Planning the New Goatstead

[SMaxwell]

This Spring our plan is to move from our 65 acre rental to the 2.2 acres we actually own. We will be staying in a camper and building as we go, paying cash so the project will be slow and piecemeal, but no mortgage when we are done. I have got the herd down to 7 goats (four packers, two milkers & a buck) and hope to keep it at about 7, although I might keep one of this spring's doelings and make it 8 total, plus the LGD (the area is bad for bear & lions, who have already demonstrated a taste for goat meat). Here is what I have come up with for fencing. Fencing will probably be 7 wire (could have used 4 wire if it wasn't for one escape artist) with a solar electric charger. In the winter when there is snow on the ground and they don't venture far from the barn anyway, the goats will probably be in paddock #1 most of the time. Winter access will be from the main road (gate 4). With goats in paddock #1 gates 2 & 3 can be left open in the winter. In the summer, we can access from the lower road (gate 1) and keep gate 4 shut. By opening or closing gates 2, 3 & 5 the goats can have access to any one or all paddocks. It's not much pasture so I will have to hay them year round, but I am hoping to be able to lease pasture on the adjoining lot to the west. Any suggestions or recommendations? Nothing is final yet but I really have been thinking about the lot layout a bunch and want to get is as close to ideal as possible. The lot is in the bottom of a valley, but gets good sun. Second pic puts the overall lot in better perspective.

   
   

[Phil-O-Rama]

Looks pretty neat!

-Phil

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

Here is what I have learned over the years. Perimeter fencing is more about keeping the bad out then the goaties in. The thing I would suggest is a loafing area around their shelters. This is a second line of defense. Here we use combo cattle panels for the loafing area. Gives piece of mind. A few other things I like here are the shelters are pretty close to the house. I can look out the back slider and see everyone is safe and not in any trouble. Water and power ran to every pen area. Fighting everyday to do water and break ice during the winter is aggravating. With power and water ran to each water area you can do automatic waterers in the summer and deicers in the winter. SOOOO much easier. Having your hay close to your feeders is another blessing. Here we have 13 different feeders. I can feed 80 animals in less then 15 minutes if I hurry.

[Dodgerdoob]

Don't skimp on the energizer or the ground. Solar is convenient but much weaker than a plug in. Get the most powerful you can afford. Try for one joule per mile of fence. And that is one wire X number of wires so if your perimeter was 1 mile you would have 7 miles of fence. Ground well. 90% of electric fence problems are from poor ground. one foot of rod in the ground for every joule of output. More is better. Get the 8' galvanized rods from Lowes or the like and use proper clamps. I can't stress enough the value of putting as much time into grounding and connections as building the fence. Its like building a racecar and then putting worn out tires on it.

[Nanno]

^ Amen to that! I have solar fence because I move mine all the time and none of it is close to my house. It's not nearly as hot as the plug-in kind, but it gives quite a zap IF it's properly grounded. I regularly dump dirty water troughs on my ground rods to keep the soil around them moist.

[SMaxwell]

My goal is to be off grid, (Diesel generator, which I already have, battery bank and a solar system , which I have started to acquire) to keep the generator runs down. Solar fencing will be a must. I am looking at the Parmack 12 Volt model. The 6 v model also has very good reviews and is cheaper. We may be putting the move down there off until next Spring, because I think I want to have the septic and at least a cistern and generator shed done first, which will be this summers project. I think the Parmack with two or three 8 foot grounding rods should work well for the fence, the problem I have not yet solved is how to keep my water tanks de-iced in the Colorado winter, "off grid" other than using small rubber tubs and dumping the ice everyday. I think I have heard of propane deicers, anyone have experience with them?

