Country Lore: June/July 2017

1 / 4
These slabs found at a local mill could be used to make beautiful live-edge furniture.
These slabs found at a local mill could be used to make beautiful live-edge furniture.
2 / 4
Slugs can eat many times their own weight per day.
Slugs can eat many times their own weight per day.
3 / 4
Try these water-trough raised beds in your own backyard for a beautiful, easy-to-make garden.
Try these water-trough raised beds in your own backyard for a beautiful, easy-to-make garden.
4 / 4
Robert's French Alpine goats are ready for their short road trip.
Robert's French Alpine goats are ready for their short road trip.

How to Make a Small Livestock Transporter

I needed to transport my two French Alpine goats to a farm 40 miles away so that they could breed with an Alpine buck. I have a pickup truck that has a full 8-foot bed with a liner, and I was trying to figure out how to rig it so I could transport the goats safely. I thought of building a cage around the truck bed using stakes in the stake pockets along the sides. However, I already have tie-down anchors installed, and I really didn’t want to remove them because I use them all the time.

I searched the web for ways people make livestock cages out of different materials, and I found the classic cage made of sections of wire cattle panel. Basically, you cut sections of the panel for each side and the top, and then join them with zip ties. That sounded easy enough, but it would take a little work cutting the panel, and I’d need two panels to do the job.

I went to my local Tractor Supply Co. to see what was available, and found a variety of panels. All were 16 feet long, but they differed in height and the spacing of wires. I decided to buy a cattle panel that measured 16 feet by 50 inches. My next task was to figure out how to transport it to my farm. The young gentleman who helped me load it had the perfect solution. We stood the panel up horizontally and formed a U-shape that fit perfectly into the truck bed. It struck me that I could put the goats into the space formed by the “U” and then pull the two loose ends together.

I have collars and leashes for the goats. So, when it was time to transport the goats, I attached their leashes to a lower rung of the panel by passing the working end of the leash through the loop. I then snapped the leash to the collar of the goat. After the ends of the panel were tied together, I tied the cage in several places to my truck’s tie-down anchors. This way, the goats were tied to the cage, and the cage was tied to the truck.

  • Published on May 25, 2017
Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-234-3368