Is anyone getting rich raising goats?

Wait.....wait......oh gosh.

Actually I've heard of a few people making a small profit with meat goats, but yes, they have large numbers and spend no extra expense. For example one woman (giving a lecture about making money with goats) advised that any kids born weak or needing ANY extra care should be "knocked in the head." I simply can't do that, sure I could have one euthanised if it had to be done, but that alone is an extra expense isn't it? I hope eventually that the goats can help to pay thier way, but I don't expect to ever get rich. Time alone(not to mention formula or milk) bottle feeding any baby is worth more than the kid, usually.

And the other couple of people I've met who have made a small profit, had larger herds (30-40 does) and got money from the state. KY does that, but you have to have a certain number of goats to qualify.

We make a decent profit and have never had money from the state for the goats or anything relating to them. We also never knock one in the head. Even a runt will bring decent money at the stockyards.

What amazes me are those people that can't figure out how to make a profit, believe that no one can.

Cows bring around $250/ac and goats around 500/ac. The stocking rate of goats would need to be at 2 does per ac with her kids.

Cows take about 2.5 yrs before breaking even and goats about 1 to 1.5 yrs so your return on investment is much shorter.

Yes capital can get pricey but this is where one must get creative.

I currently have 70 does on 40 ac and operate on a rotational grazing basis to keep the worm loads down. I feed protein tubs when needed (usually winter) with good alfalfa hay and good mineral and I stay out of the feed bags. I kid in April and sell the bucks in late fall. I sell my does as recips to folks that flush show goats or as breeding stock and slaughter.

I also run cattle behind the goat rotation to help kill the barber pole worm load and since I have grass left after the goat rotation. I currently run 8 Dexter cows and sell them as grass fed beef or breeding stock.

Since we know the $ will continue to be devalued and that we import over 50% of our goat meat the price is sure to keep climbing.

Just my 2 cents

Lee
Nicholson Farmz

Hay has doubled in price
Feed has gone up 20 percent in 2 weeks
And buyers won't budge on prices from 2 yrs ago
No, i have pets.......and i love them very much
and the ones i love less help me become more independent.

"You can make a small fortune in farming.....provided you start out with a large one." -- Author Unknown

Goats are definitely under the heading of "farming". That being said, no you will never get RICH with goats....in fact, you will never get RICH doing anything that is both moral and ethical. But you *can* make a decent living with goats...yes, even dairy goats.

The old saying is: "Find a job that you love and you will never work a day in your life." This especially holds true for goats. I know many small dairies that are doing well. Are they rich? No. But they have good houses, nice barns, and their cars are not old. They make a comfortable living doing something they love.

Which is about all any of us can ask for.

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Peace,
Caliann

"First, Show me in the Bible where it says you can save someone's soul by annoying the hell out of them." -- Chuck

I respectfully disagree. Most people who have goats are homesteading; they are not concerned with turning a profit, but with providing their own food, etc. A full-scale dairy, on the other hand, would be farming since they are making profits and producing excess food for sale on the market.
But that's just my opinion, and I'm done splitting hairs for now.

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I'm an environmentalist, left wing, Ron Paul loving Prius driver with a farm. If you have a problem with that, kindly go take a leap.

IMHO, even this only holds out so far. One of the vets my daughter job shadows got a call from someone like this (Boers). They had lost 100 kids before they finally called a vet in, I'm not sure how much money sense this makes? It was severe selenium deficiency by the way.

Making any money is rough. I know a commercial dairy, no one is getting rich (they have 250 animals). I feel that goats are a little different then say cows, they just don't have the capacity or market. Not that cow dairies are doing good either.

You are probably better off selling starts and vegetables at the farmers market.

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Idleness is leisure gone to seed

Actually, I'm doing alright money wise. Hay got non-existent and what I could find was crappy and expensive, add that to the rising feed costs and I had to sell out.

So, now I raise goats vicariously through this board, and I have to say, the pocket book is doing much better. But, I miss having goats in real life.

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The HIDDEN costs in NOT raising goats for milk, food, weed control etc.

Milk: Chemical hormone contamination, antibiotic resistance, risk of livestock disease pandemics, water pollution, petroleum use and pollution therefrom, deforestation for grazing species, government subsidy, food insecurity...

Meat: See above...

Weed control: Herbicide pollution and resistance, diesel pollution from bush-hogging tractors, deforestation for grazing species, spread of invasive plant species...

I work these in to the bottom line every time I wonder why I'm raising goats!

