Boer Goats

[hotiron01]

I plan on getting in to the Boer goat business in the near future. I am looking for ideas as far as facilities and doing them as cheaply as possible. We plan on starting with 10 does and working our way up from there. My son is currently raising 2 goats for the show at our county fair, and has convinced me that this is the way we need to go. Looking forward to any comments or advice that ya'll have....

Thanks,
David

 

[jwstewar]

We are also relatively new into goats. We started with 2 boers (wethers) for the kids for 4-H last year, then this past summer we bought 2 more wethers, a boer doe, and an Alpine doe. Obviously the wethers have all been sold at the fair, but we still have the 2 does. They are the craziest things, never did I imagine the type of personality they have. We are getting ready to get some more. 2 more wethers and another Alpine doe and another boer doe to "back-up" the wethers. Then this fall/early winter the first 2 does will be bread. Hoping to have the boer to produce around February and the Alphine to deliver around the end of May first of June right before the fair.

Anyway, since we have such a small heard we started out with 10x10 dog kennels. I think we have 14 of the panels. We have them all linked together. For shelters for the summers I started out with 2 4x4x4 little boxes that I had made and covered with tin from one of those metal car ports that had hail damage. Then since that wouldn't be good enough for winter shelter this fall we took our 8x16 shed and turned it into a barn. We've moved their food, hay, baking soda, and minerals in there. Then we keep the bottom of it covered in straw. I have a small loft in the back of it to keep their hay & straw up on. Since the shed had double doors on it, we've left the one closed and tied the other one back. Since it is now pretty cold here (you won't have to worry about that) I took a sheet of OSB and covered half of the open door. I also ordered some of that heavy thick plastic like you see once in awhile over a freezer at the grocery or on a big loading door. I'm going to let it hang down from the OSB while it is cold. If it looks like it will start droppiing below 10 degrees or so, I will probably add a heat lamp or two. I want to minimize that though. Don't want them too warm and not be able to take the cold and also want to make sure it is up out of the way so they can't get it and either chew on the cord or start a fire with the light and the straw. Since they are for show, I just want to make sure their ears don't get frost bit - besides that is cruel to make them suffer that way if I can prevent it. We try every day or so to clean any major wet or poop spots up, but inevitibly you miss some, but every couple weeks we will remove all (or most) of the straw, sprinkle some baking soda around the floor to absorb the oder, and then put down all new straw. So far it has worked well, but at some point would like to have a larger (and real) barn with a dirt floor and a larger pasture area, but for now we are making do.

Keep us posted and good luck.

 

[LJH]

Our two boers (Sid & Nancy) are rescues and completely spoiled pets, but the basics are the same no matter what and jwstewar hit all the high spots in the post above.

Since ours weren't planned as soon as they arrived I hit the 'net and did a crash course in goatkeeping. Still learning every day but these two sites are my go-to for anything I need to know. The first is busier and a little more pet-oriented although there are plenty of commerical goats folks who contribute. The second seems to be just the opposite, but both are a treasure trove of goatie info.

The Goat Spot - Goat Forum

goatwisdom

 

[Eyecatcher]

We started out a few years ago, with a few head of good registered Boer stock. Found and purchased a buck with excellent bloodlines. Things mushroomed from there, and at one point we had a tolal of 150! Most people think you raise goats by buying them and letting them go. Don't believe it!!! Boer goats have had most of the natural diusease resistance bred out of them. They require worming and hoof trimming once a month, and if you get into this, you'll become the mosts educated goat vet in the area if you do it right. You will find this the most time consuming, costly and most labor intensive enterprise you've ever tried. With the cost of feed and hay right now, everybody in this area has sgiven up on he goat business. Take an old fools advice and DON'T DO IT!!!!

 

[Combustix]

Hotiron Have 4 pure boers 2 does and 2 bucks, 2 boer crosses both does and 3 dairies all does. I was looking at getting into a larger production but figure I'm gonna stay small. Went to a WSU winter school for meat goats, and to make a living at it the instructor who was in the business estimated you would need 300 animals. Two many for me. I just keep to several for me and the rest I sell off. I am working at making my feed costs back, that way I get free meat for the freezer. I generally have all my goats sold off before they hit the ground, and I do mostly word of mouth. We have been doing this for about three years now. The dairy girls we use for milk and cheese.

JWSTEWAR Leave the hay down on the ground, and as you find the wet spots and poop throw some hay on it to cover it. This will keep the smell down and as it composts it creates heat. I have a three sided shelter and a fully enclosed shelter and the goats prefer the three sided. I have put my compost thermometer into the straw and have had readings as high as 110 F. When it gets to be about a foot thick I clean it out and start again or roughly twice a year. Just make sure the excrement is covered with fresh straw or hay and you be good to go. If you garden it makes great compost after you clean it out and let it set for awhile.

LJH Try goat beat as well, as fiascofarms.com two more good websites. Good luck to all of you as they are interesting animals and a lot of fun

 

[hotiron01]

I appreciate the responses! Not trying to turn this in to a career, mostly doing it for the tax exemption on my property. I have a Boer breeder down the road from me, that will be available to help me out if needed. He is the same guy my son got his goats from, and we have developed a really good relationship with he and his wife. In our area, the weather is mild 90% of the year, so they should do fine. I understand the worming and hoof trimming can be time consuming, but with the right facilities, I hope this can be made a little easier. Keep it coming.......:thumbsup:

 

[jwstewar]

Combustix,

I would, except this was a repurposed garden shed. So it has a wooden floor. I know this isn't the best scenario, but for now it is what it is. They seem to enjoy it so far. Though every now and then the boer doe will decide to sleep outside - including last night. LOL. We do use the used straw to cover the mud that develops by the gate where they stand. We also put it on the garden.

We are amazed how much we have to learn real quick. The boer injured her knees this year. So after taking her to 2 different vets and them going cultures to tell us, yep, it has an infection and saying there is nothing we can do to, don't breed her, to you might have to put her down, my wife did research and we drained them a few times, put a couple different types of salves and wrapping them, we have them back to normal. We've learned to give them shots for vaccination and penicillin for the knees and such. