What goat breed would be best for me?
Question by Jamie: What goat breed would be best for me?
Okay, so I plan to get a small herd of goats. I own about 7 acre field for the goats which is fenced off and goat proof, I do have the availability to use other land. Which would add upto about 200 acres of land I can use. I own other farm animals, I have already done my research, and they will get along with goats. Anyways, the goats will have their own fenced in area and shelter. I am looking to make a tiny bit of profit off of these goats, or at least for the goats to pay themselves off or near. I decided I will start out with with around seven goats and go from there. I can cut my own hay, or buy it for cheap from a friend. I have to purchase feed though and mineral blocks etc. The one part I have trouble deciding is whether to get Boer goats or Nigerian dwarf goats. They are two different types of goat, I know. Is it possible that I could own both, and they would get along? Or since I would need to have a boer male, they would try to mate the Nigerians. If I get Boer goats I can show them in 4H and sell them twice; once they are auctioned people don’t want the animal second, I sell it for meat price. The milk goats, I would be using for my own personal consumption and that of selling it pasturized milk, cheese, fudge, etc. (it is legal in my area to sell) Also, my weather can sustain both of the goats. How much money would be put in, and how much loss (if any) per year?
Feel free to answer in the comment section below
2 Responses to What goat breed would be best for me?
Leave a Reply
My family has raised Boer goats for many years. We love them because most of them are docile and easy to tame. We did buy a Nigerian once because she was part of a package deal at the sale barn. She was mean to the other nannies and never would tame down. Milking goats is a lot of trouble too.
You probably don’t want to have both breeds because the mix breed are not good at producing milk or meat. Boer goats sustain themselves well because they hardly ever have just one kid. Most of the time they have twins or triplets, though we did have quadruplets once. A few years ago my dad started improving our herd and we sold kids as show goats. This increased the profits substantially.
If you do pick Boers make sure you are getting a good quality nanny. Good show quality nannies are the key to getting good kids. Another thing to look for is a buck known for a small birth weight. It really stinks when you have to pull kids. At a lot of the sale barns here in Texas people have registered Boer nannies that they sell with their papers. Most registered nannies are of good show quality.
I must say that you should be prepared to raise bottle babies though. We always had at least two out of our herd of thirty or so. Bottle babies do not grow as well as kids raised by their mothers so they can never be shown. They are still good for meat though.
One more piece of advice… If you have any kids that stick their heads through the fence and get stuck, use electrical tape to tape on a piece of pvc pipe onto their horns. They can no longer get their horns through the squares of the fence after the pvc pipe is taped on. We had to learn this one the hard way. Every time that we checked on our herd there were several stuck in the fence. The pvc pipe remedied the problem.
My dad always handled the finances of the operation so I am not sure exactly how much we spent and earned. I just know that we enjoy our herd and did make some money. Because I am about to go to college we have scaled back our herd quite a bit since I won’t be there to help though.
I hope that you have a wonderful time with your herd. Whether you do choose the Boer like I recommend or not, goats are a funny and cute animal to have around. Good luck with your new adventure!
daffodill
June 6, 2014 at 4:07 pm
I have owned Nigerian Dwarf Goats for over 10 years and I love them. I do not have much experience with meat goats, but I can tell you why I bought Nigerian Dwarf Goats.
I bought them because they were smaller and took up less room, they are easier to handle than larger breeds, they have one of the sweetest milks out of all the goat breeds, they are very friendly and most importantly (to me anyway) I can easily sell the boys as pets.
I get $ 150 for a non-breading male, $ 300 for a buck, and $ 350-400 for a girl depending on their line. My goats do not pay for themselves every year, but on a good year they do.
I use my Goats for milking (cheese, yogurt, cooking), my 4-Hers show them, and just because they look pretty outside my window.
It really depends on what you want out of your herd.
lol
June 6, 2014 at 4:23 pm