# Buying at auction vs breeder?



## robbor (Sep 29, 2012)

Does anyone have any recommendation on buying more expensive boers? Im wondering if i might be better off going to a preferred auction and buy better quality stock at auction market price vs a private breeders asking price?


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## kelebek (Oct 5, 2007)

There is a reason they are at auction ..... 

I would never think of purchasing anything from auction unless I had a separate property that I could quarantine till testing is complete or if coming to go straight to butcher.


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## kikoguy (Dec 9, 2012)

The thing I like about buying from breeders is its a more personal experience and you can really look over the stock they have and see the sire and dam that the animal you are looking at came from. I also just like visiting farms and getting ideas on how to do things differently or things you can build lol.


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## FFApride (Oct 8, 2012)

i'm not so sure either sometimes. I got my two boers from a breeder, and paid $450 for both. I admit they are of good quality, but do have flaws in the body. My friend, got her ONE goat from an auction and paid 400. The goat is a little bit on the small side, but has the nicer body.
basically the auction in my area is just the place where breeders come from all over to sell their animals. So same animals, higher prices.
I'd say go with a breeder, for you can get help if goat gets sick, or you're unhappy with something.


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## Texas.girl (Dec 20, 2011)

Don't know how they do it in your area but I visited an auction once just to expose myself. I had a hard time following what was even going on. I did notice that they would bring large groups of animals through, sometimes mixed goat breeds, sometimes goats and sheep together (only sheep and goats are sold on the day we went). They never brought in just one animal, usually somewhere between 5 to 20 (of whatever would fit in the area). I don't think it would be possible to buy just 1 Boer Doe or 1 Boer buck if that is all you wanted. There were guys up front who were bidding on every group that came through, I am assuming for the slaughter house. After my experience I would never buy at auction. I might sell at auction (haven't decided yet), but there are better ways to get the wanted goat.


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## 20kidsonhill (Feb 28, 2011)

I am assuming you mean a breeding stock auction and not the auction house for culls and meat animals. 
I do think you will pay more at a breeding stock auction, but you can still contact the sellers and visit their farm, before the auction day. I personally am a little intimidated about Breeding stock sales, but many people come together at them and would be worth at least watching a couple of them and learning from them. Attending some shows is also a good way to learn what you are looking for. 
as far as price, I know the breeding stock auction by us can go pretty high, but more than likely people are expected higher prices for those animals anyway, normally, they will save some of their better ones to take to these sales. 

Study the on-line catalog and ask lots of questions about the ones you are interested, by e-mail and then go visit them. Set yourself a price that you are willing to pay, go prepared to buy, but if it goes to high then be prepared to walk away.


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## 20kidsonhill (Feb 28, 2011)

FFApride said:


> i'm not so sure either sometimes. I got my two boers from a breeder, and paid $450 for both. I admit they are of good quality, but do have flaws in the body. My friend, got her ONE goat from an auction and paid 400. The goat is a little bit on the small side, but has the nicer body.
> basically the auction in my area is just the place where breeders come from all over to sell their animals. So same animals, higher prices.
> I'd say go with a breeder, for you can get help if goat gets sick, or you're unhappy with something.


You know who the breeder is when you purchase from a breeding sale, so you can still contact them and ask for help. Or even visit their farm before hand. The sales always post catalogs before hand and can be viewed on-line.


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## GTAllen (Jul 22, 2012)

As mentioned, there is huge difference between your local sale barn auction with $125 animals and a production sale with $1000+ animals. I bought a bred doe and a doeling from a production sale that I watched and bid online. Top quality animals, from championship lines, with many enoblements, from the highest quality farms. The animals I bought looked like they came out of the show ring and into the sale ring. The reason that such nice animals are at a production sale, is that you can't keep them all. You have to sell them to realize a profit. Same animals go for less than you would expect at a production sale and some go super high. 

The high end breeders have an idea of the range that their stock is going to bring at the production sales. So I doubt you are going to get some huge discount from going to their place. I actually think you will pay higher off the farm than at a production sale depending on the animal you want and who else wants it.

