# commercial meat goat production



## Cash (Mar 8, 2010)

If anyone here is a commercial meat goat producer I'd be interested in talking about how you manage your operation. I'm new to this and would love some first hand advise to add to my research. So far I've mostly talked with people who raise goats for show and replacement goats.

Thanks!


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## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

I know off the top of my head that Sealawyer (Fred Vandermartin) has a commercial operation
try contacting him


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## KGW Farms (Nov 25, 2009)

Most of my goaties go as breeding stock but I occasionally have meat goats. I would be happy to answer any questions I can.


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## Tom Hayden (May 10, 2010)

The bigger meat producers here either kid in December or buy male kids then and feed them to 55-60 pounds.They aim to get them to market just before Easter.I kid in February and sell the male kids at the first June auction.Last year mine averaged 55 pounds I think they'll be lighter this year because of cold ,wet,weather.I keep the does and have one or two of the male kids processed for our own use.In this climate ,western Kansas,kidding once a year is the best way to go.It gives the mothers time to recover and get healthy before the snow flies.I have Spanish cross does .I rent a good Boer buck and let him run with them from Sept.15 to Oct.31.


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## Mully (Jun 23, 2009)

Go here .... lots of good info http://www.boergoats.com/clean/coverpage.php
I looked into raising meat goats but to be successful you need lots of land because you will need to raise 100 to 200 head and I would have to lease enough property to make it work ... haven given up though.


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## DRJ Ranch (Apr 3, 2010)

I don't bielve you need alot of land to show signs of a profit yes a probaly managed large goat heard might bring more then a small one. The main way to increase profit is buy keeping labor and feed down so you need to be really selective on your intinal purchase of goats and look what your breeding to in my opion. Let me toss acouples ideas around for you to think about for your market goats..

If you had a bunch of good stock that could be used for either show or replacment does or bucks you could sale them at a higher price then just a meat market animal or FFA or 4H market animals

If you dont have alot of land and instead of leasing places look for places that need brush clean and get paid to put your goats there to clean up places and get paid for it will also selling weathers.


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## DPW (Mar 13, 2010)

We are in our third year of raising meat goats. This is our first year of selling most everything that hits the ground. We hope to break even some day. It won't be this year and probably not next.
Personally I would not recommend getting into the meat goat business if profit were the only motivation. We enjoy raising them. We enjoy showing them off to visitors to our farm. We also enjoy eating them.
A friend of ours once said that she wished she was making more money but that she really didn't care because she so enjoyed hanging out with other "crazy goat people." 
There is money to be made though. But not easy money.
The good news is that demand far exceeds supply. Much of the goat meat eaten in this country is imported. The need for more domestic production does exist.
I could spend an hour telling you about our operation. But what works for us may not work for you. Keep doing the research and use that knowledge to begin the process of raising a quality meat goat. I don't know two people who raise their goats the same way and I don't know anyone who raises meat goats who's operation did not evolve as time went by. 
Good luck and try to keep it fun. Not always an easy thing to do when it comes to goats.


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## jdgray716 (Aug 8, 2008)

Well I would be happy to help. You can also look at my links page and there is a group just for meat goat producers. We raise for all these reasons. Herd replacemnts, meat, pets, and show.

http://www.tennesseemeatgoats.com/ is one of the biggest meat herds in the country. She is always willing to answer questions. I warn you she is very direct though. In other words you will get a straight and honest answer like it or not. However, she has helped me many times over the years.

The second largest herd I know is http://www.bendingtreeranch.com/ and she is a personal friend and like family to me. She too can help you and works with the first breeder/farm alot. In fact that is where she started. She was a satalite ranch for OCR and later started her own herds as well.

I do not see any questions so feel free to email me or post and I would be happy to help where I can.


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