Starting with Boer goats- peigree important?

[InHisName]

What is IMPORTANT when it comes to raising Boers? - Had someone tell me today start with a 100% Buck the best you can afford. Mine will not be for show, but I want to raise quality meat goats. Can someone give me advice on selecting Boers? What is a fair price for a meat goat percentage doe, (for breeding purposes) and a buck? Is anyone familiar with LeaningTree?
Thanks!
Teri

[firefly81]

around here you can ussually get a precenage doe without papers for 125, with papers around 175 but goes up with certian bloodlines. and it depends what precenage they are too, and if you are buying them with kids already on the ground. and age is a big factor too 2 to 3 year olds are going to be alot more than an older doe. hope this helps a little maybe someone closer to you will be able to give you more info.

[HazyDay]

ok, if you just looking for a meaty goat. Buy THE BEST BUCK you can get. Then buy some nubian cross boers or boer does (don't get another mix if a dairy goat without floppy ears. just look better and if your selling for 4-h then floppy ears look better then airplane ears!) Don't get a pure nubain there udders break down but a boer cross nubian will have a very good milk supply and high udder. With the best boer, you add meatyness, size, and %.
After 4 generations you will have a 99.8% pure boer. Or to be safe buy 4 very good does and 1 very good buck.

[HazyDay]

Originally Posted by firefly81

around here you can ussually get a precenage doe without papers for 125.

we have only a few breeders around but got a 3 month old boer doeling for 70.00 (100% boer without papers) And got another yearling bred doe for 100.00 (she turned out not bred but is 100% boer with no papers) We also got a 4 month old doe for 60.00 (100% with out papers and brother was kept for a herd sire.)

The first 2 does came from the same farm. They have the same sire a very famous canndian champion. He is reg but she owns him and all the blood tests are just to much work.

[devdragon33]

Well we have a fullblood boer buck and we have been offered $500.00 for him many times and we stud him out to other people for $100.00 each goat they breed to (we typically have people lined up to use him). We sell our precentage does for 125.00-175.00 depending on how good they are. We sold a pure bred boer doe to someone for $250.00 (bred).
Number one thing I would say to watch for with boers is that they do not have hoof rot. When we got ours we had an on going battle with it for over a year. Also we had trouble with milking. The major thing where I live is people try to say that their goats are boer or part boers, but when it really comes down to it they are not or they are from bad lines. Now for meat you dont have to worry about that but we show ours.
We breed our boers with other heavy body breeds (sannen and Percentage boers mixed with Sannen,Nubian or LaMancha) Which gives us heavy bodied babies but that are also good milkers. They sell really well and show really well. We will have 1 possibly 2 girls for sale this year. One is pure alpine (bought her mother already bred) and one that is 50% boer and 50% mixed.

[topside1]

Teri, Firefly is dead on with price...Adult percentage does in my area are $125-$150, these does would be of average quality, not junk. Over time you will be able to spot junk verses quality. A quick way to learn is visit the local goat sale barn and you will see the good, bad and ugly. I wouldn't sell any of my percentage girls for less than $135 simply because they have been well maintained and produce excellent offspring.

[jen74145]

Well, I live in Texas, Boer Goat central. I've seen groups of four of five percentage does and a buck, grade, go for $800 for the lot. A percentage doe on her own usually goes for 200 on up here...

[KSALguy]

who ever told you to get the Best Pure bred Registerd buck you can afford is dead on the money, the buck will be HALF your herd, you can put him on any number of does, Boer crosses well with most any dairy or brush goat, and if you have the BEST REGISTERD buck you can afford then you can register ALL his daughters and castrate all his sons for butcher, big meaty animals perfect for what your looking for, keep the best of his daughters as replacements, you can use him again for a while with his daughters just cull responcibly, then after a couple seasons you ahve a good quality percentage herd of does you can sell off the original starter Does you used to get here, sell or trade up with the buck, and keep going for the best possible, always use the BEST buck WITH papers, if you dont have the paper work you basically have nothing, because you cant prove ANYTHING with out a paper trail, people have claimed anything with a white body and red head as pure when its no where close.

your starter doe herd can be anything really, you can start out with dairy, or Spanish(scrub goats) or even Angora and cashmear does, as long as they are well built with long sturdy frames, good hight, and as much width as you can find, you dont have to spend alot if you know what your looking for, put them with a Pure Boer buck and you got pay dirt with out spending a fortune except on the buck. and he will more than earn his keep by produceing lots of registerable daughters and lots of edible sons

[Feral Nature]

Originally Posted by jen74145

Well, I live in Texas, Boer Goat central. I've seen groups of four of five percentage does and a buck, grade, go for $800 for the lot. A percentage doe on her own usually goes for 200 on up here...

That's about right for percentage around these parts too.

[KristineinKS]

The prices here, in South Central Kansas, are right in line with what everyone else has quoted - we looked at some Sunday that were $125.-150. for unregistered 50-75% Boer doelings (vs. $175.-200. if registered). Aside from that, I'm really too inexperienced to tell you what percentages would be best, but I'd make a semi-educated guess that the higher percentage the better; this site that has some helpful information: Boer Goat Information (from Clear Creek Farm) & I'm sure that you'll get more great advice here as well.