Think of it like this. You have a group of nice prospect does and a prodution sale this coming summer. Last year, at the same production sale, your does brought $700-$1500 each. Are you going to discount them to sale them off the farm or wait until the production and see what they bring? Also consider that while waiting for the sale, you might be able to show some of these does and get some wins, which of course will increase the value even more.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I was thinking production sale too. I know I've gotten some emails with flyers, etc. for some really REALLY nice looking stock. If I had the $$ and more of those sales were near me I'd love to go and try to get a nice quality doe.
I'd probably try to ask questions though, make sure they are from clean herds.
The thing that makes me most nervous is CL. I know I've seen it at a breeder in a nearby counties herd, and I absolutely do not want to deal with that.
The thing I do like about buying from breeders is... you can see their herd, they will walk you around and let you see what they have and not hide anything. If we had just gone and looked at the doe kids we were there to see, we'd never have known about the goat with CL. The breeder was up front about it when she showed us the goat, but still...not something I want to get into.
We ended up going to Mcdonalds and washing up, spraying our shoes down with bleach when we got home and spraying the floormats in the car.

The local auction by us isn't too bad, they try to pen your animals seperately from other peoples goats. If they get a lot, then they have to put some together. Animals are sold individually, or as a pair, or some breeders bring a bunch of kids and they'll sell as a group.

You CAN get some nice goats at auction if you know what to look for. But a lot of people take cull animals.
I remember taking a buckling that we didn't sell privately, and there was an older couple there, they had brought their entire Boer herd. They said they could no longer afford to take care of them and probably didn't have any help either.
The buck was MASSIVE & good looking too. The does were worn down, but all looked clean and healthy, just probably needed worming and they had JUST weaned their kids. Their kids were in 2 pens - bucklings & doelings. They sold those kids as a group.
OMG...if only I had the $$ and a place to take them..they were a really nice, healthy looking bunch.
I think they sold to a meat buyer 

Biggest threat is disease. From any auction IMO, so any animal should be quarantined as best you can for at least a couple of weeks.
I'd learn what to look for too if buying from a stockyard auction. Learn how to check teeth, check feet, run your hand over the animal to check for lumps, bumps, scars, etc. check and make sure udder is in good shape, esp. does who've kidded before, check eye lids to make sure they aren't anemic. 

When I first got into goats, I didn't know better and bought a doe from auction.
She had hoof rot REALLY bad, didn't know that until we got her home.
She also got little bumps and we thought it was CL, I pretty much had a panic attack. I was new to goats...CL was a 'death penalty' ya know? 
Turns out she had hives or something similar.
I did get her 100%, she was fat and happy, and nice looking doe. BUT, she was a bully, and would use her horns aggressively to keep the others from the hay rolls. She would lay by them and ward off anyone who wanted to eat.
So, we had to sell her.

Sadly, you won't know a lot about that kind of behavior until you get them home and with other goats.

Just my opinion.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

I wouldn't buy from auction, there can be some wonderful animals but they are exposed to the sick animals and may bring home a disease. Much better to buy from a breeder where you can take your time and disease test the animals, as well as pay attention to their personalities.


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## robbor (Sep 29, 2012)

Ya i think im going to wait for next years goats and try a breeder. I have a card from one i think i can trust that has more quality aninals. And ya i was talking about a show goat auction. We were at redbluffs goat sho and it was called prefered. The had all kinds of limits, like 30 goats total auction, only allow 10 bucks . i didnt have the money or knowledge them. One buck really stood out to me. Im going to keep looking but most breeders ive talked to have already sold most of their herds. So probably get alot better choices in april from all the jan-march kids.


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## 20kidsonhill (Feb 28, 2011)

try not to wait to late into the spring to contact the farms. They will taking deposites and presell kids before weaning. and some will give big discounts for buying right after weaning. I would start contacting now and ask to be on a call back list or find out when is the earliest they start selling. 

Farm down the road from me had so many triplets last year, they discounted kids at weaning by 50% that was a huge savings considering they normally sell for $750 to $900. That put some of the kids in an affordable price range. They were all nice kids. It was, "if you buy one this week you can have your pick of kids for $300.00 each." She did have a couple top end that she held out of the group and said she wouldn't let go for that price. Her buck is ennobled. 
so shop around and be prepared or willing to travel a little.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

The best way, to buy, is to go to a repeatable breeder, so you can see the sire and Dam of what you are buying and can see the whole herd. To be able to tell ,if they are good animals or may have issues. Also, you can ask questions 

Any Auction scares me, I stay away, there is always risk, even if the animal isn't showing signs of illness at the time. Fairs are another place that can be risky and I know, there is risk, buying from a breeder too, but, if you stick with one, that has sold you good animals with no issues, it is a plus going back, when you can. I have a few breeders, I buy my Bucks from, that I trust.


