How important is it to buy only registered goats?

Spinner · #21 04/28/11, 02:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RangerBrad

Ask yourself this question, if you were looking at 2 goats, liked them both, all things were equal except one was registered and one was not, which would you chose?

If the prices were the same, I'm pretty sure everyone would chose the one with papers. BUT... if the papers cost an extra $350, then I'd be taking the equal but unpapered one home. Papers are not that important to me.

jamjam · #22 04/28/11, 07:35 AM

I resent it when people say that because your goats are not registered they are not taken care of. I have a small herd of nubians, all purebred but not registered. They get the best of care because I love them all.

mekasmom · #23 04/28/11, 07:44 AM

It just depends on your goals. If you want to show, then you want registered. If you just want reasonably priced goats to start your own herd for milk/meat for personal use, then it doesn't matter.

coso · #24 04/28/11, 10:14 AM

You can't have purebred without being registered. The registration is what proves the purebred lineage.

Minelson · #25 04/28/11, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamjam

I resent it when people say that because your goats are not registered they are not taken care of. I have a small herd of nubians, all purebred but not registered. They get the best of care because I love them all.

I don't like that either and it actually sounds rather snooty to me.

mabeane · #26 04/28/11, 11:05 AM

I don't like that either and it actually sounds rather snooty to me.

________________
Yup me, too.__

wolffeathers · #27 04/28/11, 11:28 AM

(Edited to say: it may seem like a rant, but it's really not, just a calm explanation of my opinion.

It's hard to encorporate tone via typed word. )

None of mine are registered. It does not affect the care they recieve from me. None of my animals have registration papers. The rabbits have pedigrees, but they are not registered.

I cannot afford a $300 goat. I had to wait until I could find a local breeder who was selling her mostly nubian( with a little bit of alpine in the background) goats. I contacted her a while ago and explained the situation the goats would be coming to(correct setup, environment, LGD on guard and the correct feed) and then wait for some to become available. I had a doeling on reserve and because the breeder decided to downsize and make room for the upcoming doelings, she sold me Pippi and Amelia too in a package deal for $150. Granted they need some groceries and deworming and probably some copper, Pippi still graciously gives a quart on top of what she gives her daughter. I was very thankful to the breeder for supplying me with my very first dairy goats, when I probably would have had to wait for couple of years to afford a $300 goat. I am thankful to the farm I traded my flock of geese to for a big beautiful Boer doe and they threw in a wonderful LGD puppy. I am very blessed and I'm grateful. Do I spend more than that to care for said animals, of course, but $300 a goat on top of a feed bill is just a little too much. Do I eventually plan to get registered stock? Probably because I may want to dabble in showing one day.

I have met plenty of registered and unregistered stock owned by ignorant owners. Are papered goats more valuable? Certainly if you want to show, but to I'd have to disagree that a high price and a piece of papers will protect them from neglect. I personally know people who have dropped $1200 on a puppy they ordered offline and then kept it locked in a kennel and then got rid of it before it was a year old because they deemed it unruly. They repeated this process 3 times before deciding they just didn't want a dog. I've rescued horses that were once show horses and triple registered and was once a highly sought after breeding animal, but their current owner moved and left the horses in their corrals to starve to death. Some people have no respect for animals no matter how valuable they are..

I'm not taking it personal, just saying try not to generalize. I would hate to think somone believed that I didn't care for my animals because none of them have papers.

Backfourty,MI. · #28 04/28/11, 03:09 PM

Even if my goats were registerd, folks around here just don't have $300.00 & $400.00 for a kid or two. That doesn't mean they won't take care of them, they just don't have that kind of money to spend on goats for their family.

Times are hard & even before the economy took a turn for the worse we were the poorest county in the state if I recall that correctly.

Heritagefarm · #29 04/28/11, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamjam

I resent it when people say that because your goats are not registered they are not taken care of. I have a small herd of nubians, all purebred but not registered. They get the best of care because I love them all.

I actually know people who have registered stock, champion lines, and take awful horrid care of their goats. Skinny goats with snot hanging on their noses and on the fences, dead goats in the pens, etc. Sad.

So, registered or not, is not a definite way to tell the level of care.

Heritagefarm · #30 04/28/11, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Creamers

I hate to say it. . .but if someone can't afford a $300 goat. . .they likely will not be in goats long because they are costly creatures if you're breeding quality animals. . .

Only if one has plenty of spare cash to put into the goats. I wouldn't think of spending that much on one goat's feed; that's more than what we spend on dairy cow feed.

Creamers · #31 04/28/11, 09:10 PM

Quote:

not registered they are not taken care of

I did not say this is always the case, but it is usually the case. . .
When people call me asking for a cheap goat, and they do not care if it is papered, even if I had such a goat, which I would not sell to them -
Just like with my rescue. . .when someone calls asking about adopting a "Free horse" - I tell them I have nothing for adoption. . .
It isn't always accurate, that is true, but it certainly is accurate often enough for it to be considered typical.

