Is anyone getting rich raising goats?

[HDRider]

How are you doing it?

Nanny/Kid?
Breed Stock?
Replacement Animals?
Abattoir?

Retail Meat Sale?
........Live Animals?
........Processed Animals?
........Ethnic Markets?

[Minelson]

Far from rich in the monetary aspect...but in the Mind, Body & Soul....Yes VERY rich!!!

[Bambitski]

I agree they do the mind and soul good. And in turn the body. I wouldnt trade my hobby for anything. You cant look at them in monetary values. Sure make some money, but in turn that goes back into my hobby farm. If I make a few extra in the long run, fine. But I am not looking to get rich. More at sharing the love and joy they bring. They are like my children. Full of love and sometimes a little obstinate. But what can you do?

[Oat Bucket Farm]

Of course I'm getting rich raising goats. Wait, this is opposite day right?

[yarrow]

getting rich??? as in MONEY RICH??? new to goats are ya??? LOL.... I have NEVER come close to breaking even.. and doubt I ever will... Just herd wide testing alone in 2011, set me back well over $2000. My hay bill was right at $1600 and my feed bill $4000.... naw, I'm not getting rich

Lots of my lack of making money off the herd is my own choice. I do sell kids (actually all kids were spoken for this spring, before kidding began.. I already have quite a few reserves for next spring). I rarely sell adults (I NEVER sell a doe over 6years.. that stay here and live out their lives).. I don't sell milk.. I don't make any dairy products or soap for anyone outside my own family.. the goats are here for our enjoyment.. just a hobby..(granted it's a BIG hobby LOL) I don't want to milk year round (I like kidding out in March/April.. milking/bottling/raising up my keeper kids.. but by Sept.. I'm goat-ed out.. I dry up everyone and spend my fall not tied down to the milk barn).. My husband is an over the road trucker.. gone a lot of the time.. the herd & their up keep are his gift to me.. something to keep me busy and not missing him, so badly.. when he's gone so much... so I am very rich when it comes to love.. from the goats, from the hubby.. life is good..

susie, mo ozarks

[HDRider]

Originally Posted by yarrow

getting rich??? as in MONEY RICH??? new to goats are ya??? LOL.... I have NEVER come close to breaking even.. and doubt I ever will... Just herd wide testing alone in 2011, set me back well over $2000. My hay bill was right at $1600 and my feed bill $4000.... naw, I'm not getting rich

Lots of my lack of making money off the herd is my own choice. I do sell kids (actually all kids were spoken for this spring, before kidding began.. I already have quite a few reserves for next spring). I rarely sell adults (I NEVER sell a doe over 6years.. that stay here and live out their lives).. I don't sell milk.. I don't make any dairy products or soap for anyone outside my own family.. the goats are here for our enjoyment.. just a hobby..(granted it's a BIG hobby LOL) I don't want to milk year round (I like kidding out in March/April.. milking/bottling/raising up my keeper kids.. but by Sept.. I'm goat-ed out.. I dry up everyone and spend my fall not tied down to the milk barn).. My husband is an over the road trucker.. gone a lot of the time.. the herd & their up keep are his gift to me.. something to keep me busy and not missing him, so badly.. when he's gone so much... so I am very rich when it comes to love.. from the goats, from the hubby.. life is good..

susie, mo ozarks

Not new to goats, and judging by the responses, as a business it looks very UNprofitable.

I was hoping to hear from people that are doing this as a business, a going concern.

[where I want to]

Yeah- my vet is doing quite well from my raising goats..............

[PaulNKS]

We aren't getting rich, but with goats, yes, you can make money. The key is in the numbers. You have to have a lot of goats to make it profitable. We've always had cattle and several hundred acres and we've always had a few goats. This year, we decided that instead of replacing the cull cows with more cows or heifers, we'll replace them with the same $$ in goats.

About 3 years ago, we increased to about 40 does.

Goats are just as profitable if you have enough. I'm not sure a hobby farm can make it profitable as most hobby farms are too small.

To make it profitable, our goats stay on pasture year round. We feed hay in the winter and feed a little bit of grain. In the warm months, we don't supplement with grain. We start the grain after they are bred.

