Harness Goats

[FourSnyders]

Does anyone out there train/raise harness goats? I am working on training two of my does to be harness goats. I love to talk to people about harness goats and learn new information.

Thanks,

The Snyders

 

[username taken]

I currently have three guys in harness.

This is Little Red, 2 yr old fullblood Boer wether. He's a brilliant worker, loves his job and will work all day no complaints. He was dam raised in a range environment, I bought him from the feedlot before he went to slaughter. He can be a little skittish around cars but generally he's very good, awfully friendly and people orientated. I currently have him for sale.

This is Charlie (in harness) and Chaplin (at back of cart), 1 yr old 2nd cross Boer wethers with dairy influence. These guys are twins, they were born from my 'freezer filler' doe, unfortunately she died about 12hrs after they were born from ruptured uterus and bowel (actually she was euthanased). So I bottle raised these boys. They just love people (particularly their mummy!) and they are very good workers. I'm starting to train them to drive as a pair now that they work individually.

I've also got a Boer wether I'm currently training for someone else (Charlie). Also got an Angora buck who may be infertile, I'm waiting on preg test results from his does and if they arent pregnant I will castrate him and train him to harness, just because he's got such a great temperament.

I use a custom made two wheeled vehicle, and leather mini horse harnesses hand altered to suit goats. The harness pad is also custom made. I drive them in a nylon alpaca halter, no need for a bit.

Any questions, feel free to ask me

 

[Chicky~Buddy]

wow that is awesome!

 

[username taken]

I agree, I think its awesome

but I might be a little biased lol

Forgot to mention these guys are also trained to pack.

 

[Chicky~Buddy]

do you have website links on training for packing?
we have those itty bitty Nigerians so the cart thing is not exactly and option for us.

 

[username taken]

google:

working goats
harness goats
pack goats
driving goats

you should turn up something. There's not an awful lot available but there are some decent 4H publications on the web. I believe Hoeggers also has some good publications.

I'm pretty sure Hoeggers also sells packs, harnesses and carts for pygmies/nigis/minis so people are doing it. They say a goat can pull 150% of his weight - some people say 200% but I dont like to push them that far. So if you have a mature weight on your nigis you could figure out what they could pull. Maybe drive two in a pair?

 

[FourSnyders]

I am hoping that by this weekend I can get one of my goats hooked up to the cart. I finished the cart on New Year's Day this year. We bought the harness from Hoegger's Goat Supply.

In the picture the cart is still missing the wheels, we used 20 inch bicycle wheels, and the seat, we used an old tractor seat.

This weekend we may also paint the cart, any ideas on a color would be great.

Here are three of the goats, one is a Pygmy and is not be trained for harness work. The other two are sisters and are Boer crosses. Eventually I may train them to work as a team, but for now I am hoping to get the one in the purple collar, Moswen, hooked up to the cart. Joey is the one in the green collar, and Tippy is the Pygmy goat.

Thanks for sharing and I look forward to talking to you more about harness goats.

The Snyders

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

Now this intrigues me.

So roughly how much does the harness cost?
So how much did the cart cost? And where do you purhcase a goat cart? Is is a horse sulkie?

 

[FourSnyders]

You can buy your cart and harness or build your own. We bought our harness from Hoegger's Goat Supply online and it was about $168. Carts run about maybe $200 or $300, but we built ours and I think, if I remember right, it was at most $50. This is quite a fun hobby and I reccomend that anyone with goats should at least try it.

Username taken, how much do your whethers weigh? My does are about 80-85 pounds now and just turned two years old. A goat is supposed to be able to pull one and a half times its body weight. Do you think mine will be okay with me in the cart?

The Snyders

 

[Skyesrocket]

Here is a link.
http://www.geocities.com/goatacres.geo/harn.html