This is a question for the goat people.

I hope this doesn't sound too stupid but...what do you do with your goats? Does anyone make any money from raising goats? I would like to get a little return, maybe to help pay for feed. Thanks for all the help, this forum has been a blessing since my husband a kids aren't into "homesteading". I basically am doing this on my own!

-- Kathy (jubilant@ncweb.com), April 18, 2000

Answers

Hi Kathy,

We raise registered Alpines for milk production and goats. Our goal is to eventually retire in a few yrs and make cheese. Have to get through the lovely 500 page st. regs first. Might take me til the next century.. LOL We used to raise meat goats.. full boers and crosses. We soon found that the market in our area was not as great so we went back to raising dairy. Then a gropu of goat producers experincing the same issues formed a meat goat and lamb marketing cooperative.. which i am the sec. of.. Our coop is called The Mid-Atlantic Meat Goat and Lamb marketing Cooperative. Nice prices in selling goats for meat this way. In the east there is a small supply for the markets in the NYC area. A recent speaker at a meat goat field days mentioned that the quality of the eastern raised goats in our region were of better quality than raised elsewhere, mainly Texas because of our climate.. no droughts and the length of shipping them to market. But.. there are not enough producers in our region to supply the demand for the markets. I am not knocking Texas but just passing along information form the horses mouth here about the needs of meat goats for the meat markets in NYC area. Hope this helps. Now I'll duck from all the Texans here.

Bernice

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), April 18, 2000.

I know there is a market in Vt for lambs and kids .They are selling for about $100.00 at 40 lbs.

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), April 18, 2000.

We use some of the milk for ourselves, and make a little cheese for our own use,give some milk to friends, and I sell goat's milk soap. The price people here are willing to pay for a good dairy goat is not enough to cover what it costs to raise it,so I am working towards breeding stock, and hope to sell that for a decent price.Try to figure out how much the feed is costing you a year. Mine cost me $150.00 per goat per year. Then sell the kids at a price that will go towards paying for the feed. If you get into selling registered breeding stock, you can also sell the bucks, and can offer your bucks' semen and services for sale.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@transport.com), April 19, 2000.

I totally agree with Bernice, though we do have great boers here in Texas, the best ones have gone the way of the show string. Whats left are animals that were sold for such high dollars that no one would cull, and when you breed culls you get----! We raise pure Nubians, don't let anyone tell you that it's O.K. in Nubain to be an American, and Pure LaMancha's (no big deal here with the herd books open they become Pure anyway, just had mine for along time, 10 years.) We are in a different area than most, very rural, yet a nice drive for my very yuppy type customers (whom I love dearly) we stay very diverse, selling milk (both to individuals and to a candy contract) we sell a little meat, vegetables, and eggs. My broker of does for milkers makes me the most money, second is milk sales, (5$ per gallon, $3.95 of that is profit) third is kid sales, and an over looked market in most areas is leaseing bucks. This has a very bad reputation, but we have had only one horror story in 10 years. Most of my lease bucks are not even here from July until Feburary, and eaisly make 50$ every 21 days, more if they keep him longer, more if the have registered animals, and I don't feed him, worm him, trim his feet, and we get average 400$ profit per buck per year, (in the lease contract they have to pay for my gal friend to do all of the above at the end of lease) and I only have him here 5 months, and can use him also if I want, they are usually way to related though. You could make more by keeping bucks in all the different breeds, well except Oberhasli's. You can also make a good profit on doing herd management, disbudding, tattooing, worming, vaccinating, trimming feet, plus your travel time. Shaving herds for show, and milking for folks who go on vacation, or while they are showing. I do most of this stuff, my gal friend does all of the herd management in the area now, and it has given me the opportunity to be a home mom, though I do my husbands business, I make an income off the farm weekly. I would never get rich doing it, but I don't have to work outside my home, and I raise my own kids 15,17 and 21. Which is very important to me. I am lucky to have a very proud and supportive husband. It really is ashame the kids aren't into this, I have a wonderful relationship with my oldest girls because of showing, being together weekends away from home makes it that way.. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), April 19, 2000.

