Hello!
So I just recently bought 2 does. The lady who sold them to me said that they have already likely bred with the buck she had on site, however, she only has one witnessed account of mounting. We just bought our homestead and I am brand new to the goat game. So here are my questions:
1) How will I know when one or both are pregnant? (I have books for this but it doesn't hurt to get first hand account from people who do it year after year?
2) If they aren't pregnant, my intact male is only 5 months old. What is the likely hood he can do the deed for spring kids?
3) The girls have no papers, her boy has no papers, and my boys have no papers. Long story short, any kids I have will have no papers. This doesn't matter to me, I just wanted good natured goats who produced decent amount of milk for me and the family. I am in no way interested in running a small dairy out of my home. However, I also do not need to keep multiplying my herd every season, so how hard will these kids be to sell? Should I have spent 10x more to get registered starters?(buyers remorse).
Replies
I think a lot of people have this kind of thinking, but unless you're buying non registered goats from a farm that actually milks their goats, and they can tell you about their goat's production, you could be setting yourself up to spend more money in the long run...
By that, I mean keeping a goat will cost you the same amount of money no matter how much they produce.
As a generalized rule, good production comes from good milking lines, and good milking lines are usually registered. By saving yourself money up front, you may end up costing yourself money in the end, because of poor production. A doe with good production has the potential to give your family a quart or more of milk a day. In contrast, a doe with lesser production can give as little as 1-2 cups a day. That could translate into the need to own more goats, in order to get enough milk for your family. Which in turn, will cost you more money for upkeep over time. It really does pay to get the best you can afford when it comes to dairy goats. Being able to sell kids is really a secondary issue, cost wise.
Nicole said:
Yes, I exaggerate a bit. But The price difference was considerable. I got my does at a bargain because the lady who was selling them had come on hard times and needed to limit her expenses to include caring for farmies. The boys were also a great deal because we got them from a family friend. For me this was great because I don't particularly care about breeding lines and just wanted goats to produce the little milk my family and I need for our table. However, it finally donned on me I will be saddled with the responsibility of caring for the kids until suitable homes can be found, and lack of papers could make this task very difficult. Thankfully, I live in a small rural community were homesteading is the popular thing to do these days and people are always looking for goats.
Ditto on everything Rachel said. I just wanted to add that the difference between registered and unregistered shouldn't be 10X -- unless they practically gave you the goats. Registered NDs usually start at $300. For $500, you should be able to get kids from dams with milk stars.
1) How will I know when one or both are pregnant?
You will start to see an udder forming anywhere from 1 month, to a few days before she is ready to kid. If you know the date that your seller saw the one breeding, you can use a goat pregnancy calendar to figure out when her due date is. (150 days from breeding if it took)
2) If they aren't pregnant, my intact male is only 5 months old. What is the likely hood he can do the deed for spring kids?
He may be old enough to breed... my boys could go through the motions very young, but they didn't shoot any real bullets until they were closer to 6 months. You can always put them together during a heat cycle, and if she comes back into heat, you'll know he might have been too young... but by then, he'll be 6 months! lol
3) How hard will these kids be to sell? Should I have spent 10x more to get registered starters?(buyers remorse).
It will depend on your area, and whether there is a demand for unregistered goats... the biggest downside, is that you'll be paying the same amount to raise babies that you can't sell for a registered price. Buying non registered goats is a gamble, but there are definitely unregistered goats out there that have good production. In hind sight, you'll only know if you should have sprung for registered goats from a reputable milking line after you have bred and milked your girls!