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## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

Well depending on your situation.. I personally would never buy from an auction at all. I see people do this or buy up a whole herd of goats thinking that they are getting a great bargain. It is way better to start off small.. very small with quality animals (does) and one registered buck. Your herd will grow so fast. I only will buy from good healthy clean herd ranches that I know take good care of their animals. You will pay more perhaps but if you only want livestock.. you can get less expensive with no registration papers and still have quality animals on your place. We are just land management breeders and still don't want sickly or culled goats on our property as we don't want to be treating health issues unless we have to.


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## onehorse_2000 (Sep 17, 2012)

If you find a quality breeder that you trust, go that route. We dealt with 2 dud breeders this year. Pictures of the animals looked great, but CAE from one and sick, underweight goats from the other, both were long distance travels for us, since our 1 buck is related to most of the stock our neighbors had. Auctions, production and otherwise, can be just as iffy. You can have good breeders selling good animals or good breeders selling bad animals, bad breeders selling good animals and bad breeders selling bad animals and sometimes you can't tell the good from the bad.


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## Shellshocker66 (Mar 19, 2012)

I would not buy from auction even if I was going to get into meat goats.

I had the misfortune of going with someone who was purchasing meat goats, and while we were going to "breeders" farms I will never forgot my first experience of coming across the abscess farm. Here are mostly boer and boer/nubians who for the most part look healthy, the stud buck is massive, but there are these kids running around with abscesses on them. Breeder admits that they lanced some of them the year before and nasty stuff comes out (description sounds like text book CL). They also had a lot of kids running around with milk goiters. 

So these kids are a bargain at $50 for 4 month old meat goats, and I think anyone not knowledgeable might jump at the "deal'. That is the good thing about visiting the breeder and looking at ALL the animals! I give her kudos for being honest, but you know if she had extras that didn't sell they were going to the auction and someone unsuspecting could bring home one of those goats. Obviously with the amount of kids running around with those lumps that were about to burst you could tell it was a herd wide issue at this point.

Like I said I would never endanger what I have here by getting a "bargain". I rather pay the price and purchase from known breeders who have a reputation to protect and who openly allow you to see their herds and the health of them.

Good luck!


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## Tenacross (May 26, 2011)

At your average production/breeding stock sale, the goats have not
been exposed to anymore things than a goat show. The sale is not
held at some stockyards, they are held at a fairgrounds or such and
the pens are clean and sanitary. The goats have all had a bath and
most a hair cut. Their feet are trimmed up good. This scenario is
night and day different than the weekend livestock market sale.
Everyone giving their opinions on buying goats at auction should at
least make the distinction on what kind of auction they are talking 
about. (off soap box)
I watch the cataloged production sales like a hawk. I think they are
the best indicator of what breeding goats are worth. I have bought
does from these sales. I have also bought goats from reputable 
breeders. I also bought the doe that made me the most money last
year off Craigslist. Ha. True story. If I'm considering how much
I will pay for a goat off the farm, I estimate how much that goat
would bring at a production sale. The nature of an auction usually
will value an animal slightly higher than they are worth. It's a good
thing too, because the auction house like DVA Auction is taking about 20% from the seller. That's quite a bit when you think about
it. For this reason, I think some breeders will (or should) sell an animal slightly
cheaper off the farm because they aren't having to pay commission.
As a buyer, there are pros and cons for both sales and off the farm. 
For me, the main thing is opportunity. Like right now, there aren't
any production sales until next spring. So if I had money to spend
on goats, I would have to look to breeding farms. And it would likely
be tough pickings until kidding and weaning. The more I learn 
about goats... Patience is the key.


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

Shellshocker, why do you think having a bunch of kids running around with milk goiters is a bad thing?


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Tenacross - I totally agree. I do think Spring and fall are the best times to buy from breeders, at least around here. Winter kids being weaned, and then in the fall, people get done showing, especially kids/teens/college students who are going back to school, and need to sell stock. For example, there is a breeder about an hour north of us who was telling us about some nice goats they were selling when his son was done with State Fair. I would have jumped on those does too if I had the $$, but they were so closely related to our buck, I guess it wasn't meant to be.

