More goats

JimS · Jan 28, 2016

Not wanting to high jack the other goat thread:

What are goats selling for in your area (please state your area). Here in Northern Ca (Petaluma) I see Boar Goats range from $175- just shy of #300. Milking goats are in the $175-$250 range.

Ron-MO · Jan 28, 2016

I know the prices went up about the time I got completely out of the Boer goat business. We tried to make a go of it, and a friend I worked with convinced us to give them a try, and I knew I did not really want in the cattle business. I was always disappointed, and if I had true dollar input vs. selling prices, I know I lost a lot of money on them. A lot of people believe they are low maintenance and easy to keep, but my experience was the opposite, and in my opinion, you had better be able to have someone around at all times if you do not want to lose them, especially when kidding. Once both of us were working full time, they had to go. Sadly the last load I sold did the best out of all, and when I started out, many sold for roughly $60 a head.

Dave H (MI) · Jan 28, 2016

I have had goats for about 15 years now. I could never raise meat goats. Smarter than a dog and friendly. I have to raise something stupid and mean. Cattle? I dunno...stupid, mean and evil sounds like a bad combo too.

Brendon-KS · Jan 28, 2016

We have a few Boer does and a buck and sell kids each September at the Hutchinson, KS sale barn. For goats that weight 70-90 lbs the average is $2 to $2.50 per pound, sometimes up to $3 if sold in April or May when the market is at its highest. Mature, 150-200 lb bucks with no redeeming qualities (being sold for meat, not breeding stock) go for more like a dollar per pound.

GregCO · Jan 28, 2016

Not sure what meat goats are going for in my area now, but eight to ten years ago I was getting $1.50 to $2.00 per lb. The market was fickle and changed fast. You really had to watch the prices and try to pick a good time to sell butcher goats. Good Boer goat breeding stock could get high. You could spend thousands on a buck. Doe's were $250 to $500 each for decent ones with no papers.
Milkers are going from $150 to $300. Top dairy show lines go up to $1,000 or more. They are hard to make money on. I had them for 15 years now. We were big into showing dairy until about three years ago. We had allot of fun with it. The trick was to never stop investing in genetics. The first time you did and went stagnant for a year you would get smoked in the show ring.
We raise LaMancha's. Good milkers and nice dispositions.

Greg

hd6gtom · Jan 28, 2016

Central Iowa, pal of mine sold a truck load last week, said they were the highest they have ever been. He said "If I had another load to sell I would make enough money to pay the feed bill.". He was NOT kidding. I think he said 1.25 lb for the better stuff.

Brown Swiss · Jan 28, 2016

Fennimore Livestock Exchange

Livestock sale barn and hay auctions

Home About Us Sale Dates Market Report Documents & Forms News Photos Contact Us

January 27 2016
January 27, 2016

Slaughter Cows: 61-75/Lb
Slaughter Bulls:

Hol Bulls Calves 95-120#: 200-240/Lb
Light Weight & Poor Calves:190/Lb & down
Hol Hfr Cfs:
Bf Cfs:

Bucks & Ewes: 65-79/Lb

Choice Lambs: 125-132/Lb

Feeding Lambs: 200-240/Lb
Slaughter Goats: 125-145/Lb

Slaughter Kids (Dairy): 200-220/Lb

Slaughter Kids (Boer): 250-262.50/LB

Butcher Hogs:
Sows:
Filed Under: Cattle Market Report

Market Report

Home About Us Sale Dates Market Report Documents & Forms News Photos Contact Us

Fennimore Livestock Exchange, Inc.

14034 US Hwy 61 N
Fennimore, WI 53809
608-822-3255

? 2016 Fennimore Livestock Exchange, Inc.
www.webwisedesign.com

Geo-TH,In · Jan 29, 2016

I was told goats make great mowers or brush hogs. Never owned a goat, heard they smell too. My dad raised goats for his cardiologist from India.

Traditional Farmer · Jan 29, 2016

I had the same experience with Boers,then I got Kikos been raising them for 15 years they're
just the opposite of Boers and have made $$$ on them.

L.Fure · Jan 29, 2016

I don't live too far from Fennimore, WI. I started looking into buying dairy kids from the Amish and feeding them to market size. At the time they were selling them for $2.00 each. Then I penciled out the cost of the milk replacer to get them started and decided it wasn't worth the effort.

Bret4207 · Jan 29, 2016

(quoted from post at 09:47:51 01/29/16) I was told goats make great mowers or brush hogs. Never owned a goat, heard they smell too. My dad raised goats for his cardiologist from India.

"Goats" do not smell. Bucks smell, they pee all over their faces, in the breeding season. A doe does not smell and is among the cleanest animals you'll find compared to cattle, sheep, dogs, etc.

Yes, they will clear brush, kill it at least, if fenced in an area, just as cattle, horses, sheep, hogs. You still have to go in an root the brush out. And you can't leave them in a scrub lot with nothing much to eat without them either dying or escaping. They are nice animals and worthy of far more respect than they are given.

Donald Lehman · Jan 29, 2016

As Brett said, the females are quite clean. The males can be detected with the human nose a hundred yards away on a still day during the breeding season. And yes, those boogers will eat anything they can wrap their mouth around. They will eat all the leaves off the brush and then eat the bark, leaving a nice buggy whip for you. They will eat horse feed, horse treats, pig feed, TMR, dog food, and chicken feed. They will eat house food out of the bucket I bring in the barn for the pigs, too, if you don't watch em. They are intensely curious, and the most comical animal you will encounter. The silly things are a constant source of amusement. It's kinda like having a herd of Red Skelton's around 24/7! Oh yeah. They will eat rabbit pellets if they can get their nose in the bag, too. (and milk replacer)

Donald Lehman · Jan 29, 2016

Jeff's BIL just sold three a couple of days ago for $550. One of them was bred. He didn't get rich on them, but I do know he was satisfied with his return on investment.

sammydwm · Jan 29, 2016

Have had folks from Iowa calling me about CL ads for dairy goats.
I'm in Central WI....
Guy says dairy goats are taking off. Getting pretty good money for the milk and the cheese co's are more open to getting folks on board than they used to be.
However that makes it so he can't find a decent goat for under 600.
Kid prices have doubled around here in the last year.

Boers have always been expensive and kids are running 400 and up for does.

RN · Jan 29, 2016

Stupid, mean, evil and LARGE is the worst. If you outweigh the S,M,E critter- and it isn't a carnivore to begin with- you can handle them, enough to tie them down and drag them to a stock trailer for a trip to locker. Never had trouble with the goats, Merino Ram liked to bump people from behind, he cracked another persons ribs. I just got used to grabbing the head handles and wrestling him down after his one time surprise. This was about 15 years back- local meat market for goats and some sheep was Indian, Mexican and some Arab customers. The surplus goat milk was split between 2 customers with stomach problems and couple bottle critters, some soap for sensitive skin customers. RN.

More goats

JimS

Member

Ron-MO

Member

Dave H (MI)

Well-known Member

Brendon-KS

Well-known Member

GregCO

Member

hd6gtom

Well-known Member

Brown Swiss

Well-known Member

Geo-TH,In

Well-known Member

Traditional Farmer

Well-known Member

L.Fure

Well-known Member

Bret4207

Well-known Member

Donald Lehman

Well-known Member

Donald Lehman

Well-known Member

sammydwm

Member

RN

Well-known Member

Similar threads