How to Keep Goats Out of Your Garden : 3 Effective Tricks

Gardens are beautiful and can be an enjoyable hobby to many people. However, they sometimes attract unwanted guests like goats.

Not only do these animals destroy your garden, but they also make it difficult for you to enjoy. You might think that if you just let the animals know what’s off-limits, then they will leave on their own accord, but this is not always possible.

These animals have a natural instinct to explore new places and find food sources, so there is no guarantee that the animal will stay away once it has found out about your garden or even after you have tried everything else.

In this article, I’m going to show you how to keep goats out of your garden by using the following techniques.

What Makes Goats Eat Gardens?

Goats are likely to eat gardens when they are hungry or need to supplement their diet with other sources of greens.

It is important that their daily diet includes forage-quality feed and alfalfa, which is high in fiber. This will help them maintain a healthy weight and keep away from your garden.

Plant your garden on the ground that is scattered with trees, bushes, and other natural barriers. This will provide shade for the goats, so they do not feel like they need to dig up your garden beds or munch on your vegetables.

Goats are attracted to anything bright and shiny. Use old CDs, tin foil, or aluminum foil to create ornaments that will scare goats away or create a barrier around your garden. You can also use baby powder to sprinkle on the shiny material as this is a scent they do not like.

3 Ways to Keep Them Out of Your Garden

Goats are notorious for being able to get into any garden. The ways you can prevent your goats from getting into your garden are putting up an electric fence, building a physical fence, or preventing the goats from coming onto your land by some other means.

Fence in Your Garden to Keep Out the Goats

There are many people who have found it is easier to build a physical fence because this fence lasts longer and it is more difficult for the goats to climb over the fence.

Once they know that there is an electric fence they will not enter that area. A physical fence also works well if you do not have an electric fence.

You can build a fence that the goats find difficult to climb over, or they may not be able to get into your garden because of fencing.

You can dig down about four inches and put chicken wire along the bottom so it is below the soil line, then attach this chicken wire fence to the wooden fence. This will keep most goats out.

The secret is to put some rocks on top of the chicken wire so that it interferes with their climbing ability.

If you simply place the chicken wire on the bottom of your fence, they can still climb over it since there are no obstacles for them to jump over or land on. The rocks on top of the fence will prevent your goats from gaining any traction when climbing over it.

The wood fence should be at least five feet tall because not only will this keep out the goats, but also other animals as well because a goat can jump a six foot tall fence.

Install a Small Electric Gate to Keep Animals Out

Another way to keep animals out of your garden is to install a small electric gate. These gates are similar to the ones used by the military, so they will not be easily moved or knocked over.

You can place these gates in different locations all around your fence so that it covers several areas.

The trick with this gate is to make sure that it is not at eye level because you want to keep the goats out of your garden but not be able to see over the fence or gate.

If you live in a very windy area, make sure that you put up some supports so these electric gates do not blow down and injure someone or something on the other side, such as a goat.

Get a Guard Dog

If you do not want to build a fence and put in an electric fence or even a physical fence, then another way is to get a guard dog.

The best dogs for the job are Doberman Pinschers, Rottweiler Dogs, or Great Pyrenees. Discourage your goats from coming into your garden by using a guard dog to scare them away.

The goats will quickly learn not to come close to your property because they know that these dogs are mean, and they could get hurt by the dogs. This is a good way of keeping your garden free from goats as well as other animals such as coyotes, deer, etc.

Proper Food for Your Goats

Goats are adorable, cuddly companions. But if they go into your garden to eat the fruit of your hard work, you’ll find yourself very annoyed or getting rid of them.

What most people do not know is that goats have a favorite food. This favorite food is called Lespedeza hirta, more commonly known as the Bush Clover. With a simple bit of research, you can keep your fruit trees and garden safe.

Purchasing a packet of seeds from a local nursery is all that it takes to cure your goat problem once and for all. Simply plant these seeds in an area that is away from any fruit or vegetable gardens, preferably near the woods where the goats will be less likely to go.

In a few weeks, you should see these plants begin to grow, and continued research has shown that they are not ingested by any animal or human.

Goats have been known for their love of the Bush Clovers, even going as far as pushing each other out of the way to eat them.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this informative blog post on how to keep goats out of your garden. The key is fencing in the area and installing a small electric gate so that animals don’t have access.

If you keep the animals out while making sure they still have enough food and water, chances are they will soon decide it’s not worth the risk and move on to greener pastures!

I also provided some information about proper food for your goats- make sure there’s plenty of hay available at all times as well as freshwater daily. And lastly, provide them with good quality feed every day or two (depending on their size).