Boer or not?

hilltopflock · #1 05/22/11, 07:29 AM

I just got my first goat since I was a kid 35 years ago! Back then we didn't have boer goats, but I'm pretty sure he's at least part if not full boer what do you think? And not sure about his age? I know he's young and weights 38lbs any guess on his age also I'm thinking about 3 mos??? I bought him at a auction so that's why I don't know much about him except he's friendly and my have been bottle fed by how calm he is around people!
Boer or not? - Goats

Thanks Hilltopflock

Alice In TX/MO · #2 05/22/11, 07:52 AM

Yes, Boer. And, I'm glad you are back into goats.

What are your goat plans?

hilltopflock · #3 05/22/11, 08:03 AM

I plan on start to raise Boer goats and a few milk breeds also I have 5.5 ac of land to do something with about 1.5 in pasture already! What about his age any guess?

nehimama · #4 05/22/11, 08:26 AM

By the size of his horns, I'd guesstimate about 6 months. And if he's not a Boer, he's a darned good imitation of one -

Alice In TX/MO · #5 05/22/11, 08:44 AM

Just a word of caution. STRONG caution. The goats at auctions are someone's rejects, and you can't get any idea of the previous owner's health care regimen for his animals. There are a couple of goat diseases that you need to avoid introducing to your property, and auction goats are more likely to have those.

Before you buy more goats, especially if you are going to have milk goats, work on finding goat breeders in your area. Visit their farms and ask whether they test for CAE (caprine arthritis encephalitis) and ask if they have abscesses on their goats. Abscesses can be a symptom of CL (Caseous Lymphadenitis). Both of those are diseases to avoid!

Again, welcome to our board and to goat ownership.

KSALguy · #6 05/22/11, 10:34 AM

he looks like a high percentage, a pure bred registerd animal wouldnt go for sale at a generic sale barn with out alot of advertizeing, is he intact?

mekasmom · #7 05/22/11, 10:48 AM

Very boer.
You can always tell bottle babies by if they suck your fingers or not when you come up to them. At least that's how I tell. I only buy bottle fed kids.
Boer are very friendly. They can also be very pushy.

hilltopflock · #8 05/22/11, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KSALguy

he looks like a high percentage, a pure bred registerd animal wouldnt go for sale at a generic sale barn with out alot of advertizeing, is he intact?

Yes he's intact and this auction is loaded with registered boer goats every first Sat of the month they're just alot more costly!

SSacres · #9 05/22/11, 02:13 PM

Yep, high % Boer, face looks to long & narrow to be fullblood. There is a glutten of Boers here (SE Michigan) now, so you can hardly give them away, registered or not. After the second year of slow market I went down to four does last year and didn't breed any of them. Put two from the last kidding season in the freezer and the local farm auction has large groups every two weeks.

mekasmom · #10 05/22/11, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hilltopflock

Yes he's intact and this auction is loaded with registered boer goats every first Sat of the month they're just alot more costly!

Usually you can just buy the goat, sans papers, for less even if it is registered. A few years back I bought a registered boer doe carrying twins for $80. I wasn't interested in the papers, just the kids to give to the 4H give a way. I resold the doe after she kidded for the same price. I just lost about $7 on the auction fee and vet check. We bottle fed the kids for a couple of weeks then sent them to the 4H fair give a way. But, if you hit an auction with LOTS of goats, prices can be very reasonable.

The next year, I actually bought a pregnant boer from a private sale for $75. She was not registered. Unfortunately, she was FF, and only had one kid, a doeling. I resold Mom, but only got about $65, so that kid cost us a bit more to give to the 4H event.

I don't keep boers, just a couple of milkers and sometimes a pet or two.

Creamers · #11 05/22/11, 06:22 PM

As Alice said, you want CL/CAE free goats only these aren't going to be at auctions, typically. . .

If he only weighs 38 lbs and is 6 months old - (which he looks to be 4-6 from the horns) - he either is a cross with a Nigi or Pygmy or has been stuntded by Coccidia -

He is a very cute - congrats on getting back into goats.

HappyFarmer · #12 05/22/11, 08:40 PM

He looks to be boer or boer cross.

I'd say 3-4 months, being male his horn base would be larger making him look older, they are not very long. The white dip between the horns makes them appear longer and have hair growing waaay up the horn, appears to be an illusion to me.

Ditto the stay away from Auctions.

HF

Oat Bucket Farm · #13 05/22/11, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HappyFarmer

He looks to be boer or boer cross.