Quote:

I actually know people who have registered stock, champion lines, and take awful horrid care of their goats

But it isn't typical. . .and that is the point.

Quote:

You can't have purebred without being registered. The registration is what proves the purebred lineage.

Quote:

I hate to say it. . .but if someone can't afford a $300 goat. . .they likely will not be in goats long because they are costly creatures if you're breeding quality animals. . .

I know what is costs be to care for my herd - and I stand by this 100% - if I cannot afford to pay that for a goat, I honestly would never be able to maintain a herd in good health. . .that statement is made because It has proven true here for me. . .

I have gotten good deals on quality animals - and I'm always happy about it - but I never personally buy anything unregistered in the goat world. Wouldn't consider it because in ORDER to keep the herd I have, I HAVE to be able to do two things - sell the kids for a good price and sell to the type of home I feel comfortable selling to - the registered kid selling for a good price helps on both ends.
Here, unregistered kids sell for $75 - that is a doeling . . .I have never seen them for more.
Unregistered does with kids - a pair - might run $125
- - - How can anyone afford to breed and care for them if they are an average farm?
Registered kids bring $250 and up - way up, depending -
A Registered doe in milk - $350-400, on average. . .

A registered (even recorded) doe will have or have lines that have have DHIR, LA, Sire Summaries, Performance Reports, USDA-AIPL genetic evaluations are all info that tells you a lot about what you're buying - that is worth the increased cost in and of its self - for me. . .

If you're really just looking to not sell kids, only eat them and use milk - then buy unregistered. . .

I can't see a typical breeder putting in time to find, care for and breed the sounded goat they can unless they register them - has it happened? I'm sure - is it likely or typical. . .no.

Heritagefarm · #32 04/28/11, 11:07 PM

You are making perfect sense. Also, in a lot of situations, you are willing to go the extra mile to ensure that your herd name stays in good image. And yes, unregistered animals is not the way to go if profitability is your goal. We have actually had a harder time making the goats profitable unlike the cattle, mainly because the goats require far higher inputs of fencing. You can toss cattle in a field with rusty barnwire and a strand of polywire for MIG, whereas goats require fencing for rabbits.

chamoisee · #33 04/29/11, 12:55 AM

Maybe it's just me, but I feel better selling registered animals to people who will pay more. I guess I have this idea that they're more likely to take good care of a registered animal that they paid well for than a $50 "nanny" that will probably end up on a dog chain mowing a lawn.

Creamers · #34 04/29/11, 04:02 AM

Quote:

Maybe it's just me, but I feel better selling registered animals to people who will pay more. I guess I have this idea that they're more likely to take good care of a registered animal that they paid well for than a $50 "nanny" that will probably end up on a dog chain mowing a lawn.

exactly - doesn't mean everyone who gets a good deal with do it, but it just too likely for my taste.

Rockytopsis · #35 04/29/11, 04:15 AM

Registered goats sell well if there is a demand in your area for registered goats. In my area of Tennessee it is more about the meat as it is illegal to sell raw milk in Tennessee. I have some papered and mostly not papered. I have some BP's and FB's. The goat that is going to freezer camp gets the same treatment as on who will live there life on my farm.
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You could check with your local Ag. Agent to see if there is a local marked for papered goats. You could search for local goat shows and talk to local folks there. You could contact local 4H clubs and see if there is interest in papered goats.

If I had the money I spent on papered goats I could pay my car off, still have 2 years to go on that.
Nancy

Oat Bucket Farm · #36 04/29/11, 10:55 AM

We have registered goats but I still don't sell for 300 to 400 a kid. Our doelings sell for 125.00 to 150.00 and I am willing to work a discount if they are buying more than one. This is as long as they are picked up in the first two weeks.

For our does, we paid virtually nothing for Jewels' mother who was unregistered but we got recorded as a grade so that Jewels can be registered as a grade.

Our most expensive doe was Tally, bought at 6 months old for 175.00. Hershey we bought for 125.00. Hershey and Tally both are registered and CAE neg so it doesn't take an expensive animal to be free of disease.

We traded lessons in blood drawing, shaving,hoof trimming,bolusing,etc for Bella. For Rio we traded a buckling for a buckling.

We want to keep our prices on our kids fairly low simply because we ourselves don't have much money. It pushed us to be able to afford Tally's price tag. It was great to be able to get Hershey for the price we did and this spring, if we hadn't worked out a trade, there wouldn't have been any new goats here this year other than what was born here. BUT where we really can't afford a 300.00 to 400.00 price tag, our goats get the best of care. And we know there are plenty of others out there without the resources to pay out a large sum of money for the initial purchase.But that doesn't mean they are any more likely to mistreat the goats they buy than the people who pay out lots of money. For some, paying 125.00 for a goat is the equivalent household budget hit of someone else with more money, paying out a 1,000. So never assume that someone who can't afford a lot won't care for the goat.

People always say to buy the best goat you can afford. For some, they can't afford that much. By keeping my prices lower, people are able to get registered goats, that are disease tested that they can actually afford.