Fence jumpers

[Mountain_girl]

Hi,
I was hoping for some advice. We are brand new to goats (we've had our 7 month old wethers for a little over 2 months) and have a bit of a problem with them recently starting to jump the fences. They are being housed on a multiple acre pasture with about a dozen other goats (mostly NDs- no other pack goats) with both does and other wethers. A couple weeks ago, they started jumping the fences between the paddocks- luckily not the perimeter fences. Even when the gates are open and they have access, they seem to enjoy taking the short cuts. After a failed attempt at separating the males from the females, they even got to be the only boys in with all the girls. But after a couple days, they started jumping back to eat with the boys too. The gal that owns the other goats (and the land) has zero tolerance for her goats jumping and sold one that followed our boys. I feel terrible that they are causing problems. We are considering putting them into a large 6 foot high enclosure within the pasture. Any suggestions? Will they out grow the jumping or do we have incorrigible goats? Thank you for any help!

[Nanno]

How high are your fences and what are they made of? Do they leap clean over, or do they climb and/or scramble as they make it over the top. If they do any climbing/scrambling, their jumping can be quickly cured by adding a strand of electric wire along the top of the fence. If they're jumping clean over then they need a taller fence. Since we don't know what type of fence your'e using it's hard to say how easy it would be to add more to the top.

[Mountain_girl]

Sorry about the lack of details. They are leaping clean over any of them under about 44". In fact, they probably have about another 6-8" of clearance above them. The fencing is a mix of field fencing and panel fencing with field fencing layered onto it. There's also a few sections of chainlink that are only about 40" tall (that's where they started jumping). She has a 58" perimeter fence. We are boarding them there for about 2 years before moving to our own larger acreage lot. I'm sure we can figure out a temporary solution until we can afford to extend the height of her fencing. I guess my question is also about whether anyone has had experience with these larger goats continually jumping fences, or do they eventually settle down and be content in their pastures? Or for that matter, use the open gates instead of risking a broken leg jumping from one area to another. Thanks again!

[Nanno]

Forty inches isn't very high for a goat, especially once they know the fence won't hurt them if they accidentally hit the top. I wonder if you could add another foot or two with electric wire. Hot wire is inexpensive and it doesn't have to be heavy duty since it's more of a psychological barrier than a physical one. Plug-in chargers are hotter and cheaper, but solar ones don't require an outlet so it's easy to install them almost anywhere. Electrified rope is a little pricier than wire, but it's high visibility so your goats are more likely to respect it, and it also doesn't break as easily. I've had problems with goats, horses, and wildlife learning that if they barged through the wire quick enough they could break it before they got zapped. I switched to electric rope and never had that problem again.

[Mountain_girl]

Thanks for your patience with me! I really appreciate the advice. Thanks for everything!

[IdahoNancy]

My one jumper loves to fly off of things. He was raised behind cattle panel with hot wire at 6 ft. He never jumps fences but he'll jump all kind of other things including his 39 inch tall brother.

[nebs]

Great pic Nancy. I've always admired your obers. Just can't find any big ones like yours!