I'd say 3-4 months, being male his horn base would be larger making him look older, they are not very long. The white dip between the horns makes them appear longer and have hair growing waaay up the horn, appears to be an illusion to me.

Ditto the stay away from Auctions.

HF

That is quite the optical allusion going on, on his head isn't it? LOL. It does make it look like the hair is growing way up rather large horns when in reality there are fairly small points sticking out. I would guestimate 3-4 months as well.

coonripper · #14 05/23/11, 07:46 AM

The great auction controversy. Here in Iowa many a good quality goat goes through the sale barn. Goats are raised for meat and if you dont have enough market animals to fill a semi yourself the only other market is the salebarn. Your goat is most likely a market animal and i wouldnt be affraid to purchase them and take them home. With that said i would isolate it from the others and have it tested. Not all salebarn animals are rejects.

HappyFarmer · #15 05/23/11, 08:09 AM

Have a 4 month old tested for what?

Under 6 months and all testing is useless. Under 3 years some tests are useless. Blood tests are not 100% accurate. Some fecal tests are useless unless the animal is shedding. I'm curious as to what value the said testing would be while under quarantine?

Yes you could potentially purchase a perfectly healthy animal at a sale barn. However sale barns are also culling points for many herds, not to mention the co-mingling with other goats.

Couple that fact that the OP is looking to breed dairy AND meat goats, those dairy won't be worth squat if they aren't tested and negative, or worse are diseased because the OP didn't screen their herd prior to collecting the breeding stock for their long-term goal.

This is not meant to indicate that meat breeders should not irradicate diseases, but instead to point out that any breeding stock worth squat is not breeding stock perpetuating diseases. Not to mention the fact that diseases do not favor one type (dairy or meat or fiber) over the other.

The first place show winner or highest gain weight over time isn't worth squat if it is diseased. It is far easier to purchase clean stock from the git-go than it is to irradicate once the herd has reached higher numbers.

Added: I take that back. They would be worth something, around $2.00/lb. at the sale barn.
HF

RedSonja · #16 05/23/11, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hilltopflock

I just got my first goat since I was a kid 35 years ago! Back then we didn't have boer goats, but I'm pretty sure he's at least part if not full boer what do you think? And not sure about his age? I know he's young and weights 38lbs any guess on his age also I'm thinking about 3 mos??? I bought him at a auction so that's why I don't know much about him except he's friendly and my have been bottle fed by how calm he is around people!

Thanks Hilltopflock

He's very cute. Does he have another goatie friend or two for company? He will be a very unhappy goat if he doesn't have herdmates.

Welcome back to goat owning.

It was 25 years between goat owning for me, it's nice to have them around again. Most of the time at least

-Sonja

**mygoat** · #17 05/23/11, 12:59 PM

Good animals CAN go through sale barns. They can come from tested, disease free herds, too.

HOWEVER, if you buy from an auction, you must realize that animals with abscesses are run through there all the time. Cows can also get the same form of CL that goats get as well as sheep. So, between the 3 animals it is very likely that an animal with an open CL abscess has gone through - possibly on a fairly regular basis. The auction is a perfect place for 'clean' animals to pick up the disease from other animals and surfaces they come in contact with while there.

Even a healthy, disease free goat could at least be carrying diseases on their body physically, like CL or Johne's. Due to the stress of being caught, transported, sold, re-transported, and introduced to new surroundings is enough to compromise any immune system, meaning the new animals themselves are much more likely to pick something up, even if previously disease free. Even CAE can be transmitted horizontally through daily forms of contact in a herd. Not common, but possible. Factor in the stress and that most animals at auctions are culls (due to disease, unthriftiness etc) it's pretty easy to get sickly critters at an auction.

Wanted to say, I agree percentage boer. The ears are really short to be purebred, I'm going to guess around 75% or so. Probably some erect-ear breed in the background somewhere.

I have some 75% and 88% boer does with LaMancha ears.

mekasmom · #18 05/23/11, 02:05 PM

I'm just glad you got your goat. It's wonderful to see people with growing herds and starting herds. You did fine. Enjoy him. If in the future you decide to get high quality, purebred, goats for showing then that's great too. If you just want to buy at a reasonable cost and raise them out, that's great too. But the very most important thing is you started in goats. YEAH!!!!! Get a friend for him and enjoy them. Your freezer will have a lot more meat in it this fall! Good job.