# opinions please- what is the best month to kid meat goats.



## mlktrkdrvr (Dec 7, 2012)

I know that everyone will have their own opinion based on their weather, locations, local populations but I am wondering in general what the best or most popular month for kidding the meat goats to get the best sale price for kids. What size kids are usually wanted most for Easter or Passover? I don't want to kid in January or February, but about any other month is a possibility. I just bought some does that were exposed for mid-August kids, but there are some open too so I am trying to decide when to breed. 

Also I was talking to a guy a while back and he said that meat goats should be bred to kid three time in 2 years... Is that right?? 
thanks


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## DMSMBoers (Dec 23, 2013)

My ideal time is Dec. That gives me 4 month old kids that should be atleast 60lds, that hits the best price at the killers. I sale in April to hit the Easter prices that were around 4 dollars a ld this year. I dont like to have my does heavy bred in the hot months of summer, its just too hard on them. You also have to worry more about flies an cocci. 

Some ppl do breed for 3 times in 2 years. Some does can handle that some cant. It also reduces the does production life. I think when you breed for that you want to sell your does off around 6 to 8 years old.


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## SMB_GoatHerd (Jan 22, 2014)

My ideal time is in February, because I sell to 4-H kids who need their projets to weigh at least 50 lbs. by the first week of August. It makes them around 70 lbs. by then. It really depends on what market your selling towards, and when you need them a certain weight. I like winter kiddings because it's easier on everyone. It's easier to warm up goats than it is to cool them down in my opinion.


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## mlktrkdrvr (Dec 7, 2012)

none of my goats are registered and they are not really show goats. Mainly just for meat, as there is a sale barn close to here that has a large Middle Eastern clientele. Would like to hit the high end of the markets though.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Find out when the ethnic holidays are & be ready to have kids ready at those times.
Since easter & Passover are mainly Christian celebrations it's more likely lamb is used.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

There is a big holiday in October and they will want wethers that are around a year or 100lbs. I had a man that was interested in buying my kids and that's how he wanted them. Price per goat and the money for feed it just wasn't going to work for me. But you still have buyers that have weekend BBQs and such and don't really need them that big for a small family.
Here the all time best time to sell is Easter and May 5 but the majority of buyers are Hispanic. But any time between October 1st and may 1st does pretty good. During that time the buyers are not just for butcher. There are ones looking to add to their herd or buyers that want to feed off their few acres before fire danger or it dies off and goes to waist. But also here things are only green for about 6 months out of the year.


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## midlothianffa (May 5, 2013)

We try to have ours kid in may-July for our fair kids but every where is different for months kids need to be born in for fairs 


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

mlktrkdrvr said:


> What size kids are usually wanted most for Easter or Passover?


Easter kids should be milk fed, and weigh between 30 and 40 lbs. You WILL get docked if they are 50 lbs and more. You might also want to check out Christmas kids. From what I understand, they bring a premium because it requires out of season breeding a lot of times.

Meat goats do not necessarily have to be bred for 3 kiddings in 2 years. If you want to do that, that's fine, but be aware that it requires a great deal of high quality feed, is hard on the doe, and will cause her to burn out much faster than the standard one kidding per year.

Be careful with mid August kidding - make sure to keep a close eye on the kids. I did that once and if I had not been there to keep the kids cooled off until they were able to regulate their temperatures, I would have lost a number of them to heat stroke. I will never kid in July or August again!


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

nancy d said:


> Since easter & Passover are mainly Christian celebrations it's more likely lamb is used.


Actually, there is a huge demand for goat kids at Easter. I have always done very well with my Easter kids.


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## chelsboers (Mar 25, 2010)

Easter is definitly the best time to sell kids. At our sale barn the best price goes to kids who are between 40-60lbs. Our low registered does kid late December through February for Easter and 4-H. Anything born after March doesn't sell well here because of when weigh in is for 4-H kids. The second best time here is the sale before Christmas. Still not as good as Easter but it's another option if you don't want kids born in the winter. Because it's so hot here the only way for us to get kids to the Christmas sale is to keep any kids that were born in the spring until December. That takes a lot of feed and by then they are usually over the optimal weight, so it isn't worth it to us.


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## chelsboers (Mar 25, 2010)

Here are a couple links to some of the websites that I look at when deciding when I'm taking kids. These are prices in my area but maybe if you go to the sites they will lead you to a sale barn close to you or give you an idea when the prices are best

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams...TransportationData&page=LSMarketNewsPageGoats
http://www.centrallivestockks.com/market_report.htm
http://www.woodson.ksu.edu/p.aspx?tabid=13


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Good example of how things are different from place to place. Here Xmas is not so good to sell for. But if you were a pig farmer that's the best time to sell here. 
Honestly if you have the time to do it the best thing to do is watch the sale and the prices in your area. Maybe even talk to others there and get some input. That's if your not sitting on does now waiting to breed them. You could always change things around too. Yes it's not overly recommended to breed once a year but if you find that breeding them a few months before a year isn't going to kill them if they are nice and healthy. I'm changing my breeding time around and I have girls that will kid 9-10 months from their last kidding. But the are my most chunky girls. Others will be waiting well over a year to even get bred from when they kidded last.basically long point short if you don't make a habit out of breeding them very often once will be ok.


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