Black smith was trimming my horses this morning and he was telling me he has 20 acres just sitting there. Well he talked to the farm co op or something in the county, and they told him to raise goats! I guess there is a high demand for the meat from the nnalert in this area! Anybody here raise goats for meat? He said he could also milk them for goat milk, but he wants low maintenance! Lol. Maybe I should get rid of the cows and get goats, I told him there hard to contain, he said to use 5ft woven electric fence. At least they will clear the land for him.
- Thread starter JayinNY
- Start date
NewEnglandFarmer
Member
Believe it or not, goat is the most widely eaten meat in the world. For some reason, it never really caught on in the U.S. But you"re right, it is starting to take off now, and a big reason for that is the increasing nnalert population. I"m not nnalert but I"ve eaten goat and I gotta say..very very good meat.
I"ve also "heard", although can"t confirm how true it is, that dairy farms in Vermont and throughout northern New England were switching over from cows to goats. Again, don"t know if it"s true or not.
I"ve also "heard", although can"t confirm how true it is, that dairy farms in Vermont and throughout northern New England were switching over from cows to goats. Again, don"t know if it"s true or not.
Bob Huntress
Member
5 foot high woven fence has always served us well, even without an electrical wire over the top. While the fat content is also driven by what the goat eats and whether they are out in the pasture or sitting around a tight pen, some breeds have higher fat milk than others. Alpine, Nubian LaManchia are all great milking goats, though, I wouldn't want to use the milk of a Boer or Kiko. When any goat isn't giving milk or in the case of Angora hair, they are meat goats. It's not just nnalert buying up goats. It's an ethnic food most places outside the United States and Canada, so Mexicans and those coming from Africa are also more likely to want beef from goats.
i got 4 old goats here i use for that thats all their good for, cant give them away around here the mexicans eat them but they want them only a year or so old, there just about the stupidest critter on the planet,had one stuck overnite the other day in the steer chute in the roping arena, his problem was he was just too stupid to back up!
ShadetreeRet
Well-known Member
A few years ago a lady moved to our area from one of the northern states, (not that it matters), and started a goat dairy. She made quite a popular and profitable place out of it. There is quite a demand for goat cheese.
Bob Huntress
Member
As goat milk is more expensive than cow milk, I doubt that many commercial dairies are secretly selling goat milk as cow milk. It isn't just nnalert that prefer goat. As you said, most of the world gets their beef from goats. We raised goats till late 2009, and will likely start again in the spring. Most of the people who buy bought our non producing excess goats for meat were eithe from Mexico or Africa(I don't mean Afro American. I mean Africa). I believe that the reason that goat meat never caught on here is the abundant supply of cows, buffalo etc. They are bigger and have more meat on less animals.
you boys dont know what yer missin... i'm so unethnic i practically glow in the dark...nuthin better than "cabrito"
thats smoked baby goat to those north of the Red River.
tell your buddy the 5' fence without the hot will hold em...they will eat ANYTHING left in pasture tho including vehicles,tractor parts,low growing trees and will climb some trees and eat tops out of them...if the climbable trees are near fence they'll use em to escape.
thats smoked baby goat to those north of the Red River.
tell your buddy the 5' fence without the hot will hold em...they will eat ANYTHING left in pasture tho including vehicles,tractor parts,low growing trees and will climb some trees and eat tops out of them...if the climbable trees are near fence they'll use em to escape.
Bob Huntress
Member
It's been my experience that demotivating goats from escaping is the secret. They could escape a German Concentration Camp, but if they are satisfied in their pasture they will stay. I find that if I put their herd queen on a chain runner, the rest will not leave the pasture. Every now and then one will set herself to always running away, but that's why there's barbaque sauce.
The old joke about how to test a fence to see if its goat-proof:
Get a bucket of water.
Throw the water toward the fence.
If any water gets through to the other side, your fence needs some more work.
"But seriously, folks"- 4 foot woven wire fence with a hot wire on top will work fine. Very tasty little critters, but hardly enough meat on them to be worth the trouble of butchering them.
Get a bucket of water.
Throw the water toward the fence.
If any water gets through to the other side, your fence needs some more work.
"But seriously, folks"- 4 foot woven wire fence with a hot wire on top will work fine. Very tasty little critters, but hardly enough meat on them to be worth the trouble of butchering them.