We also bale our own hay. On a couple farms, where it's too much trouble and too far to haul the equipment to hay, we share it out on a 3/5ths share. That means that the renter pays for all of the fertilizer, spraying, baling. He gets 3 out of every 5 bales an we get 2 out of every 5 bales, whether it's baled in large round bales or small square bales.

I try to trim hooves 3 times a year.

All of our culls and all of the buck kids are weaned and not left on their mommas. When they are weaned, I feed Purina's Noble Goat Grower that is medicated against coccidiosis. It is fed for 28 days.

We treat the goat operation just like we've always treated the cattle. The little bucks are weaned and sold at the stockyards in St. Joseph, MO. They have a sale once a month that is dedicated to just sheep and goats and when I sold two months ago, some of the Boers were bringing $2.30 to $2.60 per pound.

I do have my Alpines that I milk for home use and a couple Nubians as well. But, the rest are Boer and Boer cross and our expansion will be in Boers.

So, yes, goats can be very profitable, but only if you have enough land for pasture, produce your own hay, and have a lot of goats. The profitability increases as the number of breeding does increases.

[HDRider]

Thanks PaulNKS...

What size of a herd are we talking?

What breed are you?

[Alice In TX/MO]

He said he has 40 does - Boer and Boer cross.

[mabeane]

I have no mental health bills and that alone saves me a ton of money that I certainly use for my goats!

[HDRider]

Originally Posted by Alice In TX/MO

He said he has 40 does - Boer and Boer cross.

Thanks - Read it too fast.

How would one move that number from place to place? A herder dog, a good leader goat, lure with a feed bucket?

I have dry creeks that run between cattle pastures and brushy areas that would feed a number of goats.

[Minelson]

Sorry for being sarcastic HDrider. It was just a knee jerk reaction. I think it would be good to do a ton of research...around you and where you live. Who knows..you may be the only one with goatmilk and have a huge customer list. Or get in with some specialized resterraunts or ethnic meat buyers...It's all up to you. But I don't think you will get rich monye wise..make sure you measure quality of life in your deccision. Oops gota run..baby goats on the porch are calling for their bottles!!

[glasshousegoats]

Originally Posted by PaulNKS

We aren't getting rich, but with goats, yes, you can make money. The key is in the numbers. You have to have a lot of goats to make it profitable. We've always had cattle and several hundred acres and we've always had a few goats. This year, we decided that instead of replacing the cull cows with more cows or heifers, we'll replace them with the same $$ in goats.

About 3 years ago, we increased to about 40 does.

Goats are just as profitable if you have enough. I'm not sure a hobby farm can make it profitable as most hobby farms are too small.

To make it profitable, our goats stay on pasture year round. We feed hay in the winter and feed a little bit of grain. In the warm months, we don't supplement with grain. We start the grain after they are bred.

We also bale our own hay. On a couple farms, where it's too much trouble and too far to haul the equipment to hay, we share it out on a 3/5ths share. That means that the renter pays for all of the fertilizer, spraying, baling. He gets 3 out of every 5 bales an we get 2 out of every 5 bales, whether it's baled in large round bales or small square bales.

I try to trim hooves 3 times a year.

All of our culls and all of the buck kids are weaned and not left on their mommas. When they are weaned, I feed Purina's Noble Goat Grower that is medicated against coccidiosis. It is fed for 28 days.

We treat the goat operation just like we've always treated the cattle. The little bucks are weaned and sold at the stockyards in St. Joseph, MO. They have a sale once a month that is dedicated to just sheep and goats and when I sold two months ago, some of the Boers were bringing $2.30 to $2.60 per pound.

I do have my Alpines that I milk for home use and a couple Nubians as well. But, the rest are Boer and Boer cross and our expansion will be in Boers.

So, yes, goats can be very profitable, but only if you have enough land for pasture, produce your own hay, and have a lot of goats. The profitability increases as the number of breeding does increases.

When do you wean your culls and buck kids?

[Alice In TX/MO]

A meat goat operation is a whole different undertaking than a milk goat operation and a whole different undertaking than a homestead milk herd with excess kids for sale.

You can target your sales dates for meat goats just prior to ethnic holidays to maximize the sale prices.

Ethnic Holiday Calendar — Dairy and Animal Science — Penn State University

[mygoat]

Can it be done? Yes. Most people do not manage goats as a profit-making venture. We make them pets and money pits.

