Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting More on the packgoats

That's kinda funny, kinda not, because I can imagine the mess. So far, wifey likes them, but doesn't know why her flower beds look like a tornado hit them, but I know....

With goats, a tornado DID hit them.

Great Pictures....I am sure they also taste better than a Sherpa if one had to go the Donner Party route.

That was the other things the wife didn't care for. They got in the green house one day ... I mean it is pretty funny

So what is their average load capacity?

I’ll be disappointed is any of mine can’t handle 50 pounds by the time they hit 200. Some seem like they will weigh well over 220, so 60 plus plus pounds isn’t out of order here. So anyway, 50-60 is within reason for a 200-220 pound goat. You’ll see wethers out there that are closer to 250 and those are probably the ones packing well over 60.

The boys are now 5 months old and several are over 100 pounds. Everyone is castrated and all have healed over nicely. Not sure how long this growth rate will continue, as I assume they will slow down this winter. You read lots about not loading them down too heavily as yearlings while their bones are still growing, but I think I'd like to take them on a deer hunt already next year. They should be in the 150-180+ pound range and 15-20 pounds per goat with 7 goats ought to be plenty for camp and a deboned deer. Their personalities and pecking orders are forming. They've grown from incessantly bugging you and pestering you little kids to big healthy eating sized goats. They no longer jump on you. They can all lead and mind their manners around my son. When he is in their pen now, they just nose him a little. No one knocks him over or tries to steal anything he has in his hands.

Odin is my heaviest around 110 pounds but he's got a lot more belly than the others. He's a hog, but really a sweatheart and he leads the best. You can walk him around wherever you like with just one finger on the collar. Kristofer has ridden him several times and Odin doesn't blink an eye.





Ivar is also around 105-110, but he's got a much larger frame. This weird looking mofo is the youngest goat and could be 250+. I've got high hopes for him, but he is probably the most annoying the way he constantly nibbles on you at the pen. Once outside he's fine. The others with nose you and maybe nibble a tiny bit, but if you let he'll take your whole finger and chew on it.

Thor is my next largest and has the largest set of horns. He's also the most aggressive with the others. Only Ivar will go toe to toe with him. Thor used to be the largest and is developing quite nicely but he has been overtaken in both heart girth and body weight by the other two above. At this point he looks thin in comparison to Odin and Ivar. Ivar is slightly taller than Thor, but Thor is my next tallest. He's right at 100 pounds, super sweet with people, but for whatever reason is vicious with the others on occasion. Even on hikes he will stick a horn into their rear flanks and lift them off the ground. Bastid might disembowel one of the boys. And of course he picks on the smallest ones. He loves love and is great with people,but isn't at all annoying. This goat is in charge and they all know it. I'm not sure if this means I'm going to have to make sure he is in the lead to prevent drama on the trail, but I'm thinking so. He will also get defensive around dogs which I appreciate more than our dogs do.





Gunnar is my next largest and he is really getting tall. He's almost as tall as Thor, and with the rate he is growing, might overtake him too. I know enough about his breeding and his father to say he looks a lot like him. His father is a beast and maxes out every standardized chart measurement for Alpines. Gunnar is extremely sweet, and loves to follow my son around. Anytime Kristofer has something in his hands, Gunnar will check it out, but not steal it. If Kristofer is playing in the dirt or the water buckets, Gunnar is always right there with him. If Odin doesn't work out for riding, Gunnar might be a willing option.

Ragnar is one of my favorites. I love his coloring and he's probably the bravest. He hates dogs and will cheap shot our dogs if they aren't looking. When he goes straight at them, they can usually avoid the hit. He'll even rear up for a big one, but hasn't connect so far. I do worry he might destroy some hippy mutt on the trail just because he can, but I need some level of this aggression in at least one of the goats for loose trail dogs, so I'm not correcting it for now. He's right in the middle of the pecking order, and a significant step below his brother Gunnar in size for now. Ragnar is in the lower 90s and not as tall as Gunnar now. Prior to this month, all of their measurements were identical. He's plenty friendly but usually stands away from the fence because he can't muscle his way through the bigger boys.




Nigel is Katie's favorite and extremely sweet, but too low on the pecking order to get attention at the fence. I really like him and his horns. They are the only ones that seem to flare outward. He and Ragnar are about identical in size and have been for a while, but Ragnar has more fight in him than Nigel.