[Nanno]

I have a 6-volt Parmak for my horse fencing, which is only a single strand of hotwire. I've used these for 15 years now and they're great. It's not nearly as hot as the PRS 100 solar energizer I bought from Premier1 Fencing, though. That baby is HOT! Nearly as hot as my plug-in. I didn't know solar fencers could be that powerful. That's the one I use for the goat fence. Goats won't respect an electric fence if it's not really hot, so that's why I bought the one from Premier even though it cost almost twice as much as my Parmak. I have three 8-foot ground rods for the Parmak but only one four-foot ground rod for the Premier1. Since I move the goat fence on a semi-regular basis I have to be able to pull the ground rod. Since it's so short, I water that one every time I change or re-fill the goat water, which is nearly every day.

I don't heat the water in my horse trough, which means breaking ice every morning when it's cold. But I keep a hatchet or a small sledge hammer handy for those super-cold mornings, and for the average cold morning I use this: http://www.sstack.com/water-buckets-wate...-Strainer/
It's basically a heavy duty net you can use to break the ice and then pull it out of the water. It's really handy, but don't do what I did and try to break through 2-inch ice with it. It's not made for that, but you can still use it to pull the ice chunks out after you break it with something heavier.

My mom bought one of these solar heated water tanks and hasn't had one bit of ice even on the coldest mornings: http://www.ranchtanks.com/
They're small and pricey though, so I've opted to keep breaking ice.

I also found this: http://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/freez...dzgoe.aspx
For people who are handy.

[SMaxwell]

Thanks for the info Nanno. I will definitely check out the PRS 100. My dog and all but one of my goats respect the fence, but one of them must have rubber hoofs that keep him from getting shocked or something, that goat can soak up 13,000 volts (what my fence is now running at) without phasing him! I looked at the Solar Ranch tanks...exactly what I was looking for but yikes! Big bucks. I have a feeling though that about the middle of January I'd gladly pay their price!

[Jake Levi]

Where are you located Max?

Off the grid is great but has its own special concerns. I too am going to be looking for some such this season, in fact probably after the rendy and head south hopefully to look at some places I have found on line. If not then found then back to MI to pick up the RV and do some serious looking however long it takes. I am leaning towards Utah or Az the most, for mtns to hike and milder weather then I have here. My RV is going to be set up for 12 volt and solar, a lot of LEDs. Thats the main plan, it was a 26' trailer, a heavy one, chopped 6' out of it, actual living part 18" with a 3' porch on the rear with overhang. I will be looking for a way to carry a few bales of hay. For this year I will share van quarters with the goats until I get the RV with me. Life goes on.

[SMaxwell]

Where are you located Max?

Off the grid is great but has its own special concerns. I too am going to be looking for some such this season, in fact probably after the rendy and head south hopefully to look at some places I have found on line. If not then found then back to MI to pick up the RV and do some serious looking however long it takes. I am leaning towards Utah or Az the most, for mtns to hike and milder weather then I have here. My RV is going to be set up for 12 volt and solar, a lot of LEDs. Thats the main plan, it was a 26' trailer, a heavy one, chopped 6' out of it, actual living part 18" with a 3' porch on the rear with overhang. I will be looking for a way to carry a few bales of hay. For this year I will share van quarters with the goats until I get the RV with me. Life goes on.

I am in SW CO, near Pagosa Spings. God willing, I'm going to have a septic, propane appliances, battery bank & inverter/charger with a diesel light plant generator and a few solar panels to start with, more solar to come later to be less dependent on the generator. Lighting will be all LED (been buying them for a few years now), propane fridge and freezer and on demand propane hot water heater. Code requires I have a heating system that can warm the house when no one if there, so I will probably have a couple of Northern Tool vented propane heaters, but the real heat will be from a wood stove. I will start off hauling water to a cistern until I can afford to put a well in. I will probably do a generator run to pump the water up to the cistern and fill it as needed rather than constantly pumping with electric from the well. I could get electric if I wanted to, but would probably cost me about the same as my off grid setup. It's also more of wanting to be independent and a bit of defiance and not wanting to be on the power company's teat than it is a matter of necessity.

Good luck on your land search. A warmer climate will be nice, although we love the high mountains. Once I get the septic and the cistern in we will live in an RV while building. We bought an older 28 footer for $1500 and unbelievably, everything works.