Market for goats not for meat?

[Abouttime]

I am wondering if there is much of a market for raising goats to be sold as pets or for the show ring rather than for meat. I don't mean as a hobby, but as a serious money making, bill paying operation. Secondly, what are your opinions regarding the web sites that offer to provide you with a total herd, complete with a guard dog? Thanks in advance for your expertise.

[BrahmaMama]

I doubt it. Unless they are wool goats. I don't know much about that tho.
As for pets, then you'd have worry constantly if the person who's buying it is really capable of caring for it etc. Stupid city folk (and they WILL call) will think it would be cute to have one in the backyard. Honestly I wouldn't do it. It would become a pain.
Do some research on wool goats. The investment might be pricey, but you might really enjoy it.

[mygoat]

Yes the city people will call but if you are a good breeder you would be willing to teach them all they need to know. There is really no money in selling pets though. I produce pets only or working pets, and I do it just because I love goats too much. I would agree with going for cashmere production. Some cashmere producing goats sell for unbelievable amounts, but can be any breed. I was thinking to brush out my pygmy goats this year the old fashioned way and harvest thier cashmere, to make a scarf or something out of, just for fun. Goat cashmere is one of the finest animal fibers in the world, and goes for quite a nice price. You could go out and buy cashmere goats for a ton of money, or you could buy a heard of, say a high cashmere producing breed like pygmies, and then see if thier hair qualifies as cashmere. (there is a certain diameter, exc.) if not, sell them off with interest. Or you could go towards mohair, such as angora. They are profitable as well. Then all you have to do is check them monthly for screw worms (maggots) and shear them all twice a year. You can them either set up your own washing system, or sell it raw for a lowered price. The washed fibers go for more, and the raw price goes down depending on how much extras come with it, such as straw, hay and dirt.
I suppose you could also get into dairy production. You need special pasturizers and there are a ton of health rules that you must follow as well to sell to the public.

[homebirtha]

So far, we're quite pleased with fainting goats. We could have sold our first kids 10 times over. There is a lot of interest out there in them, mostly as pets. We get requests for information on an almost weekly basis and have had several people ask to be put on the list for our spring kid crop. Prices start at $125 for bucklings and $250 for doelings, and people are not even blinking at the price. They really pay for the rest of our goats (dairy goats) upkeep and feed.

What I'm finding with the dairy breeds is that it's harder to find good buyers willing to spend much on them. If you want to make money on your dairy kids, you have to start with excellent bloodlines and show, and win of course. Then there is a pretty good demand for those winning bloodlines. If you don't want to put the effort into regular showing (or milk testing), I think you'll have a harder time selling your kids for decent money.

[dlangland]

I think a lot of price will depend on your region. The most I have ever paid in the midwest for a purebred female goat kid, Nubians and Alpines, 2-3 months old is $25 to $30, transportation included. South Dakota/Iowa/Nebraska area. For real. A lot of it is knowing who to talk to, though. Up here, and I personally know a guy from SE South Dakota that runs a truck the boer goats operation. People have established a market for meat goat to the foreigners, but I as a vegetarian, that's not my thing. Deb

[dbarjacres]

I agree, for a pet market, Fainters are wonderful and sell VERY well $100-300 each. We've had so many calls for our fainters it was unreal. I wasn't happy with the breed itself (ours were so aloof, except our two super friendly does who died of pneumonia in June). After our two special does died and all the skittish ones were left, we sold out of them to go all boer. I love my boers, they make great pets, but lots of people will call on them for meat broodstock or meat itself. Prices on boers are very high. I bought a reg. fullblood doeling last fall, a runt, grew her well, bred her and selling her back to her breeder for $400. Not bad. One buck just sold at a big national sale for $75,000! We also have 2 lamancha bottle doelings that think they are people, but that's a fair sized goat if someone just wants a pet. Fainters are a nice size, and not escape artists. Only thing I can think of is with fainters is when we started with them spring 04 to when we sold out summer 05, the amount of breeders (those listed on the web alone) DOUBLED. That means the market will be quite large eventually and prices fall.

