ua26fitter
Hammer Time Executive member
Figured I'd share some pics of my boys doing what they love.
Kris
Kris
Summer trips with the goats
- Thread starter ua26fitter
- Start date
LightTheTower
Hammer Time Executive member
Awesome!
LightTheTower
Hammer Time Executive member
…and how much weight per goat can they pack? And can you train some and feed them year round so I can borrow them for a couple weeks each year?
ua26fitter
Hammer Time Executive member
While mine haven't packed meat yet as they are just getting old enough to pack they will do great.
Guys I know pack meat and have no problems. Goats are extremely intelligent. We raise them from birth on a bottle. This imprints them on us. They will follow us to the ends of the earth without even a lead rope on. They are a prey animal and know it so they look to us for safety and fear being left behind. They hate to be last in-line on a trail as that's the one that's wolf bait.
No need to carry feed for them as they eat natural brows. They don't get away and run back to the truck or blow up and hurt themselves or us. If they do get scared they come to us.
Kris
Guys I know pack meat and have no problems. Goats are extremely intelligent. We raise them from birth on a bottle. This imprints them on us. They will follow us to the ends of the earth without even a lead rope on. They are a prey animal and know it so they look to us for safety and fear being left behind. They hate to be last in-line on a trail as that's the one that's wolf bait.
No need to carry feed for them as they eat natural brows. They don't get away and run back to the truck or blow up and hurt themselves or us. If they do get scared they come to us.
Kris
ua26fitter
Hammer Time Executive member
Weight will depend on their size and age. At 4 years old they are ready to carry full weight. 25-30% of body weight is pretty typical depending on distance and terrain you will be packing in. My boys will all mature between 180 and 220 lbs. Storm the big white one was 2 in those pics and 190 lbs. He will probably be closer to 250 lbs at age 4. Arti the black and white Alpine is a little over 200 lbs and will be 4 this spring. Both are about 39" at the shoulders.…and how much weight per goat can they pack? And can you train some and feed them year round so I can borrow them for a couple weeks each year?
Kris
ua26fitter
Hammer Time Executive member
A couple more pics
, those are some big goats 
, around here all I have ever seen for sale around here are those miniature fainting goats that city slicker wannabe country folks raise as pets.ua26fitter
Hammer Time Executive member
No permits required. Those pics are in a Wilderness area in Washington. 
ua26fitter
Hammer Time Executive member
We run mixed breeds. Dairy breeds typically make the best packers.
Think of it as a marathon. You don't see the big muscle guys doing that great. It's always the lean sticks that run the farthest.
Arti the big black and white guy is Alpine mostly. I think they are the best. Storm the big white one is Alpine/Kiko. He's an exception to the rule. Kiko is a meat breed but he takes after the Alpine side more.
The big dark brown guy is Jet and he's a pure breed Lamancha. They have no external ears and are kinda strange looking but make great packers. The light brown Cosmo is an Alpine/Lamancha. He's smaller for his age but has the most heart and drive. He's the string leader on the trail. At 2 he was packing as much weight as a 3 year old and always on my heals. No signs of being tired.
Typhoon is the smaller black and white one and he's 1 in the pics. He's on that trip learning from the older goats. He's out of Storm so he's 3/4 Alpine and 1/4 Kiko. He's going to be one of my best packers soon. He's gets to start wearing a pack saddle this year as 2 years old.
It's amazing to see how they learn more on each trip as well as learning from the others much like a wolf pack.
I get most of my boys from Packgoats.com. he's got great gear and goats. Check out his YouTube and his animals.
Kris
Curious, any prob with predators during back country?
ua26fitter
Hammer Time Executive member
No more than any other pack animal.
It funny that's the #1 question we get from people.
#2 is how much weight they can carry.
The biggest threat to a goat is domestic dogs. We are careful what trails we go on. A lot of time we go a short distance and then go cross country. They really shine at off trail through blow downs and rocks and such that would have larger pack animals turning around.
I prefer to be off trail away from people so we are a good match.
Keep the questions and comments coming. I love to educate people and bring pack goating to people who have no knowledge of it.
Kris
Makes sense they would shine in terrain that would have horses breaking legs, we had a few goats when I was a kid (no clue what breed they were) those things loved to climb. I was vaguely aware that they can be used for packing but knew nothing about it until you showed up! Thanks for sharing!
MeatBuck
Hammer Time Executive member
He said it already in a previous post before you asked the first timeWe still are not sure on weights they pack.
Summer trips with the goats
Figured I'd share some pics of my boys doing what they love. Kris
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