# What do you use to haul goats?



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I know I've asked this before a long while back, but thought I'd ask again.

what do you use to haul goats?

I'll be looking for some kind of small trailer to haul my kids goats. I thought about trying to find one that is for goats/small animals, one that's been altered that can be fixed up for goats, or something of that sort. I don't want a heavy horse trailer, especially since it looks like we may fix my SUV and keep it another year. 

Of course I'd love to get a trailer that I can alter so when we aren't hauling goats I can use to haul some hay, as there are more 'options' for getting good hay for a decent price with pickup than there is with delivery.


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## naturalgoats (Jan 3, 2011)

Dang! you are sophisticated  I use our mini van 
M.


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## SandStoneStable Farm (Dec 8, 2010)

Back of the SUV for individual vet trips, back of the pickup with large dog crates for breeding travels (if more than 1) and hopefully the CornPro stock 6x12 this spring for showing. New is $4500, hoping to find a used or similar. I know some people around her have purchased UHaul trailers and turned them into goat trailers, I would do that if I could find one.


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## .:Linz:. (Aug 25, 2011)

Large dog crate in the back of our Chevy Astro. Works really well.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I use the back of my pickup truck or our aluminum stock trailer. Many people convert a utility trailer and add windows and vents. Much lighter and cheaper.


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## Bit of Everything (Jan 28, 2011)

I have 3 options, we have a 16 foot livestock trailer we use for showing, a 2 horse aluminum trailer, and we have an aluminum topper that goes in the back of my truck. We use the topper the most. I love my topper!! We just need to make a ramp for the bigger and heavier does to get in and out.


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## goatgirlzCA (Mar 9, 2011)

I have a popper that slides into the truck bed and it works great - plus it was only about $300 - much cheaper than a trailer. For bigger goats, I need a ramp too, but since I don't have one, I use my fitting table for them to jump on, and then into the truck. Works like steps!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks!

I'm not real sophisticated really I am not... last year the only way our goats got anywhere was in the back of my SUV LOL!!! My kids took their 4-H percentage boers to 5 different fairs last summer, should have seen the looks we got unloading them from the back of our SUV OMG LOL!!! You see the other people with horse trailers, large cages on the back of their trucks and a lot of pro showers you know the 'big guns' with their big fancy trailers. 
I figured we could finally graduate to a trailer of some kind heh 

I will look into the utility trailer, I wonder how much it would cost to get windows put in one? That would work great, especially since our weather can be unpredictable in the summer with pop up thunderstorms. It gets VERY hot so ventilation is a must.

BTW, in the past when I've been on craigslist I have seen trailers advertised, and see a lot of utility trailers but I don't remember their cost. Another thing is trying to keep it inexpensive. Since we are keeping the SUV it's going to take $$ to get it up to par. I WANT a truck, but until I am working I just don't see spending the $$ yet. I don't go out much as it is, maybe 2-3x a week at most unless something is going on <like this week between sick kids, sick goat, and 4-H meetings>.


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## xymenah (Jul 1, 2011)

Well so far it had been a crate in the back of our Ford Mercury Mountaineer(you should see the looks we get unloading from *that*) or my dads work truck fenced in around the rack.


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

i have a topper also. That is all I used for years, then well way to many goats, so I went to a 2 horse trailer, then that was to small, and went to a stock trailer.

I use the stock trailer (4 horse) and the back of the truck with the topper.

I have gotten several toppers free on Craigs List.


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## GotmygoatMTJ (Apr 25, 2009)

I have a goat gofer. Got it for free. Best thing ever if we need to take 4-5 dwarfs anywhere. lol.
If just a couple of goats we have used the back of my jeep.
We used to have a miniature horse/converted into a goat trailer, but we recently sold it. It was awesome, but we didn't need it anymore.


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## jaycee (Aug 3, 2011)

I use an aluminum camper shell on the back of my s10 pickup. It works great for the goaties... they usually lay down for the ride. 

I also hauled my feeder pigs in it when they weighed 50 lbs... now that they are over 200 I'm wondering how to get them back in there haha!


