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06/17/11, 09:01 AM
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: New Mexico
Posts: 295
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New here. Meet the boys.
Hello from New Mexico. I just found this forum and joined up. Looks like a lot of great people here.
We have chickens and goats, plus a dog and a cat. I'm too lazy for milk goats. Been there and done that. My goats are "packgoats". They can each carry up to 40 lb of gear, food, etc. on backcountry camping and hunting trips. On day hikes they carry lunches, jackets, drinking water, 1st aid kit, etc etc. These guys are big wethers that came from a goat dairy. They weigh about 200 lb.
Here are some pics.
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06/17/11, 09:04 AM
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Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Iowa
Posts: 189
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That is SO awesome. Welcome.
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06/17/11, 09:19 AM
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More dharma, less drama.
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Texas Coastal Bend/S. Missouri
Posts: 30,482
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Where are you in the Gila? We have good friends outside of Glenwood.
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Alice
* * *
"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus
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06/17/11, 09:40 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Texas
Posts: 3,486
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Beautiful goats!!! Welcome to the forum! 
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06/17/11, 09:50 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Nevada
Posts: 485
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Welcome! Love the boys - wish my boys were that cooperative!
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Donna and Lakota
Smiling Wolf Ranch
Cold Creek, NV
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went."
- Unknown
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06/17/11, 10:03 AM
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An Ozark Engineer
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Powhatan, AR
Posts: 9,412
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Now, those are some productive assets! Very nice!
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06/17/11, 11:03 AM
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Katie
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Twining, Mi.
Posts: 19,930
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Welcome! Those are some good looking boys!
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06/17/11, 11:17 AM
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Show us your teats!!
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Northeast Tennessee
Posts: 721
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Welcome - what awesome boys you have. I have a wether that is going to be a big boy too. How do you train pack goats?
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06/17/11, 11:33 AM
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Oologah Oklahoma
Posts: 3,579
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That is so cool. Never even thought of doing that or thought a goat would want to do that lol. Oh yeah and welcome.
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06/17/11, 12:22 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: central south dakota
Posts: 4,096
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that is awesome! do they follow the horse? were they hard to train? do they ever take off on you? tell us more! they sure look happy doing their job, and are a handsome lot.
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06/17/11, 12:37 PM
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trail ahead-goats behind
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Join Date: May 2003
Location: oregon
Posts: 306
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Hey jross, Nice to see you here. I'll add a pic of my boys. The more packgoats the better.
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06/17/11, 03:02 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: S.E. Iowa
Posts: 2,530
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That is so cool!
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06/17/11, 03:35 PM
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Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 2,980
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That is really neat!
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ADGA Nigerian Dwarf and MDGA Mini Mancha goats for show, home use and pets www.dbarjacres.webs.com Located in North central Wisconsin
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06/17/11, 09:15 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: West Texas-we had rain!!
Posts: 647
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I love your happy-looking boys. I'm sure mine would head for anything yummy looking.Manchamom's, however, are reminiscent of Push-me-pull-yous, of Dr Doolittle fame. lol. That photo is priceless.
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06/17/11, 10:25 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 1,252
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Welcome. Your boys look very happy.
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06/18/11, 02:17 AM
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: New Mexico
Posts: 295
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Thanks for the warm welcome. The boys are very happy, especially when they are out in the boondocks hiking and camping. There's really nothing to training packgoats. They just follow me around wherever I go. They enjoy carrying their packs, too. They eat all kinds of different things, so I usually don't even have to feed them when we are out. The main things they need to learn are to follow me when I whistle and start walking away, hold still while I mess with their packs, hop in the trailer, and stay out of my camp kitchen. Sometimes I want them behind me on trails, if it's narrow and steep, but a lot of the time we just bushwhack where there aren't trails. They can go anywhere people can go, and a lot of places where horses and mules can't go. They are very little trouble, are very healthy, and are a lot of fun. Anybody who is interested in packgoats can check out these two forums.
http://www.packgoatforum.com/
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/packgoat/
There's a great book called "The Packgoat'' by John Myonczinski. I highly recommend it.
Here's a couple more pics.
The mountains in the distance are in AZ and are probably all burned up now due to the Wallow Fire. It's still raging and the country in the foreground may go up in smoke too.
We live near Glenwood so we probably know your friends, Alice.
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06/18/11, 09:33 AM
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Southeast MO
Posts: 1,075
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You've inspired me! Now to convince my husband that those two bucklings we can't seem to get sold need to be wethered and trained. 
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April
Southeast Missouri
Nubians, Boers, Jersey cows and a whole lotta ticks
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06/18/11, 11:30 AM
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Animal Addict
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Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Maryland
Posts: 12,211
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Wow...goats have a real purpose in life??? I need to go tell my guys that immediately.
Cool p ics!
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Becky
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06/18/11, 11:55 AM
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Ages Ago Acres Nubians
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: MO Ozarks
Posts: 2,603
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welcome to the fourm!!! I too am feeling inspired!!! maybe we should hang onto a few more boys next year.
susie mo. ozarks
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"My darling girl, when are you going to understand that "normal" is not necessarily a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage."
http://www.agesagoacresnubians.com/
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06/18/11, 05:18 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: New Mexico
Posts: 295
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There are some things to consider if you want to get into packgoats.
CAE and CL. Most people know about that, or can find info about it so I won't go into it here.
Castrate them late, at 6 months or so. That's so their urinary department matures fully and they are less likely to develop urinary calculi (stones) which can clog them up and kill them.
Breeds. The most popular breeds for packgoats are Saanen, Alpine, Toggenburg, Oberhasli, and La Mancha. Nubians aren't very popular. They have a reputation for being noisy and possibly lazy. Boer can make a good cross with one of the others. The best packgoats are big, long legged, athletic, and good natured.
Work them. These guys need to be worked by going for hikes frequently. Otherwise they become fat and lazy. The more they are taken out the better they get, both physically and attitude-wise. If you don't have a place do do this then it may not ever really work out for you. They like big, steep, rough, rocky country. Where I live that's easy to find. Most people live in more civilized places where it may be hard to find such country.
Horns or no horns. There's no agreement here. I prefer my goats without horns. They fit in my trailer better and are less likely to hurt each other or accidentally hurt a person. But a lot of goat packers like horns on their goats. Mostly because they look cool, I think.
Watch out for dogs. There is a natural predator/prey relationship between goats and dogs. I avoid popular trails where I am likely to run into people with dogs running loose.
You need a way to haul them around. I've seen them hauled in the back of a Subaru, but don't recommend it. A pickup truck with a stock rack or camper shell works fine. I haul mine around in a trailer made from the bed of a pickup, with a camper shell on it.
These two books:
"Practical Goatpacking" by Carolyn Eddy
and
"The Packgoat" by John Myonczinski are highly recommended.
Here are a couple of packgoat forums:
http://www.packgoatforum.com/
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/packgoat/
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