Transporting a goat

[Tmaxson]

I have someone interested in buying my buck. They are coming to look at him soon and they asked about transporting him. I've only transported kids in dog crates. Is there any reason to think that transporting in a horse trailer will be unsafe for him? They were asking about tying him up in the trailer to keep him in one spot but I don't think that is a good idea, plus he has never been tied or leashed.

 

[OneFineAcre]

You can haul goats in a horse trailer. They don't have to be tied. We've hauled ours in livestock trailers.
What kind of buck?

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

You can haul goats in a horse trailer. They don't have to be tied. We've hauled ours in livestock trailers.
What kind of buck?

What OneFineAcre said. I have hauled them in the back of my pick up (with a cap on it). The bed is 8 ft long and they did just fine.

 

[Tmaxson]

You can haul goats in a horse trailer. They don't have to be tied. We've hauled ours in livestock trailers.
What kind of buck?

He's a 1.5 year old Nigerian/Pygmy mix, so he's pretty small. They were just worried that with all that space he might get hurt during the ride. I thought he would be fine as well.

Thank you

 

[marlowmanor]

When my dad transported his buck back and forth to our house when we borrowed him for breeding he used a x-large dog crate and a small dog lot. When he brought him first he was in a small (4x6x8 maybe) dog lot that was secured in the back of the truck. When he came back to pick him up he had a x-large dog crate to transport him in. This was a nigerian buck. We brought Dixie and Bailey home in the large dog crate we have. Bailey fit okay but Dixie was a bit crowded in it. They were brought home at different times. When we have to move more than one goat at a time I plan to set up a small dog lot in a truck bed. I don't have multiple dog crates that are big enough to transport our adult goats in.

 

[marlowmanor]

You can haul goats in a horse trailer. They don't have to be tied. We've hauled ours in livestock trailers.
What kind of buck?

He's a 1.5 year old Nigerian/Pygmy mix, so he's pretty small. They were just worried that with all that space he might get hurt during the ride. I thought he would be fine as well.

Thank you

Goats lay down most of the time during transport so I think the horse trailer would be fine to transport the buck in.

 

[OneFineAcre]

He can just ride in a dog carrier in the back of a truck. That's why I asked what kind of buck.

He won't get hurt riding in a hauler. We've hauled our whole crew in a a hauler before, now we put the kids inside a dog crate in the hauler, wouldn't want them to get smushed.

But, I hauled two ND bucks this summer one 7 yo the other 9 yo in large dog crates in the back of my truck from Raleigh to Atlanta. They were a little cramped, but they were out talking to the ladies as soon as they came out.

Just made sure I had a way to cover the carriers if it rained. Fortunately it did not.

 

[flylo]

If it's a 2 horse trailer, get the buyer to secure one side by putting cattle panel under the partition and up over the back door so he can't crawl underneath the partition or get stuck, or try to leap out.
If it's a 3 horse slant, maybe try to enclose him in only one of the stall partitions so he doesn't have the whole trailer to move around in.
After the trailer is moving, he should settle down. Whatever you bed him down with, there will be some degree of 'wind aloft', carrying particles of bedding in the air. I still think it's better than leaving him in a bare trailer floor, though. Absorbs some of the bounce. I'd probably go with hay rather than shavings.

Hauling goats is very stressful to them. Don't be surprised if he arrives (depending on the distance of course) at his new home with a snotty nose or runny eyes for a few days.
It may help if you get them to take home some of the same water as he's used to drinking.

Just now reading the other replies and since it's a smallish buck, I'd think they'd want to use a dog crate in the truck. Much less gas than it would take to pull a trailer unless they have other livestock they're also hauling. He's less apt to get hurt, and somehow, the closeness of the crate offers some comfort more than the big space in a trailer. Again, make sure he's well bedded with either straw, hay, or a couple of rugs.

I've hauled goats (traded bloodlines) from Nebraska to Texas, and from Texas to Florida. Also hauled a trailer load of bulls to Belize, but that's another story!

Milkers are the hardest to haul. Bucks bounce back pretty quickly.

flylo

 

[Suburbanfarmer]

I've just transported my full grown ND goats in an extra-large size (doubles for my German Shepherd) dog kennel. They did fine in the back of my SUV.
-K

 

[goatboy1973]

I have used a variety of transportation techniques. When I 1st started out in the goat biz, all I had was a XL dog cage and it worked just fine for small to medium size goats or young goats. Now I have a a goat tote that fits in the back of my Toyota p/u. I also have a 2 horse trailer that I use for really big herdsires with horns that won't fit in a goat cage or for a large group of goats. I always give a shot of oxytetracycline or LA 200 which will combat shipping fever or other transportation related conditions.