Beware of breeding pygmies. Most people I know of are lucky to get $50 for a doe and darn near give bucklings away.

[mygoat]

yeah youre right about the pygmies price...... registered stock go for alot more though. I wouldn't know.... I like my grades

[Abouttime]

Thank you so much for all your replies. Regarding what region-I am currently located in central Fl, but have bought property in southern WV and will be moving in January. As some of you may know that area is very poor, so I would think my buyers would not be local.

Did anyone have an opinion on the question of purchasing "complete herds" like some of the websites advertise?

If you think of anything else I should know, please do not hesitate to tell me. Other than having a goat or two as pets several times and loving them, I know nothing!

[Misty]

Many large breeders will offer these packages. It is often times a great answer for what one needs. One stop shopping. Watch your pedigree's. There are alot of people who want a couple of goats around.
I sell % boer does all the time for $150/pures for up to $500. You would have to have the best genetics. I don't sell bucks, as only the best get to keep their nards, they have all been market wethers. I sell those for a minimum of $100 unless I know a kid who just really can't afford it and wants one. But I work a full time job. It costs to keep them in "show condition" and I people want to buy something pretty, not something that is fed like commercial herds. It is a tough game to get into, good luck.

[moosemaniac]

Yahoo groups has groups for all breeds of dairy goat and I'm sure fiber as well. I'd get into the appropriate club. There's usually a lot of buying and selling going on in those. In fact, I bought 4 beautiful American Alpines that was. One of them was an amazing bargain. She's outstanding and gives amazing amounts of milk.

Ruth

[foxtrapper]

Know a number of folks who breed small goats for pets and make some money at it. Not a lot, but some.

Big money in being a premier breeder of X breed of goat. You've got to convince folk that your goats are incredible wonderfull perfect, etc. Ie, you've got to sell Jack the magic beans. Some folks can do this, most cannot.

[Abouttime]

Thanks, Buckshotboers-Nice web sites-do you sell "herds"?

[Cygnet]

The other thing to consider is not just the price of the goat, incidently, but the price of the UPKEEP, which varies regionally.

My area, there's no browse, period. I can get two types of hay -- bermuda, which is a horrible weed and is full of seeds, or alfalfa. I feed alfalfa at $9.50 for an 80-100# bale. It's annoying -- we're in one of the biggest hay growing regions in the US, and can't get decent hay for a decent price -- it's all sold to the dairies or shipped overseas.

Plus grain for the does in milk is around $10 for 50#.

There's no way I could sell enough kids at a high enough price to even break even. So I keep pets.

FWIW, if you have CAE/CL free stock in large goats, there's a market for tame wethers as pack goats. I've seen prices areound $150-200 for a good, tame, well socialized young wether.

Leva

[homebirtha]

If you have some links for this, I'd be very curious to read them. I've actually never heard of that before. My initial response to the idea is that, while it's nice to hit the ground running, I would rather build up my herd myself: choosing the characteristics and bloodlines I like. I could see it more for Boers or other meat goats, or maybe a small-scale dairy, rather then selling for smaller markets. But I'm curious to see what people offer.

My other thought would be starting off with a whole, large herd might be overwhelming. I think starting off small and building up as you are comfortable, and as you find a market to sell to, might make more sense from a financial standpoint.

Originally Posted by Abouttime

Did anyone have an opinion on the question of purchasing "complete herds" like some of the websites advertise?

[Abouttime]

There are several sites when I googled "goats for show", but here is the one I thought was most extensive-as I said they even offer the "guard dog" and a "herd expert" that you can "borrow" for a price to make the delivery and stay to "set up the herd". www.boer-show-goats.com - If you look at this site, check out the side bar where they calulate what your profit would be in 6, 12 and 18 months. I'd like to hear from somebody who knows, if this is realistic.

[Misty]

Originally Posted by Abouttime

Thanks, Buckshotboers-Nice web sites-do you sell "herds"?

I don't have any herds for sale. I do have a buck I plan on worming and feeding to sell. Time for something different. I will have kids in April, but that is it. Should start kidding in January.
Thanks.