# Newbie questions on profit?



## bonfire2013 (Dec 18, 2013)

Hey guys.  
(I didnt really know if i should put this here or the in beginner section, This might be kinda confusing sorry, maybe it makes sense if not just tell me and ill try to fix it  im still trying to get used to this app)

I know a lot of you on here raise and sale high priced show quality animals. But do yall make enough profit to break even the cost of owning them? Right now Im just raising a few low quality 'woods' goats and some percentage boers for fun and just to learn how to take care of them, but later in life I would love to raise and sale high quality show boers to FFA/4H kids or just for breeder stock for other goat owners. (I wouldn't exactly want a big commercial meat goat farm but just 10-30 does and a few bucks, not a huge operation but not what I have now)

I guess what im trying to say is if I start feeding them mostly on pasture, i cut my own hay, and give some grain supplements would i break even with the quality goats I have now. (Around $150 per head, breeding 2 times every 3 years)

And even though high quality animals sale for higher, you have to put more money into them to keep them in top condition, so does that bring down the profit you make out of it a lot or do you make a decent profit from it.

Some people were telling me I would do better if I got into boers instead of keeping woods goats since I only have a few (they don't own boers). So i got some boers to try out this year and I found that I love the Boer breed altogether haha, laid back attitude, less active, those ears, sweethearts, and just awesome to look at.  It makes sense about it being easier to break even but is it true in yalls experience with them?

Thank you for reading


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## surveyman (Jan 19, 2013)

First off you'll have to breed them once a year. You certainly can't make any money kidding twice in three years.


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## bonfire2013 (Dec 18, 2013)

Thank you, at first my plan was to breed once a year then I saw the "2 births in 3 years" on another thread and thought I was just going to go with it and start doing it like that if it was best for them lol. Guess I was wrong, you just saved me from a big mess up.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Some people breed 3 times over a 2 year period which is hard on the does. Maybe you just got it mixed up.

Once a year is what most people do.


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## bonfire2013 (Dec 18, 2013)

Thanks  sounds like I did just get mixed up haha.


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## DMSMBoers (Dec 23, 2013)

I started out just like you did. Wanted to raise a few meat goats to make alil extra money. Just like you the more I looked around the more I found I could make a lot more money with less does if I bred show quality stock. So here I am 2 years later an I still have the same number of goats just closer to show goats than I was a year ago. My breeding does don't get anything special, I feed them grain once a day they get anywhere from a cup an a half to 2 cups. I also cut my own hay so in the winter months they have free access to hay. In the warmer months they only get browse. I also rotate between 3 pastures to keep them from eating the browse to close to the ground an it helps with the worm problems. Just like meat goats if I have does that need a lot of extra care I will cull them. The only goats I have that are given more feed are the babies an if I have young does that Ive bought. I will keep those on full feed till they are roughly a year old. Then when they have been breed I will pull them from the creep feeder. For an example the 2 does I have now are 10 an 8 months old. They are on full feed, yes it cost alil more but when bred to my newest herd sire should give me 4 to 5 hundred dollar babies. Those prices arint 100% but that is the prices I am working toward.

As far as making a profit, I haven't yet because I just bought a show quality buck this last spring an my does didn't breed till the end of sept. So I wont have kids for another 5 weeks. But I have to say that I have a few does that if everything goes to plan the kids should be worth 3 to 4 hundred each. 

Hope I answered a few of your questions with the very little experience I have with the show quality goats. I have learned a lot from here an also from the ppl I have bought goats from. I find most goat ppl are very friendly an very willing to help.


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## ptgoats45 (Nov 28, 2011)

I'm kind of restarting my Boer herd too. Right now I've got 17 does and 1 buck. About half of the does are bred to kid this spring (most next month), the other half are younger does (will be 1 year old this spring) and I plan to breed them in April or May for some fall kids so I get two kid crops per year. The does that kid this spring will get to raise their kids for 3 months, then the kids will be weaned and sold. I am planning to try to sell the wethers for 4-H/FFA kids and the does as replacements and I will most likely keep a few doe kids back as replacements. These does will not be bred again until next fall so that they only kid once a year. By having two sets of does (spring and fall kidders) I am hoping that this will help offset the cost of keeping a buck year round as he will have a "job" twice a year instead of just once. I can also breed the younger does a little sooner rather than waiting until the next fall so they kid as 2 year olds (obviously they still need to be big enough when they are bred). 

I do plan to cull pretty heavily the first few years and keep replacements from my best does. Things I am going to cull for include, unthriftiness, worm resisitance, hoof growth, udders (I am going to be very strict on this, I HATE udders that hang too low and are hard for the kids to nurse on), growth rate of kids (this will help to know which does are producing more milk and which are producing the fastest growing kids), mothering ability, kidding ease and of course overall conformation. Basically I don't want to keep any goats that require a lot of extra care/pampering. The more care you have to put into them the more $$ goes into them and the less you get back. Ideally once the doe is paid for, any kids after that will pay for her feed for the year. So if you pay $150 for your doe, you get 2 kids from her and if you manage to sell the kids at the right weight and for the right price one kid should hopefully pay for the doe (right now 60-80 lb kids are bringing over $2 per lb where I am at). Then the second kid you sell will go towards her feed bill.

I also cut my own hay so I don't have to buy it, right now my does are not getting any grain but they do have a protein tub to lick on. Kids will be grained with a creep feeder and that will cut into the profit, but the kids will bring a lot more if they are nice and fat at sale time.

With any kids that I keep back this spring, they won't be bred until next spring and will be added to the fall group, kids kept from the fall group will be bred the following fall and added to the spring group.

I have one registered doe and the rest are all unregistered. At this time I don't plan to have a bunch of registered goats because selling them can be more difficult. You really need to be able to get out and show your goats and make a name for yourself if you want to get top dollar for your registered kids.

Hope that helps


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