Goats for packing??? Info please

[Howe I Do]

I love the back country but I am getting older and I my kids are getting to the age that they could start joining me so I have been thinking more and more about getting goats for packing. The problem is I know absoutley nothing about the or how to get started. What kind? how much can they pack? pro and cons? How much I should pay? etc....

Come on ifishers help a brother out...

[Beeatease]

Here's a couple of links .....

http://www.highuintapackgoats.com/goat_tips.html

http://www.all-animals.com/packgoat.html

[Eagleclaw]

talk to Santiam338. He's the man who hunts with goats.

[Limbhanger]

Originally Posted by Eagleclaw

talk to Santiam338. He's the man who hunts with goats.

His goats have packed out 2 of my bears.....Santiam is the goat masta.

[Gun Rod Bow]

Originally Posted by Limbhanger

Santiam is the goat masta.

Can we get that on tee shirts?

toooo easy.

[chukarchaser]

Been packing with goats for a few years... they are the ticket. I've sent a pm... feel free to give me a call.

CC

[Santiam338]

Packgoats are raised,not trained...

The best way is to bottle raise your own and treat them more like puppies instead of goats...What you are looking for is a hunting,hiking companion instead of a beast of burden..Thats the time to introduce them to rides in the pick up,hiking in the woods,fishing down the river...It all makes a difference later on...My goats will swim the river if they have to...Few will..

That route takes a couple years though...Kidding season is coming to a end so it may start getting tough to find some day olds to raise...

Yahoo has a packgoat list and fridays they have a market day and full grown packers can be found from time to time...I believe there are some babies there now out of pack stock for 75 bucks..Thats a good price for babies out of packgoat stock...Better to spend a little more now than to find out 2 years from now that your goats aren't really big enough...

If you have children get dehorned goats...

Other than that the links above have good info..












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[Santiam338]

I probably should be discouraging you guys from getting goats...Next thing you know I will be finding goat droppings in my favorite hunting spots...

A quick search turned up these goats for sale in Washington...I left the names out..Just to give you a idea on prices,and these are very good prices...You can't raise them for that..

We have the four following experienced packgoats for sale. All very well
bonded, trail smart, and accustomed to water crossings, with six to eleven pack
trips each. They are disbudded and CAE negative. We're asking $150 each.
Saddles are available at $85 each, incl pads. Photos can be emailed, upon
request.



Shadow - Ober., 8yrs old, 190 lbs, 33 in. at the shoulder

Snowberry - Alpine, 7yrs old, 185 lbs., 33 in. at the shoulder

Chip - Alpine, 6 yrs old, 205 lbs., 35 in. at the shoulder

Dale - Alpine, 6 yrs old, 190 lbs., 34 in. at the shoulder

[Sirzonkalot]

Santiam,

I wouldn't swear to it but I think your picture above is the unit Ryan killed his bear in last week. We didn't see any goat sign and assumed we had the place to ourselves. Maybe not...

[Santiam338]

Not sure where you guys killed the bear last week...I do know you guys killed one there last year in the creek...Thats where this spot is..I wasn't in there this year...To many places,to little time..LOL

[Noyb72]

I run dairy and eat goats, and am looking at getting into pack goats. I can tell you that I have never had easier animals to handle or care for. I'd rather do goats than cattle, horses, swine, dogs or anything else (and I currently do most of that.) My three year olds best friend is a 12 year old doe named Hobbit. We have neighbors about a mile down the road that have raised a pair of pack goats. They now walk with them untethered and are better behaved than most poeples dogs. I know some people do Lamas and other animals, I don't have any experience so I can't comment. But goats take up little room, are cheap to feed and need very little care with the exception of a hoof trim now and then.

Ron

[coyote243]

so how many LBS can one goat pack

[chukarchaser]

Noyb72.... I will 2nd that... goats are very low maintenance but also very social animals. Don't just get one. I tried packing with llamas for a while... just my but they can't hold a candle to goats. llamas don't imprint with humans the way goats do and are just more difficult to manage.

As far as how much they can pack, just like a human, it depends on many factors: heart/desire, size, how much they are exercised, etc. The worst thing you can do is overload a goat at a young age... you will take the fun out of it for them and they will learn to hate packing. Start slow, the one drawback to goats is they are relatively slow to physically mature. If you buy a kid, you shouldn't put a full load on him til' he's around 2 years of age.

If you make packing/hunting/hiking fun for that goat those first couple years, he will do just about anything you ask.

CC

[RAGHORN!]

On average, how long can a goat live???

[Santiam338]

They have about the same life span as a dog..12,13 and they are getting old..