Meat goats as an income source

Digger · #1 08/12/13, 07:10 AM

Is it possible to make a small income raising meat goats in Arkansas?

Alice In TX/MO · #2 08/12/13, 07:24 AM

Lots of variables. Do you have forest/browse so they don't need much supplemental feed? Are you familiar with goat health issues so you can treat them yourself instead of spending money on vet bills? Do you have a goat buying station nearby? Have you checked out the market at the nearest auction barn? Do you have good fences already? (not barbed wire) Do you have shelters?

**mygoat** · #3 08/12/13, 10:35 AM

What are your goals? Do you want to raise high quality breeding stock that sells for thousands, or commercial does/bucks and a large 'meat only' herd? While the breeding stock sounds nice, it takes a LOT to invest in that caliber of animal, not to mention showing and constantly increasing quality through next year's breedings/assisted reproduction (most likely). A meat only herd will need intense management at only a few times in the year (kidding season) but they are doozies - if you don't check the barn every couple hours though the kidding season in early spring, lots of kids can be lost to hypothermia/starvation. I suppose that goes for the show herd, too. Most market goat will be more profitable from large herds with adequate ROTATIONAL grazing. The less you ahve to purchase feed, the better with a commercial herd.

No livestock is a 'get rich quick' scheme. You will always be MOST sucessful if you do it right the first time and do all you can to learn about proper management (which will take you far in preventing most of your problems) as well as learning how to manage the problems when they do arise.

Properly done and with a good market, I think goats could very well be profitable. That being said, most people own goats an average of 2 years before getting out of them. Most of those people, I would bet, thought of it as an easy get-rich-quick scheme and found out that they really have to put the effort into it and love what they're doing. Or, they impulse bought goats not knowing what they were doing and ended up with low quality/poor producers/cull animals/diseased animals.

Digger · #4 08/12/13, 12:23 PM

My son lives on 53 acres we own. We were thinking of using electric fencing. We were hoping to generate a little more income for my sons family. At least 25 acres is in pasture.

wintrrwolf · #5 08/12/13, 01:45 PM

My friends raise high quality and commercial kiko's, they went into kiko's because they are as a breed more resistant to parasites. They did really well at the oklahoma market for the kids they sold then HE turned around and purchase some more doe's with kids (breeding) stock...that being said of those they lost one of the kids and one of the doe's. Of this year's kidding they ended up 28 kids lost 9 to various reasons.
They do rotate the grazing area's, they only grain the doe's and kids during lactation.
Now they said while at the OK meat market they found out several of the sellers there start graining the ones going to the auction a few months before to put weight on....
IMO if you have the room for some meat goats and can keep the overhead low with good management you might be able to make a bit of profit.

Here a commercial kiko goes for about 300
He bought his New Zealand purebred buck as a buckling from a cream of the crop show for 500 that was 2 years ago.

But I am a diary goat person so not the best person to give answers ...

Badger · #6 08/12/13, 02:17 PM

I'm convinced that it can be done. I've been raising Boers for over 20 years now - If I didn't have a good customer base for kids wanting a kid to raise for showing at the fair I think I would barely break even every year. They sure make the pasture look good though.

hiddensprings · #7 08/12/13, 09:02 PM

We tried raising meat goats when we first started and after 5 years I finally convinced my hubby to sell them all. We keep very good records and I can say that my dairy goats are for more profitable then my meat goats ever were.