Then there's little Loki. He's always been the smallest and least developed. Even his horns and balls were smaller than the others. He's at least keeping pace with the other three above him, and if expressed as a percentage of body weight and chest girth, shows the largest gains. He's one of the best bred kids, but I still have my doubts about him. If I were to get rid of any, it would be him, even though he is Kristofer's favorite. While friendly, he doesn't dare to try to get petted with any of the others around. It's hard to say when to pull the trigger. I don't want to wait two years to decide on when or if he should go, but he may actually turn out nicely, so I don't want to send him down the road yet and I'd really like 7 goats and don't want to bottle feed again next year. He's barely 80 pounds now and by far the shortest and smallest in every measurement. Dang, he's little compared to the others, but 80 pounds at 5 months ain't bad by itself.

Don't put full loads on them until they're 4 years old. The growth plates in their legs won't be mature until then no matter how big they are. Overloading them too young can do serious damage to their legs and greatly reduce their useful life span. Their size doesn't matter. It's age that counts.

You can google all kinds of info on how old they need to be. You're off to a good start with them. Don't screw it up by being impatient.

Interesting. We leave all our young bucks intact but we sell early to both meat buyers and individuals who may use them for breeding. I don't know anything about growth plates with goats but am curious about if wethering has a effect on time to growth plate closure vs not wethering? I've been told age of gelding a horse can have an influence on the eventual height of the horse....early gelding causes a delay in growth plate closure so the gelding may be taller. Not sure if the same applies for wethers?

Castrating goats too early can lead to urinary stones. However, 'early' for that reason is only younger than 2 or 3 months.

Not a lot of research on early castration in llamas is available but some believe that it can cause premature breakdown of the front feet which is a common problem with them. The recommended age is no earlier than 2 years. I have one that was done earlier but I don't know how much earlier. He's 4 now and his feet are good so far but he's the tallest one I have. I wish I knew more of his history.

I certainly won't put full loads of them until they are full grown, but I've seen some resources that think a light load in the 10% of body weight range as yearlings is fine, but yes I'm impatient.
Wethering a goat does lead to taller goats. They don't put on the mass of a buck, but will almost always be taller. Horns are generally not as thick either.

I cut mine at 3.5 months. Was hoping to go as long as possible, but they started to exhibit some bucky behaviors that are not acceptable. There are plenty of feeds and supplements that should help minimize the urinary calculi. When I was a kid we castrated at under a week, but didn't keep them long enough to develop those potential problems. I kind of wish I didn't band Loki the same day I did the other boys. He may have been able to develop a little more. His horns are much thinner than the other boys and his nuts were maybe 25% of theirs.

So, quick update, but we've done several totally unforced creek crossings. Kept it small so far, but they'll do it, even if they don't want to do so.





Still haven't done much in the mountains with them, mostly just staying local in the desert and around the house, especially with hunting season in force right now and I didn't take them for an overnight trip at all this summer like planned. Only time for so much

update time.... 4 of 7 are between 150 and 160 pounds. The smallest is pushing 120, the next two around 130-140. Will all be yearlings next month. Even my smallest are larger than average. My biggest boys are gonna be huge it seems.

Loading the goats in my truck is still pretty easy. 3 will usually jump in on their own. The rest are cooperative getting in with help. Ivar always needs a little coaxing getting out for some reason.
The big news is packs went on for the first time today and we took a little hike. No problems whatsoever, but no weight in any pack yet.. They took it like champs. Even the strap that rose up under Ragnar’s tail wasn’t a big deal. He got a little jumpy but settled down as soon as I figured out what was wrong and fixed it. I took them somewhere familiar too, just in case this was going to be a big deal.

We picked up three alpines this last summer. I’m ready for some nicer weather so I can take them out hiking and get them used to a pack. They aren’t to fond of hiking around in our -15 degree weather right now

Thanks for the pics and info. Very interested in this.

I see goats as becoming the most popular pack animal in the country. They're cheap to buy, easy to keep, and are very easy to train and use. They can't haul nearly as much as my llamas but llamas are kind of a specialty item. It's become very hard to find good ones at a reasonable price. They're probably the easiest of any pack animal to train, though. There are a lot of junk llamas out there that you don't want in the mountains so you need to learn before you buy.
Horses and mules are at the top for ability to carry weight but not everyone has the room or the money to have them. Plus, they take a lot more training and know how than either goats or llamas. A poorly trained one can get you a lot more hurt than a goat or llama can.
For the average back packer or hunter, the goats are probably the best deal around.

Thanks for the updates! I dig the pics and progress.

Though I don't live where I can justify keeping pack animals, one thing that would worry me about getting into goats/llamas is them being banned on public lands that have wild sheep anywhere close. It's not there yet, but I'd not be surprised to see limits on where they can be used in the near future.