Breeding Up?

[ksalvagno]

If you want to try and find out what sells in your area, then look at Craigslist ads. Also contact 4-H and see what can be shown. I watch Craigslist ads and keep tabs on certain ads. If they keep appearing over and over, then the person is having a hard time selling their stuff, if you only see it for one time, then they are probably selling the item. Also notice what people generally have. If the majority of the people who have goats, have unregistered or registered, then you are getting your answer.

I have an unregistered Alpine. I'm not even sure she is a full blood Alpine. I love her. She is an incredible milker. I also have my ADGA/AGS registered Nigerian Dwarfs. Registered goats sell best in my area but there are those that do want unregistered. It takes some time to figure it out but you can do it.

It is great that you are trying to figure out what is best for you. Only you can figure that out. I actually started with show quality registered Nigerians because there is a higher demand for show quality registered goats. Goat showing is very big in this area. Even though I'm not interested in showing, I wanted a product that would sell. I also have alpacas and wanted a goat that I could get some milk from if I have an orphan cria to feed or something so that was why I got the unregistered Alpine. I do drink the milk and it is wonderful. There are also more and more people wanting to be self sufficient in my area so I think I will be able to sell the unregistered goat's offspring to someone looking only to have a goat or two for personal milk.

 

[MysticScorpio82]

We got a small grade herd (from a woman who had a family emergency) as our first goats this year. I hate to say it, but they were not expensive and I figured if we were going to kill goats with our ignorance of raising them, I would rather have that happen to less expensive grade animals. We learned to milk, immunize, feed, and we will get these through their first winter and kidding. Next spring we have some registered animals on order and will go up from here. We may get rid of our grade animals or breed up. But either way, we have learned a ton from our wonderful herd now before spending the money on more expensive animals. (Mini nubian by the way) I think this is the way to go. You have to learn somehow.

That was my thoughts too!

I know on craigslist and in the Uncle Henry (it is like a book of ads, similar to craigslist but it only comes out once a week and they started doing this before internet was around) there are alot of Nigerian Dwarves for sale, but not as many of the other breeds. I am not sure if that means the market is so saturated that they aren't selling or if it means there is that much demand for the cuties. Now I have a better idea of how to tell (thank you Karen!) so I will be paying better attention.

I have a family of 4; 2 of which are very small children (4 years and 1 year) so I don't think I need a ton of milk to meet my family's needs (until my children get older anyway) plus I only have about 1 acre to work with (the rest of the land has gardens, playset, etc) which is another reason I was leaning towards a small breed.

I will have to double check to make sure nothing has changed, but the last I read it is OK to sell raw milk in maine from your farm if the people bring their own containers and you have proper warnings . One of my fear is getting overwhelmed by milk and letting it go to waste, which is why I was afraid of a larger breed. Of course I do want to make soap which will use up some excess...

And Again I was thinking of starting off with inexpensive, unregistered does to begin with and to learn from. Then if I wanted to get into showing or let my daughter show in the 4-h, I would need better quality goats and I would rather have the option of breeding up and improving my herd, than using the unregistered goats then selling them once I learned and buying new goats...I tend to become attachted to my pets

 

[savingdogs]

I bought some "mutt" quasi mini-nubians as our first goats and we love them. We are raising some "grade" kids this spring and hoping that we get some females! We are going to sell the males only most likely and increase our little herd with them. I crossed them back to a nigerian dwarf to keep them small for our enclosure.

We do not like the idea of selling the males for meat, so we hope to sell them as brush clearers. We have not sold the male offspring yet, so I'd have to tell you later how that goes, but so far we are really enjoying this experience and having goats.

I may "breed up" in the future as well.

 

[Roll farms]

We've found that the "something for everyone" approach works for us....we have some "cheap" goats, some purebred / registered, and some in between (grade / %), in several breeds and types.

That way I can satisfy people who want a backyard milker, brush eater, 4-H, etc.

I've always felt that the overall health / productivity of an animal is way more important than what it's papers say.

BUT...there are some buyers who *think* papers = 'good'...and I like to take their money, too.