I love a kid with a milk goiter. Since raising goats, if I don't see one of my kids with a milk goiter, I question if the mama is providing correctly LOL All of our kids develope a milk goiter at some point, but they go away after weaning. Sometimes....they look ridiculously silly tho' lol

I know they have a few sales not too far away typically in the spring I think, I might end up having to try and get to one some day. I get emails all the time - flyers from different sales around the country and I just sit here drooling while looking at them LOL


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## onehorse_2000 (Sep 17, 2012)

I have done both types of auctions and both types have their good, bad, and wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. I have worked high-end standardbred sales (we are talking Hambilton winners and $750000 horses) and we always, ALWAYS had a handful come in with ringworm, rainrot, and/or nasty sores which are truly neglect issues. Horses are a little different, in that everything has a coggins as it comes in or taken as it comes in, so you will know soon enough that animal is diease free, but the rest of it is still fair game.



Tenacross said:


> At your average production/breeding stock sale, the goats have not
> been exposed to anymore things than a goat show. The sale is not
> held at some stockyards, they are held at a fairgrounds or such and
> the pens are clean and sanitary. The goats have all had a bath and
> ...


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## GTAllen (Jul 22, 2012)

*Cowboy Classic Sale*

Here is one of two does I bought this year from the Cowboy Classic http://www.4mfarms.net/cowboyclassic/Sept20_Cowboy Classic Fall 2012.pdf

I bought lot #5, K&D Maggie's Symbol, out of a Status Quo son from
ProStock Boers. She is a Granddaughter of the EGGS Ryals Magnum and Ryals Topbrass. She is very deep chested, wide in the front
end, with an extremely wide top side. She was bred to the 2011 National
Champ TLB K&D's One Tuff Rip.

I got a buckling and a doeling on the 19th of Nov from her.









I also got Lot 37 GLEGS STAR from 4 Horn Farms(same stock as 4-M)
Out of a 50 Caliber son, AR-15.

10B2B 50 CALI BER **EN
GLEG S BERT HA
TLB MUGSY'S RIP 713 **EN
FIVE CREEK BOER GOAT S STARR

I also get to sell in their customer appreciation sale in July.


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## GTAllen (Jul 22, 2012)

4M is selling a really nice doe off the farm for 12K, full sister to the 2012 ABGA National Grand Champion Doe


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## Shellshocker66 (Mar 19, 2012)

keren said:


> Shellshocker, why do you think having a bunch of kids running around with milk goiters is a bad thing?


The milk goiter was a good thing, the breeder thought they were abscesses as well as she had never heard of a milk goiter (I don't know why I even mentioned it, as I was just remembering how horrified I was at the lumps that were not in the milk goiter area). But my point was that a lot of these kids looked really healthy even to the point a lot of them had milk goiters.

It was the baseball size lumps with hair coming off and obviously about to burst that was the problem on several of the kids.

I guess they had tried to lance those as well the year before as she said "some of the lumps nothing came out"


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## 20kidsonhill (Feb 28, 2011)

Shellshocker66 said:


> The milk goiter was a good thing, the breeder thought they were abscesses as well as she had never heard of a milk goiter (I don't know why I even mentioned it, as I was just remembering how horrified I was at the lumps that were not in the milk goiter area). But my point was that a lot of these kids looked really healthy even to the point a lot of them had milk goiters.
> 
> It was the baseball size lumps with hair coming off and obviously about to burst that was the problem on several of the kids.
> 
> I guess they had tried to lance those as well the year before as she said "some of the lumps nothing came out"


i can't beleive they even had someone come look at their farm.

They tried to lance the milk goiters? Those poor goats.


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## robbor (Sep 29, 2012)