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Pickup with dog crates in the back if I'm only hauling a few. If I have a big load I take the horse trailer. 

Had a load of 16 (I think) goats I had to haul several hours away in Oct. and took the horse trailer with nice fluffy straw bedding...they traveled really well that way.


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

Back of the explorer in crates or fir more back of the pickup in crates or under the high cap.


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## MAW (Oct 13, 2011)

We use a 3 horse slant horse trailer, but I put the goats in the tack area up front.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Mini van with a tarp and a cool thingy my hubby made to keep the goats from finding their way up front. But I'm dreaming about a truck and a trailer...


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## RPC (Nov 6, 2009)

Well Candice we either use our 16 foot 5th wheel livestock trailer or if it is just 1 or 2 we have a homemade livestock box that goes in the bed of the truck. It can hold quite a few kids and about 3 adults comfortably.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Candace...I think that for your Boers, trying to find a utility type trailer with a good frame would likely be in your best interest...you and your hubby are handy with using pallets and you can very well use the wood to make a nice goat hauling trailer with a good frame to start with.

Now...I've only ever transported full sized goats for my mom and those were in large dog crates in the back of a pick up in summer....and I've also used a large dog crate to transport my ND bucks, the one time that I took a doe to be bred, she rode on the seat next to me...and any kids that I've transported have been in a kitty carrier next to me or if it was a single kid, she rode on my lap.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks Liz! I think we may end up doing that! I've been trying to work out some ideas in my mind. If we go that route, I'm thinking a trailer with somewhat high sides, not completely flat if that makes sense. Pallets are great indeed and easy to work with, all we'd have to make sure we can give them some protection if it rains.

I've also seen some people take their kids/grandkids goats to the vet check/tagging in the spring last year they had those big goat cages strapped down on the utility trailer and looked to work great. One trailer had sheep in theirs and a smaller cage it looked like they had made out of panels perhaps for the wethers. Lots of things we could do just gotta let the imagination play!


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## Goober (Aug 21, 2009)

For an individual baby on a short drive, the front of my truck. Tied (with mini horse halter as a harness) to a seatbelt if needed. Longer drives (they have small bladders when travelling) and bigger goats, my 2-horse trailer.


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## JessaLynn (Aug 30, 2009)

Mini van...it's an interesting ride home for sure....I could use a truck seriously :laugh:


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## FunnyRiverFarm (Sep 13, 2008)

If you think you get strange looks when hauling goats in your SUV, try hauling them in a yellow Volkswagon Beetle...yep, that's right...lol!  

We usually use a pickup truck with a cap on the back but we have been know to chauffeur the goats around in our VW from time to time--gets better gas mileage :shades:


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## Mini Goat Lover (May 4, 2011)

We use large dog crates. But we also have a horse trailer that we can use.


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## Red Mare (Aug 17, 2011)

I have a two horse (WB size with full tack) that is a BP- but mostly the back of the SUV with a dog crate or two.  

I'd love one of those mini horse haulers for the bed of the truck one day


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## BillyMac (Nov 3, 2011)

I own an enclosed utility trailer that serves when needed. It has tie downs on the floor if needed. 

For occasional shorter trips I think you get by with whatever you already have or can rent esp is you only haul kids. For longer trips, more frequent use or more and bigger animals you need a proper stock trailer especially if the weather is hot. A livestock trailer will have the ventilation that other trailers do not and will always be the best solution at least for a full sized goat.


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

This is what I currently use:










The girls sit in the back quite happily. I tie them on a halter and lead in there so they dont move around or bully each other. I put down carpet, blankets, rubber mats then straw on top. My wonderful other half is going to one day put some mesh over the windows so I can have them open and not worry about goats jumping out ... at the moment I just tie them away from the windows and open them a crack if its hot. The problem with it is that its really only for 'pet' livestock, you couldnt put commercial/paddock animals in it, for two reasons really, firstly the tail gate doesnt drop down all the way, it only gets to the horizontal level, and secondly the door of the canopy opens upwards, so you really cant back it up to a ramp/race and run the animals on. Secondly, I'd be worried that if I put stirry animals in there, they'd beat it up and damage the canopy or the windows. But for my does who are very much pets, hand raised and walk happily on leads, it does just fine. It takes a bit of time to get them to jump up the first time, but once they've done it once they hop in and out no problems. I fit two adult does with plenty of space, would probably fit a third one no problems. Dont think I'd fit four adults in though. Standard sized dairy does I mean.