[InHisName]

Thanks! That confirms what the person selling has said- her husband is a vet, I am thinking these goats are in tip top shape. He is a yearling and they want $500 for him- seems about right.
Teri

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by InHisName

Thanks! That confirms what the person selling has said- her husband is a vet, I am thinking these goats are in tip top shape. He is a yearling and they want $500 for him- seems about right.
Teri

I paid $500 for my FB Boer buckling when he was three months old. I have never regreted it and wouldn't part with him for anything. He throws awesome kids on every doe he breeds. My favorite is using a FB Boer buck on 50/50 Dairy/Boer does. My personal favorites have been the Lamancha and Saanan, Boer crosses. They produce wonderful kids from a good buck and grow them fast. Go for it!!

[devdragon33]

I totally agree with Ozark. We breed different things but our favorite is the boer crossed with LaMancha or Sannen. We tend to sell off the rest of them. This year our sannen gave us two bucks so that is what we are trying to sell off. We got a lot of color this year out of our Boer LaMancha cross and we will be keeping those I will post photos of my goat later for all to see. We might have two does to sell off later

[Jcran]

Ok, price talk aside, do you know the song "I like big butts and I cannot lie"? It's a rap or hiphop song (being a bluegrass lover myself, I don't know which) but it should apply to the buck you buy. You want width and length with good bone throughout. A big butt can mean more meat. If you see a buck you are interested in, see if you can't find pics or lineage of his sire. I spent a lot on my buck but its to improve the overall length and width of my does' progeny. I charged 95 per breeding to him this year and he's already paid for himself. Next year, I'll sell him and go looking for another buck who'll improve on what this buck's given me.

[Jim S.]

For top dollar, raise purebred Boers and become a show farmer. Invest your time in getting prizes and ennoblements. Your kids will go high over time.

For meat goats, get milk or Spanish does, maybe some that have been already crossed with Boer once. Get a Boer buck, or high percentage Boer buck. Concentrate on controlling your input labor and other costs.

Either way, some of the conformational things to look for are, in no particular order: springy ribs (wide ribcage viewed over the back), a prominent chest shelf extending in front of the forelegs (sign of early maturity, a good thing), good width at top of foreleg (a sign of good meat carcass), a full and meaty butt, straight legs (not cowhocked), wide chest, smaller-sized head (kidding ease on progeny), the largest scrotal circumference you can find in a buck, two well-formed teats (no fish teats or false teats) in a doe with four distinct teats a bonus, no overshot or undershot jaws.

I'm a meat farmer, so pedigree doesn't matter to me as much as conformation. My current high-percentage Boer buck was bought from the sale barn for $75 as a 10-month old. He was sold as one of a group of five in the sale ring, all like peas in a pod. He throws good kids out of my mongrel does, and with the right does, he throws excellent kids. I have one right now that is 11 days old that looks like a 3-week-old.

[needstoknowmore]

You won't go wrong getting a buck from Leaning Tree!! I will be getting a buck out of their lines this year. I can't wait until I can bring him home!!!! I am already dreaming of the improvements he is going to give to my little herd!!!

[InHisName]

thanks! Will watch the rear end, too! Hubby wants to know, how old when bucks start to service the does, and how many years are they useful? (what is the age of an old goat- I know a few, but they are people!) needstoknowmore- how did you start your herd? Can you reccomend places in WA to get decent goats?

[HazyDay]

Originally Posted by InHisName

thanks! Will watch the rear end, too! Hubby wants to know, how old when bucks start to service the does, and how many years are they useful? (what is the age of an old goat- I know a few, but they are people!) needstoknowmore- how did you start your herd? Can you reccomend places in WA to get decent goats?

bucks can breed at 3 or less. But a 6 month old can sire 10 does all in the time time (friends nubian did! His kids are dropping like flys now! And all of them had 3!)

A buck can breed up to 12 yeats (so im told) but some say retire them at 10 years and have some chevon burgers!!!!!

[KSALguy]

bucks will start breeding at a few months old, and can keep breeding up untill they die, but it does slow down with old age and he wont be able to service a LARGE doe herd in rappid succession like a younger animal will,

you can tell the age of a goat by looking at the front teeth, count over from center the number of large adult teeth, they will have a new set every year up untill about 5 or six i think, and will stay solid for a few years then start to loose some as they pass the midway mark, once they have a solid mouth you cant really tell for sure how old they are 100% but they still have quite a few good years left in them if their a good animal,
double digits is old in a goat, but they can live in to the teens if well cared for,

[firefly81]

Originally Posted by topside1

Teri, Firefly is dead on with price...Adult percentage does in my area are $125-$150, these does would be of average quality, not junk. Over time you will be able to spot junk verses quality. A quick way to learn is visit the local goat sale barn and you will see the good, bad and ugly. I wouldn't sell any of my percentage girls for less than $135 simply because they have been well maintained and produce excellent offspring.

SORRY NEVER MIND