*breeders! huh!*

We i drove 3 hours each way to see a breeder that someone recommended. I was told she had reduction sale and lots of young does separated and priced by pen. I contacted her and she called a quized me on what i was looking for. She asked me if i was looking for fancy, yes; show goat or brood stock, broodstock; and if i was looking for big boned goat, YES!, she wanted i lil more info so i told her i heard she had some nice $400-500 does and i was looking for 2-3. i asked if she send a few pics but she didnt. Fy frien had bought some nice lil 4 week old does and spme looked nice n fat and even had some nice paints. He said she had hundreds.
Well when i got there there were 2 pens of about 15 goats total, non looked extra special kind of disappointing, no paints. She said i didnt specify i wanted any paints (Fancy???). We kind of picked out the largest 2 but wasnt 2 excited. Then i didnt see anything else that was what i was looking for, and since we were already ther to show me her $300 does to see if we could find anything else. On the was to the next pen i confided in her and told her i was looking for quality and the last goats i bought were lacking. We went to the next pen and didnt see to much that stood out.
We spotted on nice thick necked heavy rump 3 month old and the grabbed her, i asked how much and she replied "2" lifted her up and she was not 1-1 clean teated but because of her size i said ill take her. They went and prepped her and we went and looked some more and found one more doe close to the same heavier body and thick neck. When they got done i called the woman over again and we took a look she said it was a keeper. I asked how much, she replied $1500, my jaw dropped this doe was clean teated though. I told here i couldnt do that $500 was even a stretch for me. She countered with $1000. I was still floored, stumbling, I told her there was just no way, i was amazed still stumbling i told her id stretch and a big stretch $650, she offer the goat for $800. I told her it just wasnt an option.
We walked back to the processed "2" goat and the $500 pen and she said ill give you $50 off the 500 goat since you bought such an expensive goat. I stopped dead in my track and asked " excuse me how much was the first goat?" She replied $2000. Um i think we have a misunderstanding!

I just took the 1 $500 goat but after the she came down 50% on the third goat i was about to walk away. I kind of feel so far that alot of these goat farms are "looking for suckers" and obviously if they come down 50% what they were asking was knowingly not a fair market value. Kind of turns my stomach. really set me back i think im done with goats with goat farms like this.
The sad part, when i got home my new 3 month old $500 does is the same size as my 8-9month old doe from the previous farm . I dont think thes WOMEN at goat farms are to honest.


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## mjgh06 (Sep 4, 2012)

I am experienced with breeders and auctions here in Georgia, and for awhile I raised Boers. Here's my opinion:

While most say what you pay for, I've had good and bad experiences with both. As a newbie, I went to just any auction and purchased goats. Any kind any shape and I learned alot about goats and health issues doing that. As I got more experienced, I purchased from breeders not knowing their reputation or background. I can say I bought a few on the promise to receive registration papers that I never received. 

Once I settled on the breed of goats I wanted to raise, I read up on everything about the breed - at the time Boers, now Pygmies and Nigerians. I especially studies conformation and signs of illness. I then went back to some auctions with my learned knowledge and can say I found some great specimens who were a little older but still got good breeding from them and some Great kids. I have also purchased from breeders and have felt that some while they are registered are not of great conformation.

I guess I'm saying it comes down to you... you have to know your breed and know what questions to ask and what to look for. Because I sell pet goat along with my registered goats, I still go to the auctions. Here in Georgia I have three I attend regularly. I know the crowd, the people that run the auctions, and I know those who come to sell quality stock and those who come to sell otherwise. I also know what to look for in the goat. The auctions I use have a certified AG inspector that inspects each and every animal prior to allowing the animal on premise for sale. Bucks are kept separate from does and different livestock are separated from each other. And the auctions allow me to inspect the goats prior to bid time. 

So in the end, I have found some really great quality goats at auctions - some much better than the registered ones I purchased when I first started. I do my same inspections for my registered goats, but I don't feel you "get what you pay for" - "you get what you know".

Oh and I have never paid over $100.00 for a goat purchased at auction, whereas I have paid well over $500 for some of my registered goats just because it has the papers.


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## Squires (Sep 14, 2010)

mjgh06 said:


> I guess I'm saying it comes down to you... you have to know your breed and know what questions to ask and what to look for.


That is so true. There is a learning curve with anything. I think it may be better to start out talking with extension agents -- let them help you find good breeders with healthy stock -- and getting to know people. Read the books and the blogs. Go to some agricultural extension seminars, workshops, clubs and shows. Ask questions.

Long before you buy, ask breeders who they would like to buy stock from or who they would go to for stock for their children's 4H or FFA projects. Find out which breeders are respected by others for their stock, for their knowledge and also which are respected for their honest dealings. If you find animals that appeal to you and are owned by a person you think you can work with -- who will be your mentor as you start out -- that is the ideal situation.