We have good luck with a 42" woven fence, with 2 barb wires on the top of that. Goats treat you exactly how you treat them - keep them happy and they keep you happy. The won't "eat anything", but like "leafy" things over grass. Hedge (Osage Orange), and Locust leaves are "can't resist" items, as are any rose bushes.
They LOVE to climb. I gave mine some old culvert tubes and a pile of rocks to "play" on. It also helps keep their hooves in better shape.
They are actually easier to work with then cattle, and much more fun. They are highly intelligent, and will figure you out pretty quick.
They are also NOT "little cows" - they require better shelter in cold areas, and better minerals. They are also more sussepable to parasites and things like mold.
They also are "browere" not "grazers" - and won't "mow your lawn". They are related to deer, but not sheep.
They LOVE to climb. I gave mine some old culvert tubes and a pile of rocks to "play" on. It also helps keep their hooves in better shape.
They are actually easier to work with then cattle, and much more fun. They are highly intelligent, and will figure you out pretty quick.
They are also NOT "little cows" - they require better shelter in cold areas, and better minerals. They are also more sussepable to parasites and things like mold.
They also are "browere" not "grazers" - and won't "mow your lawn". They are related to deer, but not sheep.
larry@stinescorner
Well-known Member
this two are here in nj,my daughter and wife showed them in 4H they are 12 years old now, they like to eat hay but they like tree limbs,brush,rose bushes,poison ivory to brouse on ,They dont eat the lawn or grass like sheep do. Ours are fat,they havent tried to get out in 12 years
rick2 in ohio
Member
i know i could not butcher them i would get to attatched to them and then i would be stuck with the little critters.
RICK
RICK
gene bender
Well-known Member
Goats for milk and Goats for meat arent the same breed. The Boer breed is the meaty one.
larry@stinescorner
Well-known Member
And the goats will probably outlive me! (THEY ARE MY WIFES BABYS)
i'm not a fan of the woven wire unless you have all hornless goats, to many get there heads stuck in the woven wire,...any cattle fence with 2 strands of electric will hold them,...as for the fence test mentioned above, i always said if it will hold a blacksnake it's good for goats
I don't know what area of NY you're in, but I wouldn't call the ethnic goat market a big money maker. I raised goats here in central NY for 30 years and I supposedly live in the best ethnic market area. Why? New York City has the big demand at various times of year. nnalert, Greeks, etc. But it is a LIVE goat market and the goats has to be a specific age and sometimes a specific color for some of the groups. You've also got get the live goats trucked downstate. If you sell at local auction, the "goat dealers" bid low and YOU don't get rich on your goats.
Some of the nnalert groups want to kill the goats themselves, along with their children helping. Not legal in NYC. So for awhile, small farms in New Jersey (10-40 miles from NYC) were doing it. I heard that was banned also.
Every year or so I hear of some new great goat-get-rich scheme and NONE have panned out. South African Boer goats were a big one. I remember when one breeding pair of adults sold for $50,000. I also know a farmer that invested his life savings in a goat-cheese factory and direct-sell store. He went bust fast.
I love goats - but not quite in the way the nnalert and Greeks do on Easter. I don't think you're going to make much money off them though. Also note that since the live market requires specific ages, you have to control the breeding. Goats will have kids in January if you let the Billies "free range."
So far, the only people I know that make money with goats are the ones promoting the constant goat "get rich" schemes. Especially the Chevon for supermarket proposals.
Some of the nnalert groups want to kill the goats themselves, along with their children helping. Not legal in NYC. So for awhile, small farms in New Jersey (10-40 miles from NYC) were doing it. I heard that was banned also.
Every year or so I hear of some new great goat-get-rich scheme and NONE have panned out. South African Boer goats were a big one. I remember when one breeding pair of adults sold for $50,000. I also know a farmer that invested his life savings in a goat-cheese factory and direct-sell store. He went bust fast.
I love goats - but not quite in the way the nnalert and Greeks do on Easter. I don't think you're going to make much money off them though. Also note that since the live market requires specific ages, you have to control the breeding. Goats will have kids in January if you let the Billies "free range."
So far, the only people I know that make money with goats are the ones promoting the constant goat "get rich" schemes. Especially the Chevon for supermarket proposals.
Billy Shafer
Well-known Member
Sounds like the Emu craze we had down here in Texas. They built a plant to process the oil and everyone was going to get rich. Didn't take long for the bust to happen. Plant shut down. People couldn't sell their stock. So they just turned them loose. Twenty years later the plant is still empty. It is about 15 miles from my house.
