how many goats do i need to start a goat farm?
Image by acroamatic
Question by ♥Emily♥: how many goats do i need to start a goat farm?
i want to start a small goat farm and sell the milk in my friends neighborhood where a lot of people have money problems so id sell it cheap for them. it will mostly just be fun so i dont need 100 goats but how many goats should i have? im starting off with 3 or 4 but im hoping to get more later
Add your own answer in the comments!
5 Responses to how many goats do i need to start a goat farm?
Leave a Reply
Emiley , If u wanna start a new small farm ! Start with 5-6 goats , they will increase by the time . BUT i think u will suffer cuz animals are naughty, Anyway u might like them. GOOD LUCK
apatche
May 10, 2012 at 4:53 am
You can keep about 10 goats per acre of property. Base how many you have on how much property you have. Goats have to be milked every 12 hours at the same times every day to keep them lactating. You will also have to breed the goats on a yearly basis to keep them lactating, so depending on how many goats you are going to keep, it may be cheaper to buy one billy instead of paying stud fees.
Goats milk is a great alternative for cow’s milk as long as you make sure you feed them correctly. You can’t just put them out to pasture to eat grass and weeds and expect to get good milk.
Sybil C
May 10, 2012 at 5:14 am
you can also look into making goat milk soap and chocolate too if you have the ablitity.
for me if you also want to help friends and neighbours – get some laying hens. I have 4 hens, they each lay 1 egg a day, so in a few days I have more than my family (3 people) eat and we sell them for $ 1 a dozen eggs, I am sure you can get $ 2 a dozen, but should keep it cheaper than store eggs for sure..
we feed them laying ration and chicken scratch but they also eat grass/dandilions and some kitchen vege/fruit left overs.
they are cute too and dont need much care/space.
http://www.gomestic.com/Pets/Unusual-Pets-Chickens.76299
for the goats I woudl stay start off with 5-6 and add more if you need to.
CF_
May 10, 2012 at 5:24 am
It depends on how much property you have. We had 6-7 acres and raised 60 to 80 head of boer goats. We showed them for 4-H, FFA, and ABGA. You need a buck, it is cheaper than paying stud fees. You need to breed your does once a year or twice a year and milk her often to keep her lactating, but then you have to bottle feed the kids.
It is not as easy as people make it out to be. And you can get in trouble if you sell milk to someone who gets sick from drinking or eating any product from the milk unless it has been approved.
You could use that milk for your family, but selling to others without an approval could get in trouble. Especially if whoever you sold the milk to becomes ill.
You also have to think about the cost of hay and grain, and many other things. And you have to be prepared to strain the milk and pasteurize it correctly so any bacteria is killed.
Unless you have the money for a machine that does it for you, you have to make sure the milk reaches a point where bacteria in the milk is destryed. It is not as easy as people make it out to be.
And it also depends on the breed of goats and how well they are cared for. We knew a couple an hour from where we lived who milked goats and they had a machine to pasteurize, as well as, the machine that milks goats. They sold all their goats after a year because the goats they had were not producing enough milk to sustain the couple and their friends and such.
anbymemc87
May 10, 2012 at 5:55 am
I started out with 3 goats, and added two more the next year. I raise meat goats however, not dairy goats.
Have you done research to see if it’s even legal in your state to sell raw goat milk?
Every state has VERY different laws. Like in Oregon, you can have 9 milking goats or sheep, or three milking cows. You may NOT advertise your milk for sale though! How kooky is that?
You need to research your states laws before you start this endevor. In most states you need to have a Grade A Dairy and milking parlor. You can count on a cost of at least one hundred thousand dollars to build a Grade A Dairy/milking parlor up to today’s code standards.
Here’s a link, so you may research the laws in your state:
http://www.realmilk.com/happening.html
You also then need to change your homeowner insurance to a farm insurance policy, making sure it covers the sale of raw milk. Otherwise just a single person getting ill from the milk could sue you and take you for every penny you own.
Don’t dismiss the idea that you could be sued. My former P.E. teachers married and opened a dairy (cows). They did all kinds of family friendly farm activities, like corn mazes, and allowing children to come pet baby animals. Sure enough a child finally got ecoli from simply petting a baby calf (city children have virtually no immunity), and they were sued.
You just need one person to leave the milk out on the counter too long, warming up and growing bacteria, and wham, YOU get sued.
Don’t try to skirt your states laws either. You will find the fines to mind blowingly expensive when you are caught.
~Garnet
Permaculture homesteading/farming over 20 years
Raising meat goats since 1999
Bohemian_Garnet_Permaculturalist
May 10, 2012 at 6:11 am