Sick goats for sale. Uggg long sort of rant.

[onebizebee]

Went to our local animal swap yesterday to sell our two doe-lings. There were lots of people there with bunches of small animals. Many of them were goats. There was only one other person there with decent healthy looking goats. The rest were in horrible shape. My youngest daughter was with me. She went and looked at all the other goats and came back horrified. She got out the bleach wipes and started cleaning her shoes. Saying they are all sick mom all of them except the guy right across from us. My heard is disease free (knock on wood) I practice strict protocols to prevent anything coming on to my farm!I have been told I am nuts. I don't care. I do not let others in to my barn or pastures. When I am selling I make everyone clean their hands with antibacterial gel if they wish to touch the goats at the sale. Some people get offended others are more than happy to comply.

Before I sell I make sure there is no anemia due to worm load. My goats have nice red/pink eyelids. They get copper and other minerals. I also send them to their new home with their next dose of wormer pre-measured for their next dose in syringes, a bag of their food, small bags of minerals and baking soda,their next dose of replimin plus. I send the younger goats with a small bottle of coccidia and vit- B treatment/prevention if the new owner starts to see a hint of scours. They get full instructions on how to use. I give them a print out of what minerals, baking soda etc, worming schedule my goats are on. I want their transition to their new home to be smooth as possible. I really care about my goats! We were there for only 1 hour and people were starting to get ugly with each other about who was going to buy my goats. I have the Pygmy/Nigerian cross they are small sleek and very shiny. Their coats are reflective in the sun and their eyes sparkle. I ended up selling them to older gentleman and his grand kids. They were really excited these being their first goats.

After they were sold then the people were asking me what I do to get my goats looking like that. . I told them how I worm, feed baking soda free choice along with minerals and I copper bolus twice a year in addition to replimin plus every week. Some people were truly interested in wanting to know others were "I ain't putting that kind of money in to my goats its stupid. We breed to sell that is it. " Then there was can we borrow your buck? He must be really good to produce kids that look like that! I told them sorry I have a closed herd and farm. Not many knew what that was. Dear heavens no wonder disease runs rampant thru this area in sheep and goats and other livestock. We won't even begin to discuss how awful cows are around here.


The guy across from me saluted me when my goats sold. His goats looked like mine. He was the only other person that sold any goats. I felt like I needed burn my cloths and a shower when I left there. We cleaned ourselves and the cage I had them in disinfected our shoes and the tires on the car etc. I do not want cooties! I do the same thing when I go to the feed store. Yep I guess I am nuts. And apparently a total snob when it comes to my animals

[Alice In TX/MO]

Hooray! Sounds like you are the kind of snob I like.

[parrotman]

And apparently a total snob when it comes to my animals

Room for one more?

[Doug Hodges]

Guess that's how you have to be. I didn't know when I bought all my goats. Luckily I did all the worming and copper and minerals and my goats are looking super healthy now. ( I did lose two weak ones but saved three others that were not doing good) I am going to test everyone for CAE, CL and Johnnes and even do the G test as soon as I feel better.

[BethW]

That's so sad. I'm glad at least a few people were interested in improving their care, though.

And you're not a snob, you're just careful. When DH and I get home from the state fair every year, we bleach the daylights out of the bottoms of our shoes and wash our clothes when we get home. I'm not bringing home disease.

[mygoat]

Harsh realities in raising goats. All of us go through that learning curve.

Unfortunately, you can sell the healthiest goats and send them with a care package, but the new buyer can kill them quick. Even with good intentions, they could be lacking skill and perception that it takes to notice issues in time. Also, people can love their goats all they want, that doesn't mean they take good care of them. Alternately, there are people like me that take great care of them but I honestly don't love every single one of them - Most of mine I treat and handle as livestock and while I ensure their health, they better better perform or I have no issues sending them to auction or butchering them. I enjoy them, and I value them greatly as part of the working herd, but I'm not attached many. And yet, because I butcher and send to auction, I'm often seen as a 'bad goat owner' by some. The best thing you can do for your goats is to sell healthy ones and to make them as valueable as possible. Your average cheap unregistered mutt goat is far, far more likely to end up in a poor home than a goat that you sold for 300.00+ and has an amazing pedigree. Yes, I know many people (me included) have beloved (but worthless on the market) pet goats - so some small percentage do find good homes. And alternately, I'm sure some beautiful animals sold for hundreds have been ruined by poor management and have been butchered or sold for 50.00 at auction... but we're talking trends here. This is the same reason I started disbudding everything that was born - MANY homes do NOT want ANY horns, so I was eliminating a whole bunch of good homes by leaving horns on goats. If I can't guarantee a productive VALUEABLE animal, I take them to slaughter auction or butcher them myself. I'd rather do that any day, then sell as pets or to somone who has no idea what they are doing and NO plans of learning proper care. Those people annoy me - when their goat(s) die from something preventable, they blame the goat and not their management... stupid worthless goats!

If they just 'raise them to sell' and they look that horrid, chances are they aren't making any money or have buyers lined up. Let's hope they're one of the people who statistically own goats for 2 yrs or less (the vast majority of 'goat owners'). If they don't improve their husbandry they'll NEVER get anywhere and are trying to 'starve a profit'.

[onebizebee]

I do not think you are bad person for selling your goats at auction or eating them. We eat our chickens and our steers. To my family our goats are pets. We treat them the same as we do our dogs. They are admittedly spoiled. I keep less than 15 goats at a time. I have my original girls that were our learning curve goats. They will retire to old age here. I milk my girls for the family use only so there is no money to be made I am ok with that. They are simply pets with the side benefit of milk. They are mutts in the goating world. That's fine with me too. Why not send their kids off with a good bit of info and care package? There are many people out there who are just getting in to goats. If we can keep them from making the same mistake as we did starting out why not? I would have loved to have met someone willing to take the time to explain goat health and feeding to me rather than learn the hard way on many things. There is a farm around the corner from us in one town over that sells Nubian and Boer goats. They are registered and supposed to be the best goats around here except they are infected with CL. Their advertisement on their web page says certified CAE free herd. Apparently CL is no big deal to them. For someone like me it is a huge deal. I have a compromised immune system. I could not take the risk on buying from a CL positive heard. Registered means nothing to me if they are infected with a disease that I can get and has the potential to kill me. Perhaps seeing all the sick and (registered) goats for sale just solidified for me just how many people do not care about the health of their animals. They see dollar signs and that is it. Maybe other areas are better maybe not.