Bringing your farm pet's ashes home in Arvada
A 150 lb goat or a pot-bellied pig won't fit the plans most pet crematories are built around. This guide explains your real options, from private cremation to farm-gate collection, and what each one costs.
- Providers that accept goats, pigs and alpacas
- Livestock burial rules explained simply
- Private cremation with ashes returned
Arvada, Colorado
Who can help with a goat, pig or sheep in Arvada
Arvada still has pockets of horse property and small acreage, especially toward the west and north, and Jefferson County has a long equestrian tradition along the foothills. Families keep horses, goats, alpacas or backyard livestock on larger lots. When a large animal dies, the first practical questions are gate width, whether snow or mud will stop a truck, and how far the provider needs to travel.
For a family horse, a 4-H animal or a much-loved goat or alpaca, individual cremation with ashes returned is possible with some providers, though fewer handle animals that size and costs rise with weight and distance. If your horse lives at a boarding barn, the barn manager usually knows who to call. Ask for the full written price, hauling included, first. In snow, ask how they reach properties off unpaved roads.
Arvada sits in the middle ground for farm animal aftercare. There's usually at least one pet crematory in or near town, and often a mixed-practice vet who treats goats, sheep and pigs as well as dogs. Whether either can take your animal depends almost entirely on its weight. A pygmy goat or a few hens are easy; a full-size dairy goat, an alpaca or a mature pet pig may need a larger chamber, sometimes around Denver or further out.
About 122,901 people live in Arvada, which makes it the 7th-largest of the 36 Colorado communities we cover. Denver, roughly 7 miles off, is the closest larger centre, and a share of the providers who cover Arvada run from there.
For a second opinion on price, Wheat Ridge (2 miles), Westminster (4 miles) and Denver (7 miles, a larger centre) are close enough that their providers cover Arvada routinely. Two written quotes tell you more than any price list.
77.4%[1]
The NFDA projected Colorado's cremation rate at 77.4% for 2024.
$600-$1,000[2]
Cremating a 1,000-pound horse was reported to cost about $600-$1,000, depending on location and the price of propane.
3-5% of body weight[3]
Embrace notes cremated remains typically weigh about 3-5% of the pet's original body weight.
To check the figures yourself, see Embrace Pet Insurance and Extension Horses (eXtension national Cooperative Extension).
Local customs, and where a farm pet fits
With cremation chosen for about 77.4%[1] of people in Colorado, local families tend to expect it for their animals too. On a smallholding, that expectation meets livestock law: the options for a goat, sheep or pig are set by rules written for farms, not for pets. Cremation fits comfortably inside those rules almost everywhere, which is one more reason it's the common choice here.
For the Colorado figure we rely on NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Read it as a picture of local custom around death and remembrance in Arvada rather than as pet data.
What the seasons mean for farm animal aftercare in Arvada
Composting, which many farms use for dead stock, slows right down in cold weather. Extension guidance says a carcass pile needs to reach 135-140 F[4] to work properly, and a pile started in the middle of an Arvada winter may struggle to heat up without plenty of dry bedding. For a single named animal, most people find cremation simpler than managing a pile through the freeze.
A body left out overnight in an Arvada December, when lows average around 17°F, can freeze stiff in whatever position it fell. That makes it hard to lift onto a trailer or fit through a chamber door. If you can, lay a dying or newly dead animal on its side with the legs folded, on a tarp, before the cold sets in.
How much to budget in Arvada
US pet cremation price lists run from about $30 for a small communal cremation to $500 and more for a large private one[5], and farm species usually land at the top end or beyond. Ask any provider serving Arvada for a written quote that separates the cremation, collection, mileage, after-hours fees and the urn, and give an honest weight estimate up front.
The Colorado price table breaks costs down by size; our services page explains what sits behind each line.
Free tool
Cremation cost calculator
Estimate a realistic price range for your pet's size, location and the type of cremation.
Before you bury or compost in Colorado
A rough rule holds almost everywhere: the bigger the animal, the more the law cares where it ends up. A hen or duck is treated much like any small pet. A 150 lb ewe or a pig brings setbacks from wells, depth requirements and sometimes an outright ban. Here's what Colorado says about pets in general; expect a large farm species to be held to a higher standard.
Not sure which office covers Arvada? The Colorado local government directory is the official list.
The Colorado page sets out who oversees pet cremation and what the state says about burial and scattering. Arvada's own bylaws can sit on top of that, so ask before you dig.
If your animal dies today: a plan for Arvada
- Pick the spot before the vet arrives. Choose flat ground with vehicle access, like the aisle of the barn or the paddock nearest the gate, so there's little distance to move your animal once it's over.
- Book the crematory or collector first, then the vet. With the pickup time fixed, schedule the euthanasia one or two hours ahead of it, instead of the night before and a long wait in between.
