Thinking about buying a couple dozen does and a buck. Live in Minnesota. Wondering if it's worth it. I have an ethnic market willing to buy wethers. Will they eat buckthorn?
I do not raise goats, but I can give you a couple of problems you may face when selling goats or sheep.
Two close friends of mine whom are Muslim have asked me numerous times to raise goats and sheep since there were requests from people at the Mosque. I don't mind doing it for them, but here is a scenario we have discussed. In about 45 days there is a ceremony in which a sheep is slaughtered. The slaughter process is very specific, and many of the buyers may want to do it themselves. Although, they can't perform this in a zero lot line residential neighborhood or within an apartment, so they may ask to slaughter the sheep on your property. At first, this doesn't seem like a big problem, but how many sheep can you really slaughter on your property before you have a problem? The same goes for goats. Many people may not have a way of transporting a live goat, so they may ask to put it down at your property so they can haul it. Others may have the means of hauling the livestock and know where the nearest processing facility is located, otherwise, you need to be ready to address these situations. Personally, I am considering doing this for just their Mosque since I can handle the limited number of requests...
In my area goats sell for $1.00 per pound on the hoof. Most people sell the goats when they are around 100 pounds wich means they are usually 9-12 months old. This all depends of course...
Just my two cents, and I don't have enough information either...
I am new here but I raise and sell the South African Boer. I am also a member of the Boer Goat Association and SC meat goat association. The goat meat we import is phenomenal, I'm talking billions of lbs. so that tells you it is being consumed here in the good ole US of A. I recommend buying a good Buck, 100%Boer and crossing him with Spanish, Nubian, whatever. then selling the offspring for the meat market.
tbolt tell us more about your experience with goats. I have been reading as much as i can about them and Im really thinking of raising meat goats. I would like to hear about your experiences.. also how high is your fence and how large an area do you keep them in and how many in that area?
Fencing should be about 4ft. Electric is good to keep the goats from reaching over and dogs coming in. Chain link or small opening wire is preferred if you don't use the electric to keep the goats from rubbing on, climbing on, and getting their horns caught in fencing. Make sure your pasture is free from poisonous weeds. Oh yes, people think goats will eat anything. In reality they won't eat a lot of things but will eat plenty of things that will kill them. The 400 dollar young Buck you saw in the photo lasted 2 days in his new environment and died from a nandina bush. Most ornamentals, flower bushes are poisonous to these goats. Wild cherry of course will kill you if you eat the wilted leaves because it produces hydrogen syanide during the wilting process. Poke weed won't harm the goats till they chew on the mature stalk and indulge on its concentrated poison. I have lost a couple to poke myself. The biggest threat to goats are intestinal parasites. "Deworming is a must" I orally give injectable Ivomec and Valbazen. I give orally on a pretty much monthly basis. Pregnant does get .08% Ivomec drench and do not give Valbazen to pregnant does. Some folk use panacure paste and alternate different types of dewormers but me personally, I use the Ivomec cattle and sheep dewormer repeatedly. Another thing good to have is a guard dog or donkey. I have a guard dog, Great Pyranese. She sees everything that moves, she eats all the afterbirth and licks and cleans the kids. A very "big" smart, well mannered Dog. I gave 10 dollars for her at the horse and goat auction. She has saved me thousands. I lost about two thousand dollars worth of goats last year because of coccidiosis. I was slack and did'nt treat my kids with sulfa-dimethox, a sulfer drug. We had a rainy season and it almost wiped me out of my spring crop. Medicated feed alone will not prevent coccidiosis. I also inject Vitamin B-12, Vitamin E and solenium, a trace mineral we don't have in our USA soil that these goats need. I give yearly tetanus and toxoid "over-eating disease" shots. The vitamin B-12 gives energy, makes the goats eat and gain weight. I had a bout with hoof rot due to the rainy season also. Makes the goats limp like they have a thorn in their foot. Inject LA-200, wash their feet with clorox and administer coppertox and this should cure them. If not repeat and rotate pastures for a while. Anything else please feel free to ask. I learned mostly the hard, expensive way. I am always glad to help but always eager to learn also.
Just curious, how many goats do you keep per acre. I've been considering getting goats to clean up hillside. I've read that they eat a lot of brush & thats what I have. Is that sufficient or do you still have to feed additionally? I don't know if I could keep an electric fence from being grounded out. I was thinkng of 4 ft welded fence. When you say you use electric, are you using some sort of high tensile or what?
Electric is good, although I'm not using it. I have problems from time to time with the young goats getting their horns hung in the fencing. They are use to sticking their heads through as youngsters and as they grow, their horns grow and they tend to hang them up. Also they rub on the wire and loosen it. How many you can keep per acre depends on how much you have for them to eat. At one time I had about 40 in a two acre pasture but I also fed them pellets and hay.I have 15 now in that same pasture. I still feed supplement hay and pellets. The problem with too many is the control of parasites and sickness. The 15 I have now seems to be an ok number on the pasture I have, 40 was a bit too many. The 4ft. welded wire will probably be fine. The smaller openings are better for keeping their heads out. As far as electric goes, just a plain ole fence charger, or solar charger with electic fence wire. Doesn't have to be high tensile. Heres a pic. of mine. The welded wire is separating Bucks from does and thats a Pot-bellied pic in there in case you were wondering.
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