This is a pretty standard trailer used in Australia ... its a normal 7 x 5 box trailer with a stock crate I had custom made, it slides on and several bolts hold it in place. The nice thing about this one is its so easy to take off, and you can use the trailer to cart hay. It has a sliding door at the back so its easy to back up to a ramp to load paddock animals that arent very friendly/tame pets. I had a tarp on the front to cut down wind, and if it looked like rain I would put a tarp over the top as well.










As you can see there is a gate in the middle so you can separate does/bucks or bigger ones from smaller ones etc. You can either travel them loose or tied up. Unfortunately I dont have this anymore, when I moved across the country I left it with mum and dad, as the trailer belonged to them but the crate was mine 

This is my brothers flat bed truck, which I borrowed when I had a large number to get to a show. I had some spare cages, just old farm cages, I just tied them down to the truck bed, threw in some straw and put the little ones in there. Anything I could lift, went on there, as I didnt have a truck ramp, only a trailer one. A little bit dodgy I admit, I wouldnt use it for long trips but this was only fifteen minutes down the road.










I have also done this, before I owned a ute:










Another stock trailer photo (not mine)










One thing I will say, a lot of people use the mesh, especially goat/sheep people so the little ones dont get out. I requested mine made with bars because the mesh is oh so hard to put your fingers through to tie their leads up, and also difficult to get your toe in if you need to climb up the side of the trailer. Bars are much easier, mine was made so the bars at the bottom were spaced closer together than those at the top so the kids couldnt get out. If I had a very small one I put her in a dog crate, which I then tied into the corner of the trailer. That way the big ones didnt hurt the kid either.

Another cattle trailer (in the background). This one has solid sides, cuts down on wind but I didnt like it. With mesh/bars everywhere becomes a tie point, this one had limited tie points inside it. Also when I was in there if a cow became angry it was very hard, damn near impossible to climb out.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Wow Keren those are GREAT trailers! I have seen a couple similar to those on Craigslist but they wanted sooo much $$ for them  I did see a cage similar to yours that you can put on a trailer <it was $500>, and I was thinking it would be neat to have! I'm sure this one will sell before we can get the $$ together for it <we are waiting to file our taxes so we can get my SUV in the shop then get a trailer>. Originally we were going to sell the SUV, get a truck and make a cage in the truck, but decided to fix the SUV, and keep it another year. I am a stay at home mom and drive it 2 maybe 3x a week normally. 
I want something like you have had, that I can have a couple of cages for hauling goats especially if we get a bully. My kids each are hoping to have 2 goats to show in 4-H so that's 4 and my youngest wants a goat to show too. So that's 5 goats.

The way we did it last year will not work at all, we only had 2 young goats in the back of the SUV, not 5. It's too cramped, no place to put stuff such as the box they use for their grooming supplies/first aid/paperwork/etc, cooler, we need to bring bedding to most shows or shavings, hay, feed, buckets, last year with 2 we managed to put this in the front passenger side seat LOL I'm not sure about other places but here taking the goats to the fair is an ALL day event.

Having a trailer I can haul some hay in will be nice. I am not sure what the max. hauling limit is for my SUV, but still if I could find a place nearby to get hay CHEAP I'd be willing to make a few trips! There is a lot of hay for sale in the summer around us, but not many people deliver or if they do they charge so you end up paying a lot more, and have to order a certain amount.

Every now and then I do come across the lightweight horse trailers that are in decent shape and not too costly. So we'll see what happens


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

good luck  the crate on my green trailer was custom built for me and cost 750, tje two cages on the back of my brothers truck were about five bucks each from a farm clearing sale/garage sale!!


