hey, i am looking at buying two tottenburg goats at the fair, registered, "grand champions" from the fair for a couple of years. one is four years old and the other? i couldn't read the age... maybe a bit younger. is four too old? and how much is a fair price? they are asking $150 for the two of them ($75 apiece). i am taking their number today and maybe calling them tonight. no, i don't know if they are bred, and don't know anyone who has tottenburgs for breeding in the future.

-- marcee king (thathope@mwt.net), September 16, 2001

Answers

Response to how old too old to buy a goat?

Either goats are real cheap in your area or I would ask why they are selling them. Not much is meant be Grand Champions unless you know the competition or how many were in the class, or if they were Grand Champions as young stock before they came into milk and had udders. They may just be trying to find a home for them and you will get some nice goats. Four years old is not that old, we have Nubians and I know people that have kidded out 11 - 14 year old goats if they are in good health. So a four year old would have several nice years left. I would see if they have been tested for CAE and what the results were of them and their entire herd. Also ask about milk production, kidding problems, etc. It is a fair price, but I would ask some questions regarding them. Are they in milk now, when did the freshen? They will need to be bred again so you will continue to have milk, if that is what you want. You may ask if they have bucks and would be willing to breed them prior to leaving.

-- Leslie in Western WA (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), September 16, 2001.

Response to how old too old to buy a goat?

I agree with what Leslie has said about the various tests for disease etc. One item to think about, is if you're hoping to purchase them for milk goats, ask if you can try the milk first. Some Toggs (not all) have a stronger flavored milk and you might want to make sure you like the milk before purchasing the goat. The price sounds very reasonable, at least for this area. My grade goats cost me $150 each. I have been told that 4-6 years is the prime age for a goat. Sounds like they could be a nice addition to your farm.

-- Trisha-MN (tank@Linkup.net), September 16, 2001.

Well.... 4 yrs old is not too old to buy a dairy goat. They are about in their prime by then. Goats can live healty and productive lives if provided with proper herd managemtnt until as old as 14 or so. I guess the answer to your question lies in what your intent is to do with them after prurchasing. Are you needing them strictly for your own use and not interested in showing or in breeding for milk production? Just because they happen to be GCH's at a fair doen't make them an outstanding doe or buck, as mentioned in an earlier post, its only really worthwhile if they place consistently (I added consistently) at highly competitive shows. For example, anyone can take a goat to a fiar, if there are not a lot of entries in the show then they can earn a GCH. Doesn't mean squat in my book. But then I am on a different level with breeding, etc. because we have a commercial dairy and so I have strict guidelines when purchasing new stock.

I would ask the following health questions and also look carefully: ask about CAE/CL then look closely at the does, check their feet, make sure they are not low on the pasturns, check their udders, look at their coats, etc. I say this becase careful checking will save heartache down the line. Their asking price is too low; it may be that these folks are jsut looking to sell their does to a good home, but then again, if i had GCH from a competitive show I wouldn't be so quick to turn them loose. Just my humble thoughts.

Bernice

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), September 16, 2001.

Marcee, don't be lulled into a false sense of security, purchasing does who are grand and local shows, against little or no competition. There are alot of county dairy shows around us who close thier shows to outside counties, they don't want the ribbons and trophy's to go to outside kids. And believe me they would go to outside kids!! 75$ apiece for adult stock is a giveaway price. No matter what the price, or what the show status, all the things we all talk about till we are blue in the face apply, CAE, CL, how much milk is she giving? What does her milk taste like? Will she let you milk her? Is she a good mom? Has she had mastitis? Is she registered, and is her paperwork going with this 75$ price? What do the rest of the does at the farm look like, are they healthy, swollen knees, odd lumps, snotty noses, diarrhea etc. the list is endless. But it all comes down to what is your long term vision for your goat venture. Do you like toggs? Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), September 16, 2001.

I thought your question related to how old was too old for YOU, ie. your age to buy a goat. My answer was going to be "deceased"! GL!

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), September 16, 2001.

brad, you cracked me up! thanks for all the help. the goats were sold already, but you guys gave me great info that will help me buy goats soon. nubians are the most common around here, and i know that they are cheap now. i would never have known about trying tottenburg milk. there are la manchas somewhere, and i will have to search their breeders out.

yeah, i too didn't think "grand champ" from the fair meant much either, but i was mostly checking to see if it is a fair way to jack the price up. apparently the price is low.

all over here goats are cheap, then. i know i can get registered nubian kids for $50 apiece, unregistered for $30 and then i can get a bread nubian or nubian/alpine doe for about $75 with papers. i wasn't sure if this was too much because some folks were telling me i shouldn'[t pay anymore than $10 bucks for a goat in these parts. so i wanted to check. and now i know it is a grand thing to buy a gat that has been milked and bred.

it is a small enough of an area that if someone takes advantage of you, everyone else will eventually find out....

thanks for all your help! now i have more to go on as i start calling around this week...

-- marcee king (thathope@mwt.net), September 16, 2001.

Where in the world are you living Marcee? All of the goat ads I've seen around here are running in $150 to $200 range. Or is that just for the pygmies and miniature types?

-- stephanie nosacek (possumliving@go.com), September 17, 2001.

Where I live in north-eastern In the goats are cheap also because there is just not that many buyers for good show stock when we want good animals for show most of our 4-h group has bought animals out of state. Very few people will pay $100 for even a bred registered goat.

-- sherrie clifton (bryrpatch35@aol.com), September 17, 2001.

I can get goats non registered in my area for $30-40, and registered $40-$150 for show quality. Im in the far North Western Part of Virginia.

Pat

-- Pat (pritch@rica.net), January 06, 2002.