Anyone do Commercial Goat farming

[fitwind]

Does anyone do commercial meat goat farming? Or tried to do it? I was looking into it, but was interested in peoples opinions and experiences. What kind of goats? How many? How much investment to start? Marketing Value?

[Slugmar]

I'm currently developing my herd for commerical, private sales for projects and breeding stock replacers and lawn orterments (colorful animals). I would recommend to start looking at your area and see what is selling, check out your local auction yards and any local resturants that might be looking for some goat meat.

Your going to have to think about feed with alot of goats your going to need alot of feed and keeping them healthy medication or even a vet to come out and care for them if you don't want to.

there alot to think about just start slowely its what I'm doing.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Current prices in south central Missouri:
http://www.bubranch.com/GoatSaleInfo.html

[HappyFarmer]

You want to buy decent does, and most important a good solid buck, fast growing. If you buy a buckling insist on seeing the dam & sire.

Your herd should come from farms that manage similar to your style of management. For example, if you import goats from a dry arid area to a wet & humid area, there can be a long acclimation time, though the kids from that breeding should fare fairly well. Don't buy pampered pets.

You want little input. You cannot make any money on meat goats if you have to buy lots of grains to sustain them through the winter. Hay can be expensive too, depending your area & draught & whatnot.

Ask the breeder about worming schedules, feet issues, and weight gain. Not a bad idea to ask about Johne's, CLA, & CAE. It is true many meat goat breeders don't care about these dehibilitating diseases, but there are some who do test. Your start up herd will become your breeders, if they are good it would be a shame to lose your best doe or buck to one of the big 3. Expect to pay a higher price, but research has shown these diseases do indeed take a toll on the bottom line. (no, I don't have a link handy).

You want to rotate your pastures, follow with a different species, and you want livestock dogs & good fencing.

Each breeder has their favorite breed. There are good bloodlines & bad bloodlines, then there are those that can't manage a herd of goats & both good & bad bloodlines perform below expectations, or they die. Learn to differentiate the facts from bad management. My favorite is the Myotonic.

Cornell has a nice pic of before & after evaluations of carcases, a nice visual.

Start with a few good goats, an excellent buck, learn while you are small. Breed up, change bucks, and grow. Remember minimal input, maximum output = profit.

HF

[bloogrssgrl]

In addition to the information posted above, get yourself to some workshops and seminars. If you have a Tractor Supply store near you, pick up a copy of Goat Rancher magazine - they usually have information on events going on around the country. You can get some very good help from experienced people and also begin to build a network.

[Cannon_Farms]

there is a nice butchering thread on this forum, very educational.

Goats are high right now at least hear, Im trying to put together a commercial herd and where people where practically giving me goats last year i cant find any for sale this year. course its not really kidding season either

[chris30523]

The more you spend for an animal doesn't make it a good animal. The worst mistake I made starting out was buying registered does from a show herd. They were very nice looking animals an fit what I wanted to a T . They had been barn raised and overwormed and didn't fare well in a pasture\browse situation. I still have one surviving doe out of that batch and several kids. The best goats I bought were unregistered boers from a farm with practices about like mine that was 8 yrs ago and I still have most of those does and they are still producing for me.

[Cannon_Farms]

and thats why im trying to buy from chris and people like chris,