How much does a goat cost?
Question by MG: How much does a goat cost?
I am in 4-H and i usually just show chickens. This year I want to try something new and I always thought goats were cute. I want to know what a good price is which breed and what they eat and where they should live. Btw I live in Wisconsin and we have some extra barn space.
What do you think? Answer below!
One Response to How much does a goat cost?
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The price of a goat varies with gender, breed, and overall show quality. Since you want to show goats, you should get does. For a good quality doe, expect to pay somewhere from $ 100 to $ 500. Some breeds are more expensive; nigerian dwarfs, for example, are usually in high demand and I sell my doe kids for anywhere between $ 275 to $ 400, but some people I know sell their doe kids for over $ 800.
Goats are herd animals, so you’ll need to have at least two. If you don’t want to get two show does, you could always get one show doe and a whether (which is a castrated male) as a companion. Don’t get bucks – they urinate on themselves and stink, and usually are not good goats for first time goat owners. If you want to breed your does, you can always bring them to someone else’s farm and pay a stud fee to breed them to their buck.
Goats need good quality hay (we usually pay $ 4 to $ 6 for a 8-slice bale), clean water, and goat mineral powder or mineral block. They really don’t need grain unless they’re pregnant or nursing/milking, although I usually give my younger does a handful just as a treat. Of course, they need a warm, dry shelter where they can get out of the wind and rain, and a pen with a good fence to keep them in and predators out.
There are several breeds that you can get. The primary “types” of goats are dairy, meat, and fiber. I show dairy goats, and the common dairy breeds are: Nigerian Dwarf (really cute, colorful miniature breed), Oberhasli (medium sized breed; generally are brown with black markings), Alpines (large breed; can be a variety of colors), Nubian (large breed; colorful; long, pendulous ears), LaMancha (medium breed, have very small ears), Toggenburg (large breed, gray/light brown with white markings), Saanen (large breed, all white) and Sable (basically a colored Saanen). I know less about the other breeds, but some common meat breeds are Boer, Pygmy, Keiko, and Kinder, and some common fiber breeds are Angora and Cashmere.
Goats are great animals 🙂 Good luck!
L
December 22, 2012 at 4:34 pm