How About Letting A Goat Carry Your Gear

I think that goats would be an excellent idea for packing, @2sweed! They would have a lot of the same disposition as the llama does, and since they are shorter, they would probably be even easier for someone like you or me to be able to work with. Goats are naturally friendly, at least for the most part, and they love to go along wherever you go. When I went for walks in the woods (in Idaho), my goat always followed along, just like the dogs did. They do like company; but a goat will happily bond with a dog, you, or even your kids, if they don't have another goat. Mine was primarily a milk goat; so she would not have been a good candidate as a pack goat.

I was surprised that they actually chose milk goat breeds as pack animals, rather than the sturdier breeds that are raised as meat goats. Part of the reason for that is probably that there is really no market for a male goat of a milking breed; similar to male calves from a milk cow.

I would definitely want to use the hornless goats, however. Even when they don't mean to hurt anyone, those horns can be problematic. You also have to have different fencing for goats with horns. Invariably, they will discover how to get their heads through the fence, and then can't get back out, and will stand there bawling until you go to rescue them. They are never very cooperative when being rescued, either.

All in all, I think it is an excellent idea!!

 

@2sweed, the old saying is that if a fence is water-tight; then it is goat-tight. I am not even sure if that is true, they can be great escape artists! They don't need a lot of room, so it would not be like fencing in a whole pasture for a horse or cow, plus you can stake them out to eat when you want. (if there is anything that they can possibly get tangled up on, a goat will do it, though)

Having two goats is a good idea so they have company, but they will also bond with a dog, or other animal. My friend had one that went everywhere with her kids. They lived out in the country, and the kids rode their pony to Grandma's house, the dog and the goat followed along. Sometimes, when the kids were at school, the dog and the goat would go and visit Grandma by themselves, and I think the goat just thought he was one of the dogs.

It used to be that you could buy a baby male goat for around $5-15 at the auction; but now that they raise goats to eat, the price has gone up. If you get one from a dairy breed, then it should be cheaper than one from the meat goat breeds. Since you will want a weather for packing, you will not be getting any milk, unless you also buy a female. One possibility is to buy a pregnant doe, and then you can raise your own baby for a pack goat, plus have milk from the mother.

 

I think this is a great idea. Small enough to control and feed. But strong enough to carry loads up a steep incline. I use to watch deer run up a incline that was almost 90 degrees. Goat are related and can perform the same manuvers.

 

Goats are definitely very agile, and would be able to climb places that most poeple would not even wat to try climbing. They love to jump on top of your car (should they escape from their pen), and will happily spend the next hour jumping up onto the hood of the car, then onto the roof, and sliding down off of the trunk of the vehicle.

Although they are intelligent, they are also extremely hard-headed (in both senses of the word), and can be difficult to train, because they want to do what they want, regardless of what you want. However, they really like interacting with people, and will bond with you; so there should not be much of an issue to train the goat to pack things for you. They do love to play, which is probably why the article you posted (@2sweed) , said to wait until they are 3 years old before trying to teach them to pack. Goats can also learn to pull a wagon or cart, so if you have one, that might be a fun thing to teach them, too.

 

Could you not see the video, @2sweed ?

 

I will look for another one. When I click it, it goes to a black screen and says "watch this video on youtube", and when you click that , then it plays from youtube.

Try this one. It is cute, too.

 

Maybe doubly so since it's never advised to have just one goat. They're social animals and will have a better temperament and less health issues when they're at least paired up.

 

...sorry...I thought you were talking about some of my relatives...

Reese has his own pack as you know. He carries his food and first aid kit. On some occasions he carries his lunch and my lunch on hikes. But alas...we carry our own. Like the rule says, "You pack it in, you pack it out."

I was really impressed when I met up, by chance, boys on horseback out of Camp Ahmek (Taylor Statten Boys Camp Algonquin Park) on a trip. I thought that it would be thrilling to do something like that. I had a friend who owned some quarter horses and attempted to lure me into the romantic notion that I too could be a John Wayne. I ended up more like a Mr. Bean. Spurs off to the likes of happyflowerlady and others who managed to develop equestrian skills.

 

Reese is so excited to be on the trail that he really doesn't bother. He is noticeably animated when I reach for his pack. The pack is in two parts - there is what is referred to as a cape that can be used as body protector when we are moving through the forest and the pack proper that is placed on top and is secured by Velcro straps. He has a few crests that he has earned - like the Trail Dog and I'm friendly (ask to pet me).

 

I have Reese on a controlled diet too. I'm always amazed that he can get so excited about the same food and biscuits that he gets day in a day out. Once I noticed on the package that the product was new and improved; it said that it tasted better. Yep....you know what I'm going to say next. I ate a bit to check it out and I didn't taste any difference. Maybe Reese could tell the difference but I sure couldn't.

 

My Chipper thinks that he is a little Fuzzy Person. He is always right next to me, and when I eat anything, Chipper usually eats it, too. Sometimes, we share when it is something that I can give him bites of, and other times, he has to wait and have some in his food dish. I always keep dried food out so he can crunch on that if he gets hungry, and when he goes to bed at night, he gets a small helping of the soft food that comes in a little cellophane bag and looks like hamburger.

When I was a girl, I had a Labrador retriever, and he was a wonderful dog. He loved to go along when I went horseback riding, and since he raced up and down the road, he probably covered about 3 times as much territory as we did with the horses. He was actually muscled up like a Quarter Horse, not the usual sleek Lab look. The neighbors across the street also had a lab, and the two dogs were friends. The neighbor dog would come across the street to visit Jet, and bring him pancakes that he had been given from breakfast.

 

Labs and Golden Retrievers are the only dogs that I have had. I alternate - as weird as that might sound.