There is quite a bit of equipment, management, health, and labor expenses that make the overhead and startup costs quite high. It can also be quite hard to factor in the meat/milk benefit to raising your own. Depending on your management, you are likely getting a very high quality product that you would otherwise go without or have to buy.

Dairy goats are exponentially more labor intensive. They require milking 2x per day, much more feed due to production, their kids are hand raised in MOST settings (commercially that is), and the product must have a profitable outlet.

Boer goats are expected to be productive with VERY little input. You cannot expect them to produce well on dry lot with crappy hay, or no wormings, or no hoof trimmings - but with moderate management they should do just fine. They are non-seasonal so they can be bred 2x per year, with more intense management on the owner's part, but it can still be profitable that way.

IMO recordkeeping and recognizing problems to fix are both the top things to sucess. Do your research and don't skimp on fencing.

[BobbyB]

I realize just having a couple to milk will not be a money making proposition. Karla is getting 2 does kids and a buck kid in the very near future. If she stays with the milking when that time comes, the plan is to breed about 2 years for straight dairy then use a Boer buck for meat crosses.

Meat goats bring good money in my part of the world, and if the weather cooperates, they can pay their way and maybe a bit extra.

As long as we can handle expenses and since they are Karla's project, we are prepared to have costs go over returns, but we will sell out completely before we spend on hay and feed what I have read some do here.

[PaulNKS]

Originally Posted by mygoat

Can it be done? Yes. Most people do not manage goats as a profit-making venture. We make them pets and money pits.

That is part of the problem with many homesteads being "hobby farms". With us, everything must pay it's own way. So, yes, while I may get attached to many of the goats, I also know that they have one purpose... revenue and profit.

There is quite a bit of equipment, management, health, and labor expenses that make the overhead and startup costs quite high.

Not necessarily. We bought a detached garage for $90 at a farm sale. I'm adding lean-to's to both sides to prepare for increasing the herd size. I paid $40 for a headgate and working chute at another farm sale a couple years ago. It also doubles as my milking stand for my alpines.

As Alice wrote, there is a big difference when raising a herd for profit. You have to know your market... meat, dairy products, etc.

As far as the kids and the doe culls, I try to sell twice per year. I want the little bucks weighing no less than 80 pounds. This is easier to do when you have pasture year round. When weaned, they get a good start with the goat grower.

With all due respect, many city people that move to the country to establish a hobby farm and/or homestead tend to view the livestock as pets more than as a means to an end, i.e. revenues and profit. We operate the goat herd like we would cattle. If a doe can't have twins, she is culled. If she has too much trouble kidding, she's culled. If a doe loses her kids, she's culled. If a doe develops mastitis, she gets culled because once she's had it, she will most likely get it again. The idea is to build a herd that can have twins (most years), birth and raise her kids with the least amount of assistance and medical expense.

I will say that my Alpines get treated a lot differently, but if they can't perform up to standard, they also get culled.

The Boer cross does are being phased out and replaced by purebred Boer, simply because they gain faster and are marketable quicker than most other breeds. Therefore, the quicker they become marketable, the sooner they can leave the farm, meaning there is less expense per animal (same as with the cattle), and less time for me to get attached . Right now, there are around 40. I have about 6 that will be culled when the kids are sold.

I'm not cold hearted at all. But being raised the way I was, I know the purpose of livestock on a farm. They either feed me or earn money. However, it still gets me a bit of a lump in my throat when a favorite doe can no longer perform and I have to part with her... or the little doe kid that I had in the house for several days last winter bottling trying to keep her alive when her momma abandoned her. It will bug me to have to sell her. But, it has to be done to replace her with a Boer.

In all honesty, I would like to get to 100 breeding Boer does, and still keep my 5 Alpines and Alpine buck.

[coso]

:hysteri cal::hysterica l:

[BobbyB]

Originally Posted by PaulNKS

With all due respect, many city people that move to the country to establish a hobby farm and/or homestead tend to view the livestock as pets more than as a means to an end, i.e. revenues and profit. We operate the goat herd like we would cattle. If a doe can't have twins, she is culled. If she has too much trouble kidding, she's culled. If a doe loses her kids, she's culled. If a doe develops mastitis, she gets culled because once she's had it, she will most likely get it again. The idea is to build a herd that can have twins (most years), birth and raise her kids with the least amount of assistance and medical expense.

eggzactly!