How to "haul" goats home?

[Melissa'sDreamFarm]

I will pick up two young does in a week or so, how do I get them home safely? I have a horse trailer, but its HUGE!! 4 horse bumper pull and will waste a lot of gas. Is there a way to put them in the back of my truck and get them home? We do not have a camper shell. Looking for good ideas. Will they fit in a large dog crate? Two crates? What about the wind during the ride home? Use a tarp, too noisy?

 

[lilhill]

I have a large pet carrier and can fit two adult Nigerians in it. More than that, then we have a small goat trailer that will haul 8 to 10 adults comfortably. I use pet carriers whenever possible as it's much easier than hooking up the trailer.

 

[jodief100]

I have a large wire dog crate I put in the back of the truck. I have fit a small (about 80 lb) Boer mom and her two babies in it. I didn't tarp it but it wasn't raining and we only went a few miles. I would tarp it and tie it down well if we were going a long way.

I have also put a LARGE (150 lb) Boer doe in a large plastic sided dog crate in the back of my wagon. It just barely fits in my Matrix which has the tallest interiors of any wagon. A crossover or SUV would work too.

 

[TheSheepGirl]

I also use a wire dog crate for our goats.

When I brought my sheep home the crate was being used so I set up a plastic kid fence in the back of our van and loarded them into that. I made sure there was a tarp down first.

I've found that it is easier to use a van or something similar instead of a truck, because it is not as far to lift the goats or the crate to load them up.

 

[warthog]

We carried out four young one in the back of our Isuzu Trooper, they settled down nicely and were fine all the way home, 2 hours drive, stopping to let them have water etc. Good thing there was a big rubber mat in the back that we could just pull out and wash down.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

The most interesting haul we done was when we picked up our Boer buck, which was 4 hours one way. We put an extra large kennel (like the size for a Great Pyr) in the backseat of a 2-door Ford Escort. We had to actually assemble the kennel inside of the car since it would not fit through the door. So, when we got there, the guy was like, "How in the heck did you get THAT in the back of that car?" Tigger fit in the kennel just fine... however the Escort is a stick-shift and he refused to lay down. Every time we stopped he slammed into the sides of the kennel as gears were shifted. Interesting ride home for sure.

 

[Jupiter]

We have a giant sized plastic dog crate that was fine for a 150lb oberhasli doe. It was tight, but she could turn around, stretch her back....worked great. We put a little tarp under the opening gate with a towel on top of it to soak any urine that might come out the front. Plus a chunk of cardboard covering the lower half of the crate door so she couldn't push her butt against the door and pee outside the crate. We learned that the hard way after her first trip home.

A cheap thrift store comfortor for bedding, and now she likes car rides...hops in on her own and lays down If you have a long ride, get 2 comfertors and change it out halfway through.

Mine rode once in the back of a pickup under a canopy. There was a sprayed rubberish "rhino-hide" bedliner that gave GREAT traction. If I get a truck, I'm getting that kind of bedliner.

 

[Calliopia]

My method is to pull all the seats out of the back of my van and head out to pick them up. Drive 2 hours out of a 4 hour trip and realize I have nothing between me and the goats. Pull over and put "Goodwill" into the GPS search and start looking for a baby gate. 45 minutes later and 2 baby gates lashed to the back of the front seats, I realize that while crawling around in the back I wasn't standing on a tarp. Crap. Oh look, there's a Walmart. Go in Walmart, buy water and a snack and completely forget the tarp. Get back on the road.

Drive the remainder of the trip and shave 30 min off the drive time. Speeding, nope not me. I never speed. Um yeah...


Arrive and gush over cutie wonderful marvelous enormous goaties that are going home with me. Load all the goat stuff (an electric fence with posts and the milking stand) and realize there's not much room for the goats. Reload van and put the posts on the roof rack.

Start to load goats and realize that I bought water instead of a tarp at Walmart. Gahh!

Fiddle around in the front seat until I find a trash bag and a piece of plastic drop cloth under the seat. (I swear my car is really a Bag of Holding) Manage to cover at least 1/2 of the carpet with plastic and cross my fingers.


Open the back and the sliding door and start loading goaters. Get Becca loaded in the back. Start to get Dixie loaded and Becca scoots out the side door. Gah. Hand Dixie to the owner's brother and we chase down Becca. Catch Becca who by now has decided this is a GREAT game and get her loaded back in the van. I go with her to hold onto her collar and the owner and her brother heft Dixie into the back. They shut the back of the van and Dixie surges forward. I manage to hold onto her collar and keep HER from scooting out the side door. The owner shuts the side door. I'm now in the back of a minivan with a milking stand and two 150lb Nubians... and I'm in between the Nubians. Did I mention I'm 5'10"? Somehow, it's kind of a blur at this point, I manage to get around Dixie and wend my way to the sliding door. I start to open it and get double teamed by the girls. They want out. Sigh. Back in between the girls and I scootch myself over the babygate lashed to the back of the front seats. (the owner is now wondering what she has gotten her poor goats into)

Somersaulting into the front seat and smacking my elbow on the steering wheel I manage to get out of the car. Again.. a blur.

Goaties are locked in the back with all their crap and they are making their opinion known. I pay the nice lady for her goats and we start the 4 hour trip home. They make their opinion known the whole way home. I mentioned that they were Nubians right... They SOOO made their opinion known. I had to keep checking to make sure I didn't accidentally load another 12 goats in the back or we hadn't suddenly been boarded by pirates as I can think of no other reason for the noise level.

4-5 hours later... (checking for pirates takes a while) I arrive back home. Toss the goats in the round pen. Remember that electric fence I loaded up first... Yeah that needs to be put up for the goats to go in to. I think I got to bed around 11:30 that night after starting out around 5:30 in the morning.

Anyway.. That's how I moved my first goats. I learned a couple lessons along the way. Like plastic the whole back because they will stand on the only plastic covered area so that they can do their business on the carpet. Plus the plastic is more slidey to make turns extra special. Or just kiss your carpets goodbye as I have now done.

Hope this helps in some way. Even if it is just to get an idea of what not to do.

 

[glenolam]

 

[dianneS]

If I'm hauling full-sized goats, I have a huge dog crate that I strap down in the bed of the truck. If its cold, I wrap the whole thing in a tarp.

If I'm hauling babies, or dwarf breeds, I put them in a smaller dog crate in the trunk of my car with the seats laid down so I can see, them, smell them and listen to them scream the whole ride home!