- Ask the vet about sedation first. A calm animal nibbling grain or browse while the sedative works makes the moment gentler for everyone standing with it.
- Decide who will be there. For some households, everyone stays; in others, the children go off to feed the rest of the stock and return afterwards for their own goodbye.
- Keep a companion in the next pen, within earshot but out of the way. Afterwards, if you think it would help, let it come through to look at and smell the body.
- Hand your instructions to the crew yourself: private or communal, the urn you chose, and anything you want returned, such as a clipped lock of hair.
Memorials that fit a smallholding
Front Range weather adds complications. A spring blizzard can bury a pasture overnight, and summer hail and heat come in quick succession. If a large animal dies outdoors, cover the body with a tarp, keep other animals away and call early in the day. Frozen ground rules out burial for much of the winter, so cremation or licensed removal is often the practical path.
look through our guides and the blog, Our services overview lays out every option side by side, the planning tools turn your pet's details into figures, or see how other readers answered in our polls. If you live between Arvada and Denver, Aurora, Thornton and Fort Collins, either page applies. Every other community in Colorado, and all of the United States, is listed too.
Reader polls
What would you choose?
Vote anonymously and see how other readers answered. The results are live counts from people who visit this site, so they show real opinions, not a scientific sample.
What was (or would be) hardest about the practical side?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
How do you think of the animal you've lost, or are about to lose?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
If you had to decide today, which aftercare would you choose for your pet?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
Free tools to help you plan
Cremation cost calculator
Estimate a realistic price range for your pet's size, location and the type of cremation.
Livestock mortality planner
Plan disposal capacity and costs for farm losses, from one animal to a herd.
Urn size calculator
Find the urn volume you need from your pet's weight, plus keepsake and sharing options.
Questions people ask
Can a provider from a neighbouring town collect from Arvada?
Usually yes. Wheat Ridge is about 2 miles away, Westminster is about 4 miles away and Denver is about 7 miles away, all inside a normal collection radius. Get the mileage written into the quote so there is no surprise on the day.
How does Arvada's weather affect farm animal aftercare?
July is the hottest month in Arvada, with average highs around 88°F, so prompt collection matters most then. Average lows drop below freezing in January, February, March, November and December, which can make digging a grave hard until spring.
Where are the providers that serve Arvada actually based?
Some are local, and some run from Denver, about 7 miles away. That is normal for a city this size. What matters is the collection time they quote for Arvada and whether the drive is priced into the total, so ask both up front.
Is cremation common in Colorado?
For people, yes: about 77.4%[1] of Colorado deaths end in cremation, according to NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage) (2024). Nobody publishes the same figure for pets, but in our experience pet choices in Arvada follow the human pattern closely, so cremation is the default most families here start from.
What if the ground is frozen and I wanted to bury my animal?
Many keepers in cold places cremate in winter and bury or scatter the ashes in spring. A grave big enough for a goat or sheep may be impossible to dig through frozen ground, and composting slows right down in the cold. Cremation lets you keep the plan for a burial on the land without the race against the weather.
Is it worth cremating a single backyard hen?
If she mattered to you, yes. A hen is the least expensive farm animal to cremate, falling in the smallest pet price band, and communal cremation costs less again. What comes back is tiny, only a few tablespoons of ash, so ask for a small keepsake box or scatter the ashes around the run. Some keepers save a few feathers instead of, or as well as, the ashes.
Sources and our estimates
- [1] The NFDA projected Colorado's cremation rate at 77.4% for 2024. NFDA 2024 Cremation & Burial Report state projections (via Occasional Sage), 2024.
- [2] Cremating a 1,000-pound horse was reported to cost about $600-$1,000, depending on location and the price of propane. Extension Horses (eXtension national Cooperative Extension) - Horse Disposal Options, 2019, 2019.
- [3] Embrace notes cremated remains typically weigh about 3-5% of the pet's original body weight. Embrace Pet Insurance - Bury or Cremate Your Dog? Costs, Pros & Cons, 2025.
- [4] A carcass compost pile should reach 135-140 F within 15 days and be held at temperature for 3-12 weeks. USDA APHIS / Center for Food Security and Public Health (Iowa State) - Disposal: Composting, Rendering & Burial handout, based on NAHEMS Disposal Guidelines (2012), 2012.
- [5] Embrace Pet Insurance lists US communal cremation at $30-$200, partitioned at $50-$250, private at $100-$500+ and aquamation at $80-$450. Embrace Pet Insurance - Bury or Cremate Your Dog? Costs, Pros & Cons, 2025.
- [6] The average value lost per dead cow or calf in 2015 was about $997. Our estimate: $3.87 billion / 3.88 million head. How we calculate.
Tell us about your goat, sheep, pig or bird
Tell us what you need and where you are. We'll reply by email with clear options and prices so you can decide in your own time.