got goats?
- Thread starter Beefy
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Speaking of goats - has anyone ever taken a kid off it's dam at a day or 2 and turned them in with the cows, still bottle feeding it and all? I wondered if they would imprint on the cows and tend to stay more with the herd so there would be less of a concern about predators and fencing.
dun
dun
warpaint
Well-known member
Beefy":15lucqtj said:
Prefer mine b-b-qued or in a stew, thank you very much.
I had a herd of goats just turn up one day two Novembers ago. Stayed for a day or two then vanished again. Haven't seen them since. We like to say that the space ship beamed them up. I have no idea where they came from. Just got up one day and they were there.
ga. prime
Well-known member
I don't have goats, but do see the guy down the road(s) goats in the pine plantation back of momma's fairly often. Best I can tell, they favor China Berry trees.
Mahoney Pursley Ranch
Well-known member
Just bought a billy and doe kid last week. breed,cheap $50 each. Hope they clean up the weeds in the area I just fenced near the house. About 2 acres,going to breed miniature horses next year. Fenced it (2000 ft.) with StayTite predator fence.
Tod Dague
Well-known member
I have a few. They are Boer Spanish cross. We are starting small with them as I want them to concentrate on the brush and weeds. My cross fence is high enough so they have free range over the whole place. So far it is working well. I could use a few more but will probably expand out of what I have as needed. If cost and prices stay the same I should have my initial investment paid back after two years.
Tod Dague
Well-known member
Just a couple of things I was told by a couple of people when I was researching goats.
The fist is a Boer breeder. He said that Boer goats let to themselves were looking for a place to die and that the Spanish goats were much hardier. But that Boer bring more money due to better meat quality and yield.
The second was a goat breeder now cattleman. He said that Boer worked better on a primarily grass operation but Spanish worked better on a primarily brows operation.
Both agreed that the best money maker for me would be Spanish Boer cross (hybrid vigor) bred to Boer billies.
The fist is a Boer breeder. He said that Boer goats let to themselves were looking for a place to die and that the Spanish goats were much hardier. But that Boer bring more money due to better meat quality and yield.
The second was a goat breeder now cattleman. He said that Boer worked better on a primarily grass operation but Spanish worked better on a primarily brows operation.
Both agreed that the best money maker for me would be Spanish Boer cross (hybrid vigor) bred to Boer billies.
Boer x -- if you sell at a stockyard(around here) they HAVE to have Boer Coloring or you give them away.
Sell to the hispanics or Muslims dirrect and they don't care what color they get.
Had a few Boer fullBloods-- They did great on feed- got rid of them
Sell to the hispanics or Muslims dirrect and they don't care what color they get.
Had a few Boer fullBloods-- They did great on feed- got rid of them
Yup
If I had acess to them I would try Kinko nannies and a Boer Buck.
Be careful of buying off show stock-- Around here they are not being breed with commercial production in mind.
Both the Boers and what few Kinkos that are around are mostly being bred in "Hobby" environments with inputs being real high.
My best were some common nannies that were thrown out in some pasture and left to do or die. They had a decent frame-which is REAL important.
I crossed them with a smaller stocky Boer. The kids had 70% Boer coloring. I kept replacements(the off colored ones-- why sell them at a loss???) and bred to Boer again(85% colored kids)-- and they did real well too. After 75% Boer nannies production dropped.
So instead of keeping replacements again-- I found some common good framed doelings(paid half what I sold my colored doelings for) and started again.
I haven't found a single type of goat that will mature to breed at one yr old(except Pygmie) on just our fescue pastures. They have to have some feed that first year.
And I had to get real good at taking out the Bucks and bucklings-- they breed like rabbits to their production detriment.
If I had acess to them I would try Kinko nannies and a Boer Buck.
Be careful of buying off show stock-- Around here they are not being breed with commercial production in mind.
Both the Boers and what few Kinkos that are around are mostly being bred in "Hobby" environments with inputs being real high.
My best were some common nannies that were thrown out in some pasture and left to do or die. They had a decent frame-which is REAL important.
I crossed them with a smaller stocky Boer. The kids had 70% Boer coloring. I kept replacements(the off colored ones-- why sell them at a loss???) and bred to Boer again(85% colored kids)-- and they did real well too. After 75% Boer nannies production dropped.
So instead of keeping replacements again-- I found some common good framed doelings(paid half what I sold my colored doelings for) and started again.
I haven't found a single type of goat that will mature to breed at one yr old(except Pygmie) on just our fescue pastures. They have to have some feed that first year.
And I had to get real good at taking out the Bucks and bucklings-- they breed like rabbits to their production detriment.
sidney411
Well-known member
I watched the goats sell at the auction this past weekend. I thought they sold real cheap. Little ones maybe about half grown? were selling anywhere from $5-$15, some more I don't know why but I guess it was the coloring? I can't see where goats would be very profitable? What are the normal prices and what age do you normally sell a baby goat?
The big money in goats ans sheep is to sell them off the farm to the ethnic market. $100 a pop. The Mexicans are easy- give them a goat and tell them how much--but they just show up. The muslims call ahead but want to dicker FOREVER..................
We have a buyers market here for shipping to the ethnic market in the north east.
I sold at the local stockyard this spring and got $60 for the 4 month old (40-50lbs) colored kids. The plain colored kids brought $30. Same frame and same flesh. I creep feed the kids some to get them gone faster keeps the nannies in better shape and eliminates worm problems faster.
I try not to sell at the stockyards though-- the sale fee $7/head
Eats up too much profit.
There is also a local processor that buys- but hes a pain to deal with.
We have a buyers market here for shipping to the ethnic market in the north east.
I sold at the local stockyard this spring and got $60 for the 4 month old (40-50lbs) colored kids. The plain colored kids brought $30. Same frame and same flesh. I creep feed the kids some to get them gone faster keeps the nannies in better shape and eliminates worm problems faster
. I try not to sell at the stockyards though-- the sale fee $7/head
Eats up too much profit.
There is also a local processor that buys- but hes a pain to deal with.
andybob
Well-known member
I bred Boer goats in Africa mostly to brows on the Acacia thorn trees as part of my scrub clearance programme.
I had a small herd of Boers and boer cross Saanen when I lived in England, local horse owners used to 'borrow' them to clear the weeds; thistles.nettles,and docks mostly. On my land they cleared willow, elder and wild rose as well as the usual weeds,sales were mainly to ethnic markets and I have never had trouble getting a good price for kids.
I had a small herd of Boers and boer cross Saanen when I lived in England, local horse owners used to 'borrow' them to clear the weeds; thistles.nettles,and docks mostly. On my land they cleared willow, elder and wild rose as well as the usual weeds,sales were mainly to ethnic markets and I have never had trouble getting a good price for kids.