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## DulmesFamilyBoers (Feb 26, 2011)

We have not invested in a trailer yet. Although it can be tough to get our heavy boer goats in and out of the back of our truck (a ramp of some sort helps), with a cap on the back of our truck, I think it is still the easiest way to haul them. The first summer we got our goats, I searched garage sales for dog crates, and found 3 large crates for between $5 and $15 each. If we have to seperate animals we can, but most of the time we put them all together with hay, and they are just fine. Now that we have the dog crates, we can haul the younger goats in the van too without making a mess.


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## nubians2 (Feb 20, 2011)

Giant size dog crate. I have nubians and my 2 year old buck did a half hour trip in it. I only have one crate so carrying multiples may be an issue someday but for now it works.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Friends of ours bought a box utility trailer (I believe a 6 foot) and had one window and 2 roof vents put in it at the trailer dealer for their alpacas. It cost them about $2600. Just put the heavy rubber mats down. They pull it with their Ford Escape.


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## DavyHollow (Jul 14, 2011)

I use my own kia spectra, or my mom's prius . . .
sometimes we use my dad's truck bed, mostly only when we have multiple goats of a larger size haha


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## mrs. lam (Apr 20, 2010)

Mine have ridden in the backseat of my truck, the passenger seat if no one is ridding with me, hubbies mini van and in the back of the truck for my biggins! :greengrin: 

We hauled a very preggo mini donkey back from Tennessee a few months back with no problem other than she wanted to sit on my shoulder. (make ur own jokes here) 4 hours of @$$ jokes. :roll: 

I like the mini van the best. It's easier to load and unload large goats and mini equines. I'll have to send you a pic on FB of a friends "hauler" she painted herself. So cute!

Gina


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

ours ride in our mini van..... or on our laps.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

mrs. lam said:


> Mine have ridden in the backseat of my truck, the passenger seat if no one is ridding with me, hubbies mini van and in the back of the truck for my biggins! :greengrin:
> 
> We hauled a very preggo mini donkey back from Tennessee a few months back with no problem other than she wanted to sit on my shoulder. (make ur own jokes here) 4 hours of @$$ jokes. :roll:
> 
> ...


I loved the trailer, way too cute! I showed my husband the trailer and told him I want one! I think he must have thought I was joking, but I wasn't LOL


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## Lamancha Lady (Dec 13, 2011)

I use a work van. Its nice and big so you can make more room if you need to for more goat :greengrin:

[attachment=0:19dts7m5]DSC00383 - Copy.JPG[/attachment:19dts7m5]


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Lamancha Lady said:


> I use a work van. Its nice and big so you can make more room if you need to for more goat :greengrin:
> 
> [attachment=0:1uqj7dwb]DSC00383 - Copy.JPG[/attachment:1uqj7dwb]


Love it! What a great idea! I was thinking we should do something like that, wish we could! I was telling him the other day if we had extra $$ to support another vehicle <upkeep, plates, insurance, GAS>, we should get a full size van, take out the back seat, but make sure there is a middle seat up behind the drivers seat <for my kids!>, and build pens in the back.


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## TheMixedBag (Oct 16, 2010)

I always used the back seat of my car with plastic out a towel. I could only fit one, maybe two goats in there, but I never needed to haul more than that anyways. Were about to buy a couple new vehicles, and fire once one is a truck, so I'm definitely looking into a way to rig up the ned for hauling multiple kids to auction. Othwrwise, I'm already trying to figure out how many wel fit into the citation!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Well I am hoping to get something in the next few weeks! We should have the $$ then so that we can purchase something. 
I'll be cruising craigslist! If anyone has anymore ideas, please post!


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## dlarue (Oct 10, 2011)

We have camper shell that we picked up on craigslist for $100. It fits on the back of my pickup, and works perfectly for hauling our goats. My truck has a spray in bed liner, so I just throw down some hay in the bottom of the truck bed, and open the side windows and they are happy. They even stand on the fender wells and peek thru the screened windows at the passing scenery. Then they get bored and pile up to sleep for the remainder of the trip. They don't seem to mind at all, especially since they have a little room to move around... I think its a little less stressful on them. And easier on momma cause I don't have to haul those huge crates with me!

Now, when we get more goats... I'm not sure what I'll do. :scratch:


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