimes back porch each and every day, the goats have also taken over our outdoor furniture. Not only do they lay on the love seat more than I do, but they also have begun to destroy our front porch. I cannot tell you the number of times I have power washed smashed goat turds off of our porch, or picked up and washed the cushions from the Goats getting them dirty, but now they have taken to chewing on our wooden railing and door way. This is where I draw the line, I love my goats more than most people think is normal, but I also want to maintain a nice home, and property. So as I sit here drinking my coffee and designing goat pasture schemes, I would love to hear your thoughts on goat fencing, and your approach to it.
Happy Goating!
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