My wife has mentioned those Boer goats several times in the last several years. Each time I tell her the same thing, no. Yeah, there might be a market for it. I just can't see that market and I certainly couldn't even guess what makes it tick. Furthermore, the closest sale we could take them to around here is almost an hour away. In my opinion, when our local grocery store has goat meat in the fresh meat case, then I know that there is steady market for it.
On the other hand, I wouldn't mind raising one or two wethers for the family just to see how they do and what it is like.
Christopher
On the other hand, I wouldn't mind raising one or two wethers for the family just to see how they do and what it is like.
Christopher
Traditional Farmer
Well-known Member
- Location
- Virginia
I have 100 doe herd of Kiko meat goats,started with Boers but they were lots of trouble especially their feet and kidding issues.Goats run well with cattle and over the last ten years have always sold for more by the lb than my calves.The large market is in the Northeast so the closer you are to the NE US the better the market.Biggest obstacle is you need woven wire fencing of some sort and need to have a guard dog with them to protect them from wild dogs and especially coyotes.
Anonymous-0
Well-known Member
The goat market isn't quite as profitable as it was a few years ago, but it's still pretty good. Around here the goat craze hit 5 or 6 years ago, and it's finally starting to wane as people realize goats are not a low maintenance animal, if you want to make money it takes a little work. I can feed 10 does what it takes to feed 1 cow, and those 10 does can produce 3 times the revenue that the 1 cow will on average.
Here's this weeks prices for our central PA livestock market.
Slaughter Goats: Sold per head.
Slaughter Kids: Selection 1 40-60 lbs 95.00-115.00; 65-100 lbs 115.00-
167.00. Selection 2 under 20 lbs 15.00-40.00; 20-40 lbs 50.00-92.00;
45-60 lbs 65.00-110.00; 65-75 lbs 85.00-122.00. Selection 3 20-40 lbs
15.00-47.00; 45-55 lbs 35.00-65.00.
Slaughter Nannies: Selection 1 110-130 lbs 102.00-115.00. Selection 2
90-140 lbs 70.00-105.00. Selection 3 80-120 lbs 40.00-72.00.
Slaughter Billies: Selection 1 150-180 lbs 185.00-215.00. Selection 2
130 lbs 120.00.
Slaughter Wethers: Selection 1 130 lbs 142.00.
NawlensGator
Member
I know of a 60,000 acre ranch near Juno, Tx that paid to have some high ranking nnalert clergy (from oversea) visit and bless the ranch. This made the goats the equivalent of Jewish Kosher in the nnalert faith (whatever that is) and doubled (approx) their value. Those were some ugly critters.
It takes a pretty fancy fence to keep those things contained. One I saw had 7 strands spaced close at the bottom and wider toward the top. Also an electric wire near the base. Not cheap.
I don't recall saying he wanted to get rich, I said he was told there was demand for there meat ,and he could put his land to use. Amazing how somebody can say something, some ome can read it and turn it all around into some complaicted answer! it was just a quiestion!
I saw an article in (I THINK!) and that's scary,,,,, in Lancaster Farming, paper about a fellow that was raising goats for specialized customers like that and he ended up converting an equipment shed into a butcher house, where they could do their own butchering according to their needs and beliefs.
He wasn't doing any cutting so it kept him free from most regulations, and they paid well for the opportunity and facilities to satisfy their needs.
It can be done and it doesn't have to be a bank breaker, and yes locally folks do raise goats just to keep the land in use and cleared.
supergrumpy
Member
what you say agrees with what I see in Mohawk Valley, at one time you could haul live goats to Thru-Way exit and sell them there
I let a neighbor run her goats on some of my land, cute little guys, certain amount of medical care involved re parasites...
she makes a small profit but not enuf to live on
I let a neighbor run her goats on some of my land, cute little guys, certain amount of medical care involved re parasites...
she makes a small profit but not enuf to live on
Bob Huntress
Member
I didn't give you the impression that with a couple acres and some goats, you are going to be able to retire and pay off the national debt, did I? I noticed a post or two warning against get rich quick on goats. Goats consistantly pay for themselves by supply us and a couple costumers with milk, cheeze etc. They even bring a modest profit most of the time, which means that if you enjoy raising goats, you have a free hobby that often gives a slight return, but, my experience is that if you are planning to maxumize profits goats aren't the best investment. For far less work chickens will bring more return. Cows are far less maintenance than goats. Goats have a market, and if you can keep cost low, you won't lose money, unless you count loss of opportunity to have used your resources more effeciently, if you maintain your cost low. Most people I know who also raise goats use the goats to help augment their private food supply, with only small amounts going for sale. It secures their food supply against inflation and inferiour products, but doesn't affect the local food market. My point is that goats is something we do for fun not profit, but we monitor cost.
