Am I Off My Rocker?

[TroutRiver]

OK, so be honest, is this a terrible idea?

A friend of mine has 9 purebred nubians, 5 in milk. She has only herself and her family to feed, she doesn't sell milk or make cheese so she has no need to have that many goats and needs to sell some. She called me yesterday saying she was probably going to send them to auction, but if I was interested, I could have a look at the 3 does before she sends them off. Two are in milk, the other is a doeling from this year. She said for me, she would sell them for $75 each.

I am going to be moving my goats to the farm that I now manage next month, so that I can sell some goat's milk through their on-farm store (where they sell raw cows milk and grass fed beef). Having 3 in milk would allow me to sell more milk, and for $75 she would probably even pay for herself. One problem is that these does are dam-raising their kids right now and are first fresheners, so there's no way to tell how much milk they are producing. I know that as FFs they won't be producing a whole lot, but this might be my only chance to add another doe to my herd before the end of the summer, I just don't have $250+ to shell out on a really nice doe right now.

Some of her goats are registered, but I don't think these 3 are. They may be registerable. She does not use rotational grazing so I'm worried about parasites, but I do still have some ivomec plus, *hypothetically speaking* if I bought one, and wormed her with that immediately, then started her on a rotation, would I be safe?

I'm going to take a look at them this afternoon, I am going to scout it out very closely. She is a friend of mine and an honest person, but her and I agree to disagree on certain points of management (like parasite management, rotational grazing, feed, etc). Her herd has tested negative for CAE.

Am I a complete idiot for considering this???

[freedomfrom4]

A healthy cae negative animal for $75 is not something you are gonna lose money on. If she doesn't work out you can always get your money back out of them. If it was me I would buy the 2 milkers and milk them for a while to see who I liked then sell the one I didn't. Personality and milkability both mean alot at my house.

[Alice In TX/MO]

I'd jump on that opportunity if they look good, have good teats and udders, and you are confident of their 'raising.'

[CaliannG]

Disease free, purebred, in milk, register-able Nubian FFs for $75 each? Heck, unless their udders are falling OFF, they are a great deal at $175!

The testing is important. CAE neg., no abscesses, etc., because those diseases cannot be cured. Parasites you can treat. Hooves can be trimmed, diet can be changed, minerals can be supplemented, but you can't UN-infect a diseased goat.

As an FF, they will be giving about half what they will produce next freshening. But with a good dairy goat, that is still a lot! So what if she only gives a 1/2 gallon a day.... she is still producing value in excess of the resources needed for her care and upkeep.

No, you are not crazy for considering this. If you don't jump on this, I may have to go to Vermont just to whack you upside the head with my cast iron skillet.

[TroutRiver]

Well, I just went to look at them. The doeling has an "eye thing" and she doesn't know what it is. Her left eye has been watery on and off since she was born, but does not look infected and doesn't seem to bother her. What might that be? She said the vet didn't seem overly concerned about it, and she didn't see the need to spend hundreds of dollars fixing it if it wasn't bothering her (our vet kind of sucks, he overcharges for everything and tends to take a "stab in the dark" approach to fixing health problems, and usually misses).

That doeling's dam is probably the best looking out of the 3. Her udder is very small (but she's still nursing her doeling) but her body condition looks great, her eyelids are nice and pink and her coat is shiny and healthy looking.

She said she would sell me both (FF and her doeling) for $100. I'm not sure what I think about the doeling, with her unidenified "eye thing." But she can always be resold or used for meat. I feel like it would be dumb to turn down that offer. They do look healthy and well cared for, and I will worm the heck out of them first thing when they get here.

They are not registered but all of her goats are purebred nubians. She says she has paperwork on them, but couldn't remember off the top of her head which ones came from which dams.

She is having second thoughts as to whether or not she wants to sell the other FF, who is a little bigger, nice body condition, pink eyelids, but her coat is a little scruffy looking. She asked if I'd be interested if she did want to sell her, I said maybe/probably. I'm not going to take them for a couple more weeks, since I'm moving my goats pretty soon, I might as well wait until then. But it looks like I'm going to be adding to the herd... I don't know if I should celebrate or slap myself

[Alice In TX/MO]

I have a MiniMancha who used to have that Eye Thing of runny eyes. It stopped when I got a cobalt block. I don't leave it out all the time, just about one week per month.

Absolutely celebrate!! WOO HOOO!!!

[ozark_jewels]

Did you look to see if the doeling has turned in eyelids? This can cause off and on eye irritation and is fixable by a vet or a determined owner.
Even non-registerable healthy Nubians for $75 is cheap. I had a similiar chance lately and had to pass due to not enough room.

[TroutRiver]

Originally Posted by ozark_jewels

Did you look to see if the doeling has turned in eyelids? This can cause off and on eye irritation and is fixable by a vet or a determined owner.

Nope, her eyes looked perfectly normal to me, besides the left one being watery.

[Govero Farms]

Sound like she got allergies.

[Ranger]

I would love to be able to get some nice does for that kind of money! As long as they are healthy,( I don't think the eye thing would make me turn one down), I would definately go for it.

[TroutRiver]

Thanks guys. Y'all convinced me. Looks like I'm definitely getting 1, maybe 2 more milkers for this summer, and a doeling who I'm not sure what I'll do with...

[Alice In TX/MO]

Here's what happens with doelings. You fall in love with them, then you decide to breed them to see what kind of kids they have. Then you have to breed them the second year to see how her udder looks as a second freshener. Then, she is part of the family.

Edited to add:
THEN, you have all the doeling's kids to deal with. This is how you go from two goats to twenty two in three years.

I'm back down ten and need to sell at least two bucks.