A goat studies a fence the way you would study a climbing wall. Horns test for gaps, front hooves hunt for footholds, knees press into mesh, and a determined goat will crawl on its belly under a wire that lifts even a hand's width above the soil. Fencing that contains sheep or calves happily will often fail goats within a week, not because it is badly built, but because it was designed for animals that push rather than climb. Goat fencing has to deny three things at once: footholds, gaps and give.
Build the fence goats cannot use as a ladder
Choose fixed-knot stock fencing with mesh small enough that a goat cannot push its head through and get stuck or lever the wires apart. Keep it genuinely taut between straining posts — a sagging panel is a trampoline and a ladder in one. Fix rails and horizontal strands on the far side of the posts from the goats wherever the design allows, because every horizontal line on the goats' side is a step. Height matters less than most people think once footholds are gone, but a fence that a goat can rest its chest on will eventually be a fence it goes over, so keep the top line above chest height and free of anything to scramble against.
Gates, corners and the crawl-under gap
More escapes happen at gates than through the fence itself. Hang gates so they close to a post with no wedge-shaped gap at the hinge side, and fit latches that need two movements to open, since goats work simple catches with lips and persistence. Walk the bottom wire after rain and frost: soil washes away on slopes and freezes into ramps, opening a crawl-under gap where the line was tight in autumn. Pin or weight the bottom wire back down and fill scoured dips with rubble. Corners deserve a look too — a braced corner post with diagonal struts is a staircase, so face struts away from the goats or cover them with mesh.
Remove the launching pads
Stand inside the paddock and look at the fence as a goat does. The water trough dragged against the wire, the mineral-lick stand, the fallen log, the mound of hardcore waiting to be spread — each puts a goat's front hooves within reach of the top. Move feeding and play equipment a clear distance from the boundary, and be suspicious of enrichment placed thoughtfully beside the fence: a climbing frame is excellent goat furniture in the middle of the field and an escape platform against the wire.
Walk the line like a goat would
Once a week, walk the whole boundary slowly, pushing on posts, checking tension, and looking for the first signs of work in progress: hair caught on a bottom wire, a scuffed hollow where a goat has been digging, mesh bellied out where knees have been leaning. Goats repeat successful experiments, so a small repair made early prevents the habit forming. New arrivals and youngsters get extra supervision in their first days, because they test hardest while the herd's settled members are the ones teaching them where the weak points used to be.
When a goat still gets out
Even good fencing meets a fallen branch or a gate left on the latch. If a goat does get loose, the map displays the alert from the goat's KinsLe profile, where the Lost Pet Alert System costs nothing and anyone who finds your goat can send you a direct message as it grazes along lanes and gardens.