Janny My wife has the filthy dam things, been trying for years to load them up and get them to the sale barn. she finally decided to sell some of the money eating SOB's. She wanted me to back the stock trailer in the lot so she could feed them in that for a couple of days. They knawed on the new light wires and destroyed the new lighting system put on the week before. Had to redo the whole thing in 30 degree and rainey weather.Yes I recommend getting some, if you want to babysit them foreaver.
Ultradog MN
Well-known Member
- Location
- Twin Cities
Mutton and goat.
Yuck!
Never could stand the smell of it.
Years ago I was working part time as a maintenance man in a big apartment complex.
I get a call to go to apt 301 or whatever to fix a plugged kitchen drain.
Hot June afternoon.
So I knock and go in and am just about floored by the stench in the hot kitchen. There on the kitchen table the whole family are carving up a goat carcass and packaging the meat for the freezer.
They had put too much gristle and sinew down the garbage disposal and had both sides of the double sink clogged.
I about threw up.
No way I was gonna touch that foul mess so I told management to call Roto Rooter as it was beyond our capability to unclog. Then made my getaway.
Whew!
That was the end of it for me except I did have to sign a statement that the clogged sink was the fault of the tennant so they had to pay for Roto Rooter.
I grew up butchering our own hogs, chickens, turkeys, etc and still cut up my deer.
But you all can have your stinkin' goats.
Yes sir. All of them!
Yuck!
Never could stand the smell of it.
Years ago I was working part time as a maintenance man in a big apartment complex.
I get a call to go to apt 301 or whatever to fix a plugged kitchen drain.
Hot June afternoon.
So I knock and go in and am just about floored by the stench in the hot kitchen. There on the kitchen table the whole family are carving up a goat carcass and packaging the meat for the freezer.
They had put too much gristle and sinew down the garbage disposal and had both sides of the double sink clogged.
I about threw up.
No way I was gonna touch that foul mess so I told management to call Roto Rooter as it was beyond our capability to unclog. Then made my getaway.
Whew!
That was the end of it for me except I did have to sign a statement that the clogged sink was the fault of the tennant so they had to pay for Roto Rooter.
I grew up butchering our own hogs, chickens, turkeys, etc and still cut up my deer.
But you all can have your stinkin' goats.
Yes sir. All of them!
I agree 100% That is why we've had them all these years. Great brush converters. Smart. Devious. Social. Little ones are cute. Good company for horses and donkeys. We only got involved in marketing because having goats of both sexes (Billys, not wethers) - results in lots of kids every January or February. Can't keep them all.
Local newspaper did a few articles on my family years ago when we starting keeping a closed heard of Tennessee Fainting Goats. After that - we were flooded and pestered by private people and public officials. Especially from the local Ag Extension where they were promoting "Chevon for the supermarkets."
Main problem with goats as I see it - is keeping them fenced in woodland. Every time a tree-branch caves in a fence somewhere, they are gone like a flash. They will wonder miles if necessary until they find a city person's garden to ruin. Then the screaming starts! And electric fence? Pretty much useless with many goat breeds.
Local newspaper did a few articles on my family years ago when we starting keeping a closed heard of Tennessee Fainting Goats. After that - we were flooded and pestered by private people and public officials. Especially from the local Ag Extension where they were promoting "Chevon for the supermarkets."
Main problem with goats as I see it - is keeping them fenced in woodland. Every time a tree-branch caves in a fence somewhere, they are gone like a flash. They will wonder miles if necessary until they find a city person's garden to ruin. Then the screaming starts! And electric fence? Pretty much useless with many goat breeds.
Bob Huntress
Member
No Jay, I didn't draw the conclusion that you saw goats as a get rich quick idea. That came from reading replies. Your post simply shows that the mechanic friend of your is considering goats as a way to get any return on his extra 20 acres.
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