I was lucky to start out slow and find several great mentors when I wanted some dairy sheep of my own. Good breeders often have extra animals they would keep for themselves if they had the time and the feed to keep them -- and the best breeders will sell starter herds or flocks to beginners and help you start out right. I was less lucky with my goats, because I did not put much thought into them -- some goats fell into my lap and I had a rougher learning curve with them. Also, some people see goats as pets or trophies -- so there is a lot of misinformation and nonsense out there, and the new person has to sift through a lot of misinformation.

Ask about pedigrees, ask people to show you an example of what it is about such and such a line of animals that they like or dislike. Most breeders LOVE to talk about their animals' pedigrees! 

Try to cultivate friendships with people who enjoy their goats and love to share their thoughts and see other people enjoy goats and succeed. Avoid people who want to see others fail -- or are too competitive or too greedy.

I am afraid that when people start showing animals, some really nasty characters get involved. When animals become prestigious, the prices and the back-biting get worse. Sometimes livestock selling begins to look like any other pyramid scheme!

Look at what happened with llamas, alpacas, and some types of horses. 

Also remember that just because "Mr.-Million-Dollar-Buck" was the sire, does not mean that everything he sires is worth keeping as a stud -- this is a BIG mistake. People spend too much on their start-up stock and spend the rest of their lives trying to sell every kid they produce for a high price.

On the other hand, sometimes you can get well-known bloodlines and quality animals from lesser-known breeders. I've bought very nice animals from 4H children. A healthy doe with no major flaws can always be bred up to produce better stock.

HEALTH and lack of major flaws are more important than anything else. A fancy goat with a contagious, untreatable disease is worthless.



mjgh06 said:


> The auctions I use have a certified AG inspector that inspects each and every animal prior to allowing the animal on premise for sale. Bucks are kept separate from does and different livestock are separated from each other. And the auctions allow me to inspect the goats prior to bid time.


You are lucky to have inspectors. We seem to have a shortage of inspectors and veterinarians around here (upstate New York). Also too many stories of goats passing as OK but still carrying something that shows up later. Some years back there was a goat with RABIES at the NYS Fair! We are now required to vaccinate against rabies and produce certificates before entering fair grounds in NY.


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## clearwtrbeach (May 10, 2012)

[size as my 8-9month old doe from the previous farm . I dont think thes WOMEN at goat farms are to honest.[/QUOTE]
It sounds like you had a bad experience and it does certainly happen. Educating yourself on what you personally want -be it goats, dogs, horses etc is half the battle. I hope it didn't turn you to the point you decide to never do goats again, because there are great people out there as well.  It's hard to tell with your last statement possibly due to wording or typos, but it appears you are lumping wom(en) at farm(s) into one group. Please remember to keep it friendly on here. Hope to still see you on the site.


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## ksevern (Dec 12, 2012)

I have bought goats at local auction and from individuals and have had good and bad experiences at both. It really depends on your goals, including economic goals. In my case, I don't have enough time for show goats right now, nor enough money for breeding goats, so I am raising goats for meat. Therefore, my main interests are in performance (fertility, multiple births, hardiness) and return on investment,

I attend two livestock auctions occasionally, and have bought some great does and doelings. Like one horse said, you have to develop an eye and get to know folks at the auction. I would never go to a livestock auction looking for pedigreed animals. On buying direct, I went to one farm that was so filthy I couldn't go home until I cleaned my car! At another, I wished they had more for sale. 

So, be clear to yourself why you are buying goats, what your expectations are, and try to avoid emotional buying.


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## Tenacross (May 26, 2011)

Again we are conflating generic livestock auctions with breed production
sales. Not the same thing, but when I first started I bought some goats
from the livestock auction down the street. I got lucky and purchased
some nice Saanen does that later tested negative for everything. I still
have two of them. That was the exception rather than the rule. No
way in heck I would buy there again. I do sell there from time to time
though. I like being able to unload a cull without much fuss. I wouldn't
sell a diseased animal though. Just me. On any given Saturday, I could
take my worst animal to the auction barn and it would be the best goat
that had gone through their ring in several months. The meat buyer buys
probably 90% so I don't worry about setting anybody's breeding program
back. I don't say that to brag, I say that to show the quality that goes
through this auction. They are all different though. Still risky.
Be careful. Ideally you could take them somehwhere besides your
place for a "quarantine" period. Test and observe them before bringing
them on your place.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Yes, generic auctions are very different than breed production sales  I wouldn't hesitate to buy from a good sale, but not a generic auction (AKA the old barn down the street kinda place).


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