Chat
08-01-2021, 09:16 PM
Hey all, new member here. Love the forum!
I am located near Missoula, MT. I do wilderness trail and ranger work in the snow freeish seasons and a lot of backcountry hunting. I am planning to get some packgoats to aid me in my work and adventures. The wife has asthma, and it's time for us to get some pack animals so we can lighten our loads.
We have a forested, property along with 15 pasture acres, and an old barn. Super lucky to have these resources, but I am not sure how to set it up for packgoats?
Looking to get some baby goats next spring and also looking for a few experienced packers asap.
First things first I need to get my barn and pasture setup right. So I have a quite a few questions about that, which I am hoping you all can help me to answer.
Questions
1. Is a 3 sided shelter adequate, or prefferable for Missoula area winters? We are a zone 5a growing season....not super cold, but -20F is possible. The barn I have has 4 walls.....will using a 4 sided structure result in lazy goats that are afraid of the weather? I own a small sawmill business....so I am ready to build the ideal setup if an open shelter is better?
2. I have seen that woven fencing is ideal for protecting baby goats, and perhaps the adults too, in the barn yard, but what do folks use when running goats on large acreage pastures? Chain link or other oven fencing would be very expensive on 15 acres with lots of divided paddocks. I would love to have a wildlife friendly perimeter fence around the whole pasture, with up to 10 smaller paddocks within that for rotational grazing. Ideas? Mountain lions, bears, coyotes and the occasional wolf are present on the property.
3. How concerned should I be about wild pitted fruits being toxic to goats? There are lots of wild chokecherries, a few plums, and apples at the edges of the pasture areas. Plus we are planting fruit trees, black locust, oak, and walnut trees throughout our pasture. Reading about goats and watching videos it seems tons of plants can kill them. Yew, is a common plant in the mission and swan ranges where I work, how do I keep goats from killing themselves when they are browsing free range?
4. My pasture is primarily a mix of cattle grasses like Timothy and brome, with a few patches of knapweed, and other natives and non natives like salsify/goats beard, wild pees/vetch, some clover, pigweed, yarrow, thistle...many of these are supposed to be toxic to goats????and.....lots of other stuff. Will the goats avoid the toxics instinctively?
4. It seems a 50/50 hay alfalfa mix is ideal for packing wethers, will I need to supplement their pasture grass diet with alfalfa (which does not seem to grow well on my ground) in order to get the biggest healthiest packgoats I can?
5. Does anyone know of a good vet, and or goat packer in western Montana I may be able to contact regarding caring for my eventual goats?
6. Can the goats freely eat on my forest trimmings of Douglas fir, and ponderosa pine?
7. Can anyone reccomend a breeder in my area? Or someone who may be able to sell me some good adult packers within a days drive?
8. Can experienced packers do moderate 15 mile packs on cleared trails regularly if they are properly conditioned and fed? With an occasional 20mile day thrown in, and how does the heat and wildfire smoke impact their endurance?
I know that is a ton of questions....so perhaps it is too much to ask, but as I do research it seems the more I find out, the more questions arise, and I want to be as prepared as possible, not only in my physical infrastructure, but also in my expectations of what a goat can actually do on trail, and how go get the most out of the safely and ethically.
I have purchased Marc Warnkes instructional courses, where else can I look for reliable info on caring for packgoats?
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
If these topics are covered elsewhere on the forum please drop a link for me.
Thanks,
Lindy
I am located near Missoula, MT. I do wilderness trail and ranger work in the snow freeish seasons and a lot of backcountry hunting. I am planning to get some packgoats to aid me in my work and adventures. The wife has asthma, and it's time for us to get some pack animals so we can lighten our loads.
We have a forested, property along with 15 pasture acres, and an old barn. Super lucky to have these resources, but I am not sure how to set it up for packgoats?
Looking to get some baby goats next spring and also looking for a few experienced packers asap.
First things first I need to get my barn and pasture setup right. So I have a quite a few questions about that, which I am hoping you all can help me to answer.
Questions
1. Is a 3 sided shelter adequate, or prefferable for Missoula area winters? We are a zone 5a growing season....not super cold, but -20F is possible. The barn I have has 4 walls.....will using a 4 sided structure result in lazy goats that are afraid of the weather? I own a small sawmill business....so I am ready to build the ideal setup if an open shelter is better?
2. I have seen that woven fencing is ideal for protecting baby goats, and perhaps the adults too, in the barn yard, but what do folks use when running goats on large acreage pastures? Chain link or other oven fencing would be very expensive on 15 acres with lots of divided paddocks. I would love to have a wildlife friendly perimeter fence around the whole pasture, with up to 10 smaller paddocks within that for rotational grazing. Ideas? Mountain lions, bears, coyotes and the occasional wolf are present on the property.
3. How concerned should I be about wild pitted fruits being toxic to goats? There are lots of wild chokecherries, a few plums, and apples at the edges of the pasture areas. Plus we are planting fruit trees, black locust, oak, and walnut trees throughout our pasture. Reading about goats and watching videos it seems tons of plants can kill them. Yew, is a common plant in the mission and swan ranges where I work, how do I keep goats from killing themselves when they are browsing free range?
4. My pasture is primarily a mix of cattle grasses like Timothy and brome, with a few patches of knapweed, and other natives and non natives like salsify/goats beard, wild pees/vetch, some clover, pigweed, yarrow, thistle...many of these are supposed to be toxic to goats????and.....lots of other stuff. Will the goats avoid the toxics instinctively?
4. It seems a 50/50 hay alfalfa mix is ideal for packing wethers, will I need to supplement their pasture grass diet with alfalfa (which does not seem to grow well on my ground) in order to get the biggest healthiest packgoats I can?
5. Does anyone know of a good vet, and or goat packer in western Montana I may be able to contact regarding caring for my eventual goats?
6. Can the goats freely eat on my forest trimmings of Douglas fir, and ponderosa pine?
7. Can anyone reccomend a breeder in my area? Or someone who may be able to sell me some good adult packers within a days drive?
8. Can experienced packers do moderate 15 mile packs on cleared trails regularly if they are properly conditioned and fed? With an occasional 20mile day thrown in, and how does the heat and wildfire smoke impact their endurance?
I know that is a ton of questions....so perhaps it is too much to ask, but as I do research it seems the more I find out, the more questions arise, and I want to be as prepared as possible, not only in my physical infrastructure, but also in my expectations of what a goat can actually do on trail, and how go get the most out of the safely and ethically.
I have purchased Marc Warnkes instructional courses, where else can I look for reliable info on caring for packgoats?
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
If these topics are covered elsewhere on the forum please drop a link for me.
Thanks,
Lindy