Is this a fair price for an alpine?

TSYORK · #1 03/16/11, 11:41 AM

I have found a full blooded Alpine doeling for sale locally. She is actually out of commercial milking lines, and the seller says that once she is bred and kids that she will "pour" milk; the stock she is out of is extremely heavy milkers. The doeling is clean and negative and from a closed herd. The lady is asking $75.00 for the doeling. Is this a fair price. She said the doeling is already eating some hay and grain, but I know I will have to bottle feed her some.

Your thoughts?

mekasmom · #2 03/16/11, 12:03 PM

The last one I bought that came from a dairy was $125, but turned out to not be worth it. I bought some older ones for less than $50 that were great. Yours seems like a reasonable deal, and hopefully she will turn out to be a wonderful goat for you.

LoneStrChic23 · #3 03/16/11, 12:25 PM

As long as she's clean and you have test on the dam to prove she's clean, then I'd go for it. I paid more for my ADGA alpine bottle buck and was looking at a bottle doe for $150.

Is she registerable?

**mygoat** · #4 03/16/11, 12:30 PM

I wouldn't take her WORD for anything. Official paperwork is required to back up these claims, IMO.

WHAT is the herd tested for? When was the last test? Abscess free? Did you see test results from a reputable lab? WADDL and Biotracking (though biotracking only does CAE and pregnancy testing) are both very reputable testing facilities. State testing facilities are often not used because of accuracy issues and testing styles. I personally test for CL, CAE, and Johne's - some only test for CAE... Which in a closed herd just might mean everybody in the herd has CL/Johne's, IMO.

Official milk records should also be seen to prove that this doeling will 'pour' milk. (DHI records on dam, dam's dam, sire's dam) Personal records can be written however they please. If you can only get DHI records from the dam or dam's sire, you may be able to look up other records on ADGA if the goats are registered/recorded and you're a member of ADGA. Sure, goats can be great milkers and not have official records of doing so - but in every other case you'll just be taking her word for it. You could ask to come over for a PM milking the afternoon of the visit, and that way you'd be there to SEE how her dams/sisters/cousins milk and that would be just as good IMO.

an UNregistered (I'm assuming because she's only 75.00), strong milk lines, disbudded, UTD on vaccines/cocci prevention/wormings, disease free, healthy - and I would expect to pay 125.00 for a doeling at least. 75.00 is a steal if everything pans out!

FYI I would still feed her milk - as much as you can afford - until she is at LEAST 3 months old. Many of us feed as much and as long a we can afford to do so, up to 6 months or more. The quicker you can ge them to breeding size, the better.

thaiblue12 · #5 03/16/11, 03:53 PM

For $75 if the herd tested negative for CAE it is a great price. The test for CL is inaccurate and a waste of money. Look at the herd, feel them for lumps, look for scars of erupted lumps. Also for that price I would not expect reg papers, if you get them great but if not, oh well. Unless you are planning to show or sell show stock, papers do not matter for personal home milking.

But you cannot have one goat, do you have others? Or will she be willing to sell you a pair of doelings or a cheap wether close to the doeling's age? A lonely goat is not a happy goat and for sure will let you and your neighbor's know about it!

**mygoat** · #6 03/16/11, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thaiblue12

The test for CL is inaccurate and a waste of money.

For a disease that is pretty effectively 'walled off' from the rest of the body and found only in the lymphatic system, the test is pretty accurate, IMO. Especially through WADDL, where (if I understood the last phone discussion I had with the lab) if they get some response on the test (which can be environmental from similar types of bacteria) they do further testing to check for the toxins produced by the particular CL bacterium. This, IMO, makes it as reliable as it can be. MY OPINION is that I'd rather spend the 9.00 and get all the help I can get to keep CL off of the farm. I can understand the reasoning behind abscess free - but once again you have to take the word of the owner. Whereas, with subsequent testing you can be more and more certain of the status of your herd. And, it's the only way to help find goats with internal abscesses aside from chronic wasting. IMO, both techniques of keeping CL out of the herd are worthless without ISOLATION of ALL incoming stock.

Either way, always, always, always isolate. If need be, see if you can pick up a cheap/free wether with the doeling and house them together in a temporary pen away from your main goat herd.

oregon woodsmok · #7 03/16/11, 05:41 PM

That would be cheap in my neighborhood.

TSYORK · #8 03/16/11, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thaiblue12

For $75 if the herd tested negative for CAE it is a great price. The test for CL is inaccurate and a waste of money. Look at the herd, feel them for lumps, look for scars of erupted lumps. Also for that price I would not expect reg papers, if you get them great but if not, oh well. Unless you are planning to show or sell show stock, papers do not matter for personal home milking.

But you cannot have one goat, do you have others? Or will she be willing to sell you a pair of doelings or a cheap wether close to the doeling's age? A lonely goat is not a happy goat and for sure will let you and your neighbor's know about it!

I have a bred lamancha coming from a friend who is paring down her herd; she's supposed to kid next month.

Creamers · #9 03/17/11, 03:28 PM

Quote:

The test for CL is inaccurate and a waste of money

I agree - you have no idea if the goat is really negative. . .
but honestly, the longer I'm in goats, the more I don't pay as much attention to Neg CAE blood tests either - though I STILL test my herd yearly and only buy from tested herds.

I sell my kids for $300 bottle fed or no - so $75 for a darn good price. .

LittleRedHen · #10 03/17/11, 05:56 PM

its a common price around here. I bought mine for $25 from a commercial dairy but she needed to get rid of them quickly as she had to sell the milk so she was having to purchase milk replacer to feed to the kids. She had 90 goats due to kid so she just didn't have time or interest to wait around for people to buy at a higher price. $25 gets them out of her hair fast! lol.. Anyways. Typical personal home sales it is common to be anywhere from $50 to $150 for a bottle alpine doeling. I am getting my alpine buckling for only $35 but their doelings are $100

LaManchaPaul · #11 03/17/11, 06:35 PM

I wish that I could find a LaMancha doeling within driving distance for that price. I'd prefer registered. Sounds like a good deal.

TSYORK · #12 03/17/11, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaManchaPaul

I wish that I could find a LaMancha doeling within driving distance for that price. I'd prefer registered. Sounds like a good deal.

a friend of mine is selling a lot of her 2nd freshening lamancha does. she's paring down her heard. They come from a naturally raised farm and they have been well taken care of, but I am sure NC is too far for you to travel.