Vicki, it sounds like you are really making the most of what you've got! Just out of curiousity, why did you except Oberhaslis from your list of good breeds to keep bucks from? Just not enough of that breed in your area, or some other reason?

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), April 19, 2000.

I'm wondering the same thing. Oberhaslis are a big deal here,I guess because they are uncommon and the color is so striking. The ones I have seen cannot compare to Alpines for production and conformation,but the alpines have a vastly larger gene pool to work with and the Ober is a fairly new breed here in the US.

-- Rebekah (daniell1@transport.com), April 19, 2000.

Kathleen and Rebekah, there are very few folks who have Obies. Yes they are beautiful animals, even if you were to keep one, are their enough herd numbers (like there are in Nubains, LaManchas) to make it worth while? If he was used one year, would it then leave him related to most of the rest? Just things to think about, I also do not have an Alpine buck anymore, and since my best friend has Toggs, I don't have him either. Once they get 3 or 4 it is easier to replace him with a nice Dec or Jan kid, when the kid is a yearling, we sell the older guy, some folks are really afraid of a big guy, even if he is dog tame! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), April 19, 2000.

Kathy: This will raise a lot of eyebrows, First if the double-tre isn't straight you will be very discouraged. I have been up and down the midwest on goat buying trips many times. I have seen the hope's the dreams and the heartbreak! Its hard in all things to make money. If Hubby's or Wife's cannot wear a big hat, They will put your efforts down and refuse to see a gain in any thing. This is my oppinion and I am not alone.

On the home front you will save more money than you will make...That is making money, Money the spouse can not see that. Your goat, this week, gave you 3 gallon of milk which you didn't purchase for $9.00. This month the feed bill was $6.00. This is what the spouse can see.

If spouse wore a big hat, Then spouse would spend $120.00 a month to broad and feed a horse. Spend time carouseing with the other big hats and spend money on other liquid other than goat milk. That is usually just super to do that.

You have to keep records, No pets, Pets cost money and more money. If there is a problem with kidding and raising those kid's cull. You have to Cull, cull, cull!! Some good ones will go but you sure will get rid of a lot of bad breeding.

Breeding, Registered Pure bred Nubian all purpose... Been there and done that. Boer"s, done that. Nubians are forever. Go with them and Vicki in Cleveland, Texas will have to know I agree with her. If you want to be in the pet business do the dwarfs. No money there. On a personal note I would not buy one or even give them truck room when people tried to give one away.

You learn to Prepare Chevon for the table. New born buck kid. Skin it like a rabbit and put it in the deep fry pan. That's a fact. If you can not do that you will not make money in goats. Learn the art of Cheese making. That glut of summer milk will be a money maker as cheese in the winter.

Most important of all is knowing when to breed for what meat market...Learn information about festivals, "Holy Days", in these religious traditions: Aboriginal Spirituality, Baha'i Faith, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islam, Jain, Jewish, Shinto, Sikh, Unitarian, Wicca, Zoroastrian.

Find and develope a frienship with at least one individual, within each particular religious community, who is knowledgeable about their tradition.

Last but most important to learn this; is a quick reference poster published by The Festival Shoppe in Birmingham, England And The Multi- faith Calendar by Multifaith Action Society, Vancouver, B.C. Canada The online catalog should be http://www.multifaith.com

You wish your money to make money in goats???

Something to ponder...New York State Prisons Buy Goats by the Tractor Trailer Load....Thanks to The United Nations....

JR said that More than you want to know I bet

Your In Christ jr3star@earthlink.net

-- James R. Jones (jr3star@earthlink.net), April 23, 2000.

Now my curiosity is up...... why does the NYS prision system purchase goats by the trailer load? Is it for feeding inmates or for other reasons? I was born and raised in western NY and lived there all my life til 6 yrs ago and never heard of the prision system purchasing goats.

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), April 23, 2000.