I've been looking into getting dairy goats, I'm really considering getting 3 LaManchas, one in milk and two pregnant young does, we would like one that would be a good 4-H show goat and a good milker. I'm not sure what I should expect to pay for these animals. I've been offered 2 pregnant yearling show goats and one family milker, all LaManchs, for about $225. each, from a family who is down sizing their herd. Is this to much? And Ideas?

sarah

-- Sarah Brown (joshsarah@bigfoot.com), September 24, 2001

Answers

Actually Sarah, that is a very good price, IF they are disease free and of good quality. The best thing you could do would be to take along a friend or someone who really knows goats (good quality diary goats, not sale barn type) and take a good look at the goats in question. NEVER agree to buy sight unseen! Ask for neagtive CAE test results, how the said animals did at the shows, pedigrees, etc. If you can't get a friend who knows La Mancha's to come along with you, then write down all the pedigree information and come back here and post it. Make sure to include all the 'gingerbread', the numbers under the does name, *B, *&M, AR, GCH, all that tells us something about the animal. Have they been linear appraised or been on milk testing? It is far better to pay a good price for really good quality stock, than to get somebodies cast offs for free. Get the best that you can afford to and you will be saving money in the long run.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), September 24, 2001.

Sarah, That would be a good price around here for that quality of a dairygoat. A family milker, well please taste the milk if you plan to use the milk for cheese or cooking and as a beverage. I would want to see the dam of the 2 yearling does, and the sire,and the buck that bred them too. And ask a goat person to go with you to look at the does. They will notice things like width and barrel, and udder and teat size and placement, and even number of teats. All important too. Good luck, I usually suggest to my newbie goat raiser-friends, to get something inexpensive to make their mistakes on, it still hurts to mess up but the heart more than the pocketbook

-- Karen in Kansas (kansasgoats@iwon.com), September 24, 2001.

Be very leary of the yearling show doe! Remember that even if she is winning as a young doe not in milk, that the day she kids, she could be worth nothing but a family milker. With 35 points out of 100 being udder, a poor udder on your newly loved goat, leaves you with nothing to show!! And.....if the family milker they are selling you is a relative of the youngsters.........well your chances just got higher :) Post pedigrees! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), September 24, 2001.

Sarah: You can go to our website to see the range of prices we are selling our show quality milk goats for (Nubians): www.sundaycreek.com/nubians.htm Obviously we are keeping the best of the herd. To understand the fine points of the pedigrees you need to get in touch with the American Dairy Goat Association (ADGA) www.adga.com They also have a list of breed standards on their site.

A star milker (*M) is a doe that has met a minimum requirement for quantity of milk and percentage of protein and butterfat either in a one day milk test or during ongoing DHIR (Dairy Herd Improvement Registry). The number before the *M refers to the number of continuous generations that have earned a *M. Thus, our twins, Star and Mist, are on their way to earning their 13*M: 13th generation of star milkers. A buck gets a +B or a *B in his pedigree when he sires a champion. More champions, more pluses. "CH" refers to Champion and "GCH" refers to Grand Champion. These are earned in the show ring. The LA numbers and letters refer to a Linear Appraisal rating system which is very technical. You need a book to understand the system. Knowing the breed standards and having a full pedigree will help you evaluate the true worth of the animal. $225 for a healthy, well bred milker is a very good price. None of our show quality does go that inexpensively on the West Coast. Having them bred is a real bonus too, as stud service is worth about $35-$45 each. Be sure to get a service memo and the pedigree of the sire so that you can register the kids, assuming of course that the dams are registered, which even at that price they should be. Registration would be with the ADGA.

Here's a couple of good goat links: www.cybergoat.com and www.goatworld.com

-- Skip in Western WA (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), September 24, 2001.

Correction - the *B a buck obtains at birth if he has a dam and/or sire that meets milk qualifications. The +B status is earned when their offspring, daughters or son's daughters obtain milk status.

-- Leslie in Western WA (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), September 24, 2001.

And though a CH is earned in the ring a G in GCH is earned in the milk pail! :) Don't know where you are located Sarah but here in Texas, LaMancha's sell for about 1/2 of what Nubians sell for. And if Skip and Leslie didn't live so far away, one of their does would have come to live at my farm! Very nice does... Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), September 25, 2001.

Thanks for the compliment Vicki.

-- Leslie in Western WA (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), September 25, 2001.

http://capriella.com/CelticKnot/youngstock.htm

These are the 2 show does I mentioned, what do you think? Joyful-Morning Song & Heaven Blessed Yanilla Jill

Here is what the owner wrote to me:

Hi Sarah, Thank you for your inquiry about our herd. At the present time I am doing a major sell out of my portion of the herd so you are in luck. Usually at this time of year we don't have much for sale. I have two dry yearling for sale I could breed them for you before they go. As soon as they come back in heat that is (I wasn't planning any early breedings this year). I think they are on the website under up and coming young does. Joyful-Morn Ing Song and Heaven Blessed Yanilla Jill. I have done very little showing personally this year and so Song has not been shown, however I feel she is show quality. Jill always stood near the top of her classes. I also have two milkers for sale. One is strictly a family milker, she will never compete in a class, but she is an excellent milker-easy for a beginner (my 7 year old milks her) and very productive. She has excellent blood lines too. The other while competitive in the show ring and a good milker too has really tiny teats and is a real pain to milk. I want $250 a piece on these animals. I would consider a discount if you took more than one. And if you do decide to buy from us I must warn you I tend to describe each and every detail of every fault. That doesn't mean I don't think the animals are wonderful. It does mean I want you to be happy with your purchase! BTW Joyful-Morn is my (Sherry's) herd name and Celtic-Knot is Jessi's. Jess has been showing extensively this year and doing well our herds are closely related. She doesn't have anything for sale at the present time while I am seriously considering selling most if not all of my animals.

Sherry Hicklin Joyful-Morn Lamanchas http://www.capriella.com/CelticKnot

-- Sarah Brown (joshsarah@bigfoot.com), September 26, 2001.