My goat packing experiment

[Bachto]

I wanted to start a thread of my experience and adventure/experiment with goat packing. Also to share what I’ve learned so far and will learn along the way.
To start I chose goats over horses/llamas and mules for ease of care and also cost. I have decent amount of experience with livestock and animals as I grew up showing 4H and have family that runs smaller alfalfa and cattle operations.
Here is my string so far:
This is Aldo (Leupold) and Daniel (Boone)(the all black one) I got them from a guy out of Clarkston Idaho they are currently 2.5 years and are Lamancha/Alpine

Next up are my twins, Lewis and Clark. I got them from Hawthorn Hollow Pack goats out of Orofino Idaho. They are a little over a year old and are Oberhasli/Alpine.

Next is our newest little guy, I got him from Bri at Mica Peak pack goats outside of Spokane. She’s a member on here actually. He’s full Alpine and we named him Theodore (Roosevelt), sorry Bri for changing his name .
We have started going on training hikes about twice a week with no weight yet and me and my dad are building our pack so I’ll get some pictures of those and post them here shortly. But here are some more pictures of the whole string hiking.


We’ve done 6 hikes so far in the last 2 months and they are starting to become quite the hikers now. The first couple trips they definitely fatigued pretty quick but I took them out this morning and they kept up super well. I would have liked to get a few more hikes in already but we had a massive heatwave where is was over 100 degrees for multiple weeks.

I will update here from time-to-time to show where we are at and things I have learned. Feel free to ask questions but as a disclaimer I am no expert and definitely learning along the way.

 

[WRM]

I'm still waiting for the Boston Dynamics "dog" price to drop, but these threads always intrigue me. IF I could hunt out West more, I'd really be looking into this. For my curiosity, tho, what do you think their pack weight range will be once they are ready? More important, how do you keep them from becoming snacks?

 

[Bachto]

I'm still waiting for the Boston Dynamics "dog" price to drop, but these threads always intrigue me. IF I could hunt out West more, I'd really be looking into this. For my curiosity, tho, what do you think their pack weight range will be once they are ready? More important, how do you keep them from becoming snacks?

I think they will pack 50-70 pounds depending on weight and size once they are full grown. 70 would definitely be the top end of that and not something I would be putting on them regularly. The downside with goats is they very easily become snacks so you have to bring them with you while hunting or have someone stay at camp with them.

 

[dakotaduner]

always enjoy these threads to learn from. I may never own goats or llamas but sure enjoy learning

 

[WRM]

I think they will pack 50-70 pounds depending on weight and size once they are full grown. 70 would definitely be the top end of that and not something I would be putting on them regularly. The downside with goats is they very easily become snacks so you have to bring them with you while hunting or have someone stay at camp with them.

Even 50 lbs you didn't have to carry is pretty impressive. I figured there must be wrangling involved to keep them from becoming empty collars. Best of luck!

 

[Jacob.smithjas]

Im curious, how well do they interact and play with some dehorned?

 

[Bachto]

Im curious, how well do they interact and play with some dehorned?

The 2 with horns definitely kinda run things, they aren’t mean to the other necessarily but do have dominance even over the much larger 2. The only thing that’s happened is one of the horned guys busted another’s lip a little bit in the trailer but that only has happened once so far.

 

[loganwayne]

so hunting with them i assume you dont have them on leads while hiking? would you tie them up once your in the area your wanting to hunt or do they just kinda wonder around following you?

 

[Pasayten]

I'm interested in all of this! Hoping to hear more.

 

[GarisonJ]

I think they will pack 50-70 pounds depending on weight and size once they are full grown. 70 would definitely be the top end of that and not something I would be putting on them regularly. The downside with goats is they very easily become snacks so you have to bring them with you while hunting or have someone stay at camp with them.

Do you have any issues with them making too much noise in camp when they are tied up?

 

[Bachto]

Do you have any issues with them making too much noise in camp when they are tied up?

I haven't taken them out overnight yet as this will be the first year that most of them are old enough to start carrying weight. From what I've read and heard from other people they usually don't make a whole lot of noise. When we do training hikes they don't really make any noise.

 

[Bachto]

Here is a small update:
We have began doing our spring training of hiking weekly and are doing a spring bear hunt in idaho. Like I had mentioned before me and my dad are tackling the pack frames on our own and building them.