I'm not getting rich,but if being rich would mean not getting uo every morning and feeding and having my goats I will stay poor. However, I was pleased when I sat down a few days ago and started doing the figuring. Started back in "goat business" March 2011. We haven't even been to a stockyard, buy all off farms. Havn't even bought off craigslist. We start with buying a $60 dollar doe, our goal was 20 "Large Marge" boer nannies. As of today I have 14 very nice breed boer nannies, and seven nice 5 month old doelings.......and after all the figuers where said and done, I am down $9. We have bought and traded alot, even helped build barns for nannies. I'm going to feel good about all of this for a few weeks before I figure all the other expenses.

Looking back, I remember responding to this post. But since then I have been giving my answers alot of thought. The very basic math actually can add up. Yes, I have done alot of fencing (did it myself, but still expensive) bought equipment for the farm, paid to fix my old tractor up etc. But really, I'd do that anyway just because I own a farm. I can't expect my goats to pay for all of that!
So figuring up what they actually cost to buy, breed and keep. I had our own hay baled for 357.00 this year - that was 21 large round bales of good grass hay. I've scaled back on feeding grain to anyone not in milk and looked at all my other expenses. If I can raise more goats for the same outlay, then yes I can make a profit. I won't get rich. But I'm going to make a real effort : )

Someone mentioned not being able to become rich, but knowing people who had a nice home and were comfortable. By global standards achieving that in the states IS rich.

That said, based on reading, it seems like in many countries your as likely to do well with goats as you are with cattle in the states. We just have the market. If it was easy to get reliable prices for goat meat I bet more people would be perfecting management systems that make it profitable.

Also I noticed in third world nations it often seems some of the wealthiest are the goat owners. The way our economy is going that might be something to think about before to long here.

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I have a high desert arid mountainous climate. Working towards self sufficiency. The potentials of plant breeding and building micro climates amaze me. We must learn to ride the wave.

It is easier to get reliable goat meat prices than cattle prices. If that statement were true, we would already have superior goat management practices. What we actually need is a goat that can grow on minimal inputs like cows. Cows can eat fescue hay. Fescue hay starves a goat. ??? Most people find goats harder than cows. (They both have ups and downs, though.) That is, harder to make money on them.

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I'm an environmentalist, left wing, Ron Paul loving Prius driver with a farm. If you have a problem with that, kindly go take a leap.

The endophytes in certain strains of tall fescue actually kills goats.

It's not the feed, it is the infrastructure. Goats don't do well on grass. Sheep, cattle, and horses are grazers, so their systems are made to get all of their nutrient needs from *grass*. If you fed a cow a steady supply of leafy branches from the local tree trimming company, the cow would starve. The goat fed that diet, however, would thrive.

The problem is that too many people try to manage goats like cows.... and the same practices just won't work. Goats are more efficient than cows with their feed-to-output, but they require different feed . That feed is not necessarily more expensive. Goats thrive just fine on cheap, prairie hay (full of a variety of species), but can starve, or develop crippling deficiencies, on a diet of horse-quality bermuda.

Goats are not cows, and you can't manage them like cows. But they can be *cheaper* than cows, if managed like goats.

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Peace,
Caliann

"First, Show me in the Bible where it says you can save someone's soul by annoying the hell out of them." -- Chuck

What about using goats to create a cashflow?

I've heard of some entrepreneurs starting a "brush cleaning" business with goats!

You could get paid ca$h money to bring some goats and electric fence & charger and let them go to work!

It'll reduce your feed bill & put cash in your pocket...

I've seen prices from $500 per day with a herd of 25 goats...

You sell the service...

We raise Boer X and a few fullbloods. We have invested a fair amount of money into our operation. We buy only used but in good condition equipment. I am currently fencing in 27 acres of woods. Using 6 strand high tensile electric. We raise all of our own hay. Which is a very high quality grass hay. They do very good on the grass hay. We use a loose goat mineral. My wife is now taking our goats for a walk everyday in our hay fields. We have a Kelpie herding dog. The goats have been out for walks so much that they just follow us. Trying to save on the hay which we will sell any extra. The bottom line is we treat them like pets. They live a good life while they are here. But they are all for sale. 4h-breeding-pets-eating it doesn't matter. We set our price and stick to it. We miss out on a few sales but we are not giving them away. We grain only 1 month before kidding and for 1 month after. They do not get very much grain. We buy the best Fullblood buck that we can afford.We have around 40 does.
We do make money and plan on making more. The goats have paid their way.