[sanhestar]

I’m quite sure that one of them would balk – the one in the cart or the one left alone (or he would jump fences and goat’s CAN jump….)

Again, they can pull more together, a second goat doesn’t eat that much more (8-10 goats equal 1 horse), you would also have the ability to switch between the two if you mainly want to drive single and you can take the other goat with you when driving without much problems (they bond almost as close as dogs).

[sanhestar]

Brooke,

check out http://www.harnessgoats.co.uk

The Canadian Pack and Harness Goat Association http://www.goatsacrosscanada.ca/pb/wp_32fd5159/wp_32fd5159.html

and Carole Contreras – American Harness Goat Association
http://www.goattracksmagazine.com/harness.html

but, please, goats are herd animals and you should get two (!) wethers – they work better and stay healthier that way.

[sanhestar]

why not?

They are hard workers when trained well, sure footed, agile, easy to train, smart.

Granted, you have to make sure that they can handle the weight of the tree/log and they won’t be able to handle big trees.

I spoke with a man from Austria, years back at a Mule and Donkey Festival. He uses his wethers to bring down logs from mountain sides that are too steep/rugged for horses or machines – he runs a sawmill.

[sanhestar]

Hello,

possible causes other than mange:

lice (already mentioned), skin fungus, sweet itch (allergic reaction) – improbable during winter except it’s still warm enough at your place for flies and moskitos, allergic reactions to something in her feed

[sanhestar]

yes, there are differences in chargers.

Check the manufacturers data for the output of your charger type.

And it’s not always that the cheap ones have less output. Sometimes they simply have less additional functions.

[sanhestar]

Hello,

hemlock and other trees can help (!) prevent worms but often fail to expel them.

Similar with tobacco and wormwood – they will (!) expel worms but the dosage required is near the toxic dosage for animals, so be careful.

A good source of herbal remedies are also the books from Juliette de Bairacli-Levy “Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable” and others.

With herbal wormers prevention and management becomes more important (pasture rotation, cleaning, feeders, letting other animals like cows, sheep or goats, graze, too, waiting for the dew to dry in the morning before letting them out to graze) and also knowing how prone to parasite infections an individual animal is (fecal exams).

[sanhestar]

Hello,

I use travois with the goats but have no fotos.

[sanhestar]

Hello,

check with the Harness Goat Society in UK. There are some people that are driving their goats with neck collars.

But would work only on hornless goats except you design a collar that can be opened.

http://www.harnessgoats.co.uk

[sanhestar]

Hello,

I’ve seen a few pictures of large sheep and/or rams resp. wether pulling carts.

I would try google picture search.

[sanhestar]

Matt,

I bought the two April this year but spent some weeks with basic training with them while they still were at their breeders farm.

Both were born summer 2008 and mother-raised – first disadvantage
Emma is very smart, has an extraordinary memory and I made a few beginners mistakes with her – next disadvantage
She has no need for human companionship although she’s curious and generally interested in what I do, as long as I don’t expect her to do anything FOR me.

Since I brought her to our place I’m working on the basics like being touched, put a halter on and lead her. So far we have come to being touched while I offer her her favourite treat – salt. She’s not shy or afraid, just unwilling to work with me and rewareds the slightest mistake or mis-step with distrust (f.e. my hubby tripped two weeks ago, when he filled the water basin. She spooked and since then he’s “monster man” and she refuses to go near him).

She will follow her herdmate, the steer Roy and f.e. loads without problems into a trailer as long as he goes in first. But I don’t think that she will ever become a reliable worker.

[sanhestar]

@Patrick 10849 wrote:

is anyone going to really train them to work and do what the owner wants, when he wants it, without stopping to root or eat every litttle thing that he likes? Possible, maybe. Practical, I don’t think so.

because they are smart, you can train them. I don’t have the book any more, it’s about a German drug-sniffing dog trainer who got a young wild sow – Luise in 1984. He trained her to become a drug sow to sniff out marihuana, heroin and cocaine and later she became an explosive and cadaver search sow. He worked for years with her for the police and kept Luise for 14 years.

http://www.myheimat.de/lehrte/?page=mediadb%2Fmediadb_popup.php&pic_id=374059&doc_id=73228&setview=popup

[sanhestar]

Countryboy,

I made the decision to start with devons – resp. Rotes Höhenvieh as they are called in Germany (they share the same ancestry than devons) – and I can second what mother katherine writes: smart, VERY smart and VERY!! headstrong.

I’ve trained Iceland horses (also very smart), Scottish Highland Ponies, goats and dogs but this heifer is getting the best of me every day. The steer is more inclined to work with me, if he wouldn’t I would be out of the working cattle business by now.

[sanhestar]

Hello,

anybody remember the movie “Willow”? The small people plowed with pigs – ok, fantasy movie….

[sanhestar]

ok, thought as much as it’s a banding method on older animals.

But does anybody from the US and here on the forum have hands-on experience with this method (don’t want to rely on the company’s data alone)?

I also have one report from a goat lady who had both her bucks castrated this way by a vet (with local anaesthesia and removing the testicles surgically a few days after the band was applied) and it looked and sounded OK.

[sanhestar]

I asked a similar question regarding our goat bucklings this year and a nice member of the packgoat mailing list steered me towards callicrate castration. Did some googling and find the idea a good one as it allows bloodless castration at a higher age without more complications.

Unfortunately I haven’t found a vet yet who knows about this method here in Germany….

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