I drew up a close copy to Marc Warnke’s frames in a cad program and had a local company water jet them out of aluminum for us. We estimate we should be able to do all 5 packs for the cost of one Marc Warnke pack. Here are some photos:




They need some cleaning up, like the sharp corners on the brackets on the pads. We will be sewing up covers and attaching strap systems to them as well.

 

[Hoosker Doo]

I am still learning also but here has been my experience so far:
I have had goats for four years this time around. I had goats for a few years before a knee injury sidelined the project for a while.

This is an evolving sport, even the experts are really just doing the best that they can and trying to help.
We are in the "theory's that sound good stage", not proven methods or goat law stage.
From a health and wellness perspective I would make friends with a quality dairy person.
Used goats are a tough way to start. For every 4 goats you buy one may be close to an A goat.
With babies you will have 3 out of 4 that will work.
I have goats from both MW and Dwite. I am unsure if it is worth the extra 400 per goat you pay.
I think Marc's will be in a few years as he becomes a better herdsman but you cant control "goat mental toughness" without some time. Even then the feedback you get is from a bunch of people who are new to the goat world with differing expectations.
I take mine on 6-10 trips a year maybe a few hundred miles.
I currently have 6 adults with 4 babies on the way in a month,
I almost always take my goats with while hunting, it is not worth the risk to leave them at camp.
0 predator problems so far, i live in WY with mostly black bears, coyotes, a few wolves, and lions.
The most dangerous place I take them is trails that people run dogs off leash.
70 lbs is too much unless you are hiking a railroad grade. I typically stay 50 or under for the trip. If I was packing meat out one way I would push that.
I prefer Alpine, Lamancha, and Obers. Black hooves and as little white as possible. A chamois or brown goat is what I shoot for now.
I have had kikos and saanens with limited success.
Bottle babies is the only way to go...I do feel like if your main string was super bonded you could add one dam raised but that would be it.
On the pack stock scale Goats have to be the cheapest/easiest. But if you total all that you spend you could probably pay someone handsomely to pack your meat out. It works for me as I enjoy keeping goats and they make my trips more fun (kind of like pheasant hunting with a good bird dog).
If you keep your goats healthy they are pretty low maintenance, if you let there health slide you can waste a whole year of packing production and a lot of money.
Keeping minerals, fresh waters, good worming program, learn FAMACHA scoring, and hoof upkeep is the key to success.

Thanks for your update. What part of Wyoming are you in? I'm in Star Valley, and am just getting started. It's good to hear of other people in the area who have experience packing. I've got a bunch of 1 year olds that are doing pretty well on the trail, but I'm excited to get some packs on them (no weight) and cover some distance. I've been going with your philosophy of dark hooves and dark bodies somewhat unintentionally, with 3 Obers and a Lamancha, but I also have an Alpine/boer cross that's very hearty and ambitious.
I get the dark hooves. Do you avoid white colors on goats for visibility reasons while hunting, or something else?

 

[GarisonJ]

I haven't taken them out overnight yet as this will be the first year that most of them are old enough to start carrying weight. From what I've read and heard from other people they usually don't make a whole lot of noise. When we do training hikes they don't really make any noise.

We brought our 1.5yo and 9mo on our scouting trip and elk hunt last year.
They both did fantastic but the 9mo was noisy the first couple of nights.
He tends to be noisy at home too, not sure how to correct that.

 

[Bachto]

Was able to get a few of the saddles all put together, minus the britchen (spelling?). Pretty happy with how they are turning out especially as my sewing has improved. Here are a few pictures:

 

[actionshooter]

Was able to get a few of the saddles all put together, minus the britchen (spelling?). Pretty happy with how they are turning out especially as my sewing has improved. Here are a few pictures:
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Those look super interesting... do they maintain spread? They don't spread and ride on the back do they?

 

[Bachto]

Those look super interesting... do they maintain spread? They don't spread and ride on the back do they?

They all have lock washers and are fitted to each goat individually. We tighten them down with a wrench to keep them from spreading apart. same concept as Marc Warnke's at packgoats.com

 

[Bachto]

here are some more pictures from last weekend and one of the belly straps I forgot to post. If someone is looking at doing the same and building there own saddles/panniers I can’t recommend enough to buy a walking foot sewing machine, I couldn’t find one in my area used so I bought the cheapest one from Sailrite ($800) and I can’t tell you how much easier and faster this project went. Plus now I can see whatever I need for anything hunting.

 

[actionshooter]

Your stuff looks really good!

 

[Jacob.smithjas]

Those pack saddles look great, any issues with the bolts loosening up while on the trail?