Having had goats before, for a number of years, I'm confident that this goat is a dumbass, and after about the 900th time that the farmer had to free this guy from a fence that he had stuck his head through, horns and all (and couldn't get back out), the farmer settled on this method of ensuring that the goat couldn't stick his head through far enough to get his horns snagged.
They typically can't get their heads through a wire fence (in the forward direction) without turning them a bit. Freeing them requires pulling the the head toward you far enough that the horns are free of the fence, then rotating the head while pushing down, and then pushing backward. As you might imagine, this is often a two-person job, and is always a right pain in the ass, so preventive measures are understandable.
As for why a goat would stick its head through a wire fence in the first place... One, they're very smart and insatiably curious. Two, while the grass isn't necessarily greener on the other side of the fence, it is longer, at least where the goats can't reach it.
Being stuck in this manner is not a pleasant experience for the goat. In my experience, most of them are smart enough to learn after only a few times to not do that anymore. This goat apparently isn't quite that bright.
EDIT: holy shit, this has taken off! Thank you, thank you, thank you, kind fellow redditors, for all the awards. I never imagined I'd get this kind of response.
They are there to keep him from getting his head caught in the hog wire fence. Goats are browsers, unlike sheep or cattle which are grazers. When he tries to feed on those bushes along the outside of the fence he can get his head caught. With the crossbar attached to his horns he can't get his head through the square mesh of the hog wire.
PingPongProfessor on September 5th, 2020 at 12:10 UTC »
Having had goats before, for a number of years, I'm confident that this goat is a dumbass, and after about the 900th time that the farmer had to free this guy from a fence that he had stuck his head through, horns and all (and couldn't get back out), the farmer settled on this method of ensuring that the goat couldn't stick his head through far enough to get his horns snagged.
They typically can't get their heads through a wire fence (in the forward direction) without turning them a bit. Freeing them requires pulling the the head toward you far enough that the horns are free of the fence, then rotating the head while pushing down, and then pushing backward. As you might imagine, this is often a two-person job, and is always a right pain in the ass, so preventive measures are understandable.
As for why a goat would stick its head through a wire fence in the first place... One, they're very smart and insatiably curious. Two, while the grass isn't necessarily greener on the other side of the fence, it is longer, at least where the goats can't reach it.
Being stuck in this manner is not a pleasant experience for the goat. In my experience, most of them are smart enough to learn after only a few times to not do that anymore. This goat apparently isn't quite that bright.
EDIT: holy shit, this has taken off! Thank you, thank you, thank you, kind fellow redditors, for all the awards. I never imagined I'd get this kind of response.
gazpachete458 on September 5th, 2020 at 12:28 UTC »
To prevent the goat get stuck in the fence, probably wire fence
duckdownup on September 5th, 2020 at 12:29 UTC »
They are there to keep him from getting his head caught in the hog wire fence. Goats are browsers, unlike sheep or cattle which are grazers. When he tries to feed on those bushes along the outside of the fence he can get his head caught. With the crossbar attached to his horns he can't get his head through the square mesh of the hog wire.