There’s an auction at the farmer’s market coming up and I’m looking to sell a couple of my milking goats.
They’ve been great companions, but they haven’t been getting on so well with some of the others, and I think they might need a new home.
My usual livestock transport is being repaired, though, and I thought I’d have it back in time, but that’s looking increasingly less likely.
My only other option is to put it off, or transport them in the bed of my truck.
I wanted to find out if it was safe.
You can transport a small number of goats in a truck bed, if you take the time to secure it properly. For short journeys, a truck bed will work no problem. Anything longer than a couple of hours, though, and it becomes less than safe for a host of reasons.
So, while it is in general safe if done correctly, there are certainly a lot of risks involved.
The safest advice I could give you is to avoid doing it if you can. that said, there are some steps you can take to make it as safe as possible.
Let’s look into this.
Can you transport goats in a truck bed?
Simply put, yes, but only in quite limited circumstances.
If you’re going long distance, no, you can’t transport goats in a truck bed.
For any journey that is going to take longer than a couple of hours, you’ll need a good amount of space for them to lay down and move around.
They’ll also need food and water for the journey.
Anything but the largest truck bed will not be able to accommodate these needs.
So, again, if it’s a long journey, don’t use a truck bed.
If you are travelling for only a couple of hours, you can potentially get away with using your truck bed.
However, you can’t simply put the goats in there and go—this would be very unsafe.
You need to be sure they are secured.
If your truck bed has a topper, as well as a securely locking door, then this will work great.
Lay a tarp and some hay down, and secure the whole truck bed.
Make sure they’re protected against the weather and have adequate ventilation.
Let’s look at the potential dangers.
Is it safe to transport goats in a truck bed?
If you do it right, it certainly can be done safely.
If, as I said above, your truck bed has a secure topper, then this makes things a lot easier.
If not, though, you’re going to have to put something together yourself.
You can’t just have the goats in the back exposed to a side they can fall over.
You can buy a wire cage which will stop them from falling off, but you’ll need to secure it down yourself.
Straps clipped to the side of the truck are a good option, but somewhat limited in safety.
Alternatively, you may want to construct a wooden frame with wire meshing to act as an enclosure to keep them in.
You can make this fit better to your particular truck if you make it yourself.
So, ultimately, yes, it can be safe—but it’s important that you really know what you’re doing.
Anything going wrong could very easily be fatal for your goats.
How to secure a truck bed for goats
If you have smaller goats, your best option is to use a crate or kennel of some kind to get them in there without them moving around.
Beyond that, though, you can secure the truck bed in a variety of ways.
The best approach is to adopt several methods.
As I mentioned, cargo straps are a great option.
You can secure the goat enclosure to the side of the truck, so that it stays in place to begin with.
Ideally, there should be clips on the truck bed itself to which you can attach things, too.
Make sure the enclosure is clipped firmly down, that it doesn’t move around.
Also, make sure all joints and connections on the cage are firm, and won’t break.
This is, as I said, all for only short distance journeys, though.
How to transport goats long distances
Using a truck bed for long distance travel with goats is not a good idea.
They need space to move around, as well as food and water to keep them happy, on any journey that lasts more than a couple of hours.
Ideally, in this scenario, you would use a dedicated livestock transport.
This is a large trailer which you can secure shut, and which you can bed with straw and provide food and water.
Your goats should all have space to lie down inside, and you should make sure not to mix goats that might get boisterous.
There is no way you can transport goats over long distances in small, narrow truck beds without food or water.
The consequences could be fatal, I cannot stress this enough.
So, the thing about doing this is that it’s going to require a bit of DIY.
While I don’t doubt a lot of the skills of my readers, there’s always more of a chance that something could go wrong.
The consequences could be potentially fatal if they do—so ask yourself if it’s really worth the risk.
For short distances, it will be fine—anything longer than a couple of hours, you’ll need to find an alternative.