Electric Fence for my Nigerian Dwarf Goats

I've heard that a lot of people have had issues with electric fences when it comes to keeping in Nigerian Dwarf goats. Therefore, I wanted to make sure it worked for my goats before posting anything about it. I have had goats in this set-up for almost a year. It currently holds in three adult does and one nine week old doeling. I would also like to mention that there are no bucks on my property and that may be a big part of why my electric fence works. All of my goats have never been around an electric fence so of course they did test it. It has 6 strands of wire, almost 4' high.

DIY Gate

When DH and I first put up our electric fence, we used part of a hog panel screwed into one of our posts as a temporary gate. It was heavy and unruly, but alas temporary fixes usually aren't the best. My DH finished building me an actual gate a few days ago. He used 3 layers of 1 x 4's with metal garden fencing sandwiched in between along with various sized hex bolts securing it all together. The pdf plan that he used: Hoover Fence

Another Goat!

Picked up a sweet little goat today. I think this now means we officially have a herd?! Thankfully we didn't have to drive multiple hours for this one! Her name is Night Above Himalia, now nicknamed Cookie. She has been exposed to Night Above Galileo for late February/Early March babies.

Stats:

Born: 4/6/2011

Gold with white poll and frosting

Blue Eyes

Adga: D1644156

Ags: D-62704

Yearly Garden Cleanup

That time of year has come to clean out the rest of the leftovers in the garden for the fall. It's a sign that I will no longer get fresh home-grown goodies for another few months. Alas, it must be done.

Just look at the size of that banana pepper!

Fresh Milk :D

It's quite a joy to have fresh, unadulterated milk that I got all by myself. It tastes so much different than store bought goats milk. Goat's milk is sweeter than whole cows milk, other than that there's not much difference.

Zoey is such an easy milker. That is... as long as I don't remove my hands from her udders once I start! If I have to adjust the bowl or anything else and remove both hands, once I resume milking she becomes a little dancing queen!!

Welcome Wooly Dog Down Zoey!

Came home with our second goat today! Welcome to the farm Wooly Dog Down Zoey. 

She just kidded with triplets so she's currently in milk! I'm a little nervous about having a goat to milk. I was hoping to get used to just having goats before I had to milk one, but I'm definitely not going to have this milk go to waste!

Characteristics:

Blue Eyes

Black with moonspots

20-21"

Adga: D1621551

Ags: D-47503

My First Goat!

I brought home my first goat today! Her registered name is HBR Catch Me If You Can, but I think we'll call her Chloe. DH and I drove all the way down to Indian Trail, NC to pick her up from Five Points Farm. I don't currently have another goat, but I'm hoping to pick one up next weekend. I really didn't want her to be solo, but my attempts at coordinating a pick up during the same weekend from 2 different states just didn't work out! For now I have my dog out in the pasture to keep her company and I try to be out there as much as I can so she warms up to me.

We've had a couple breakouts... I think I'll have to alter the wire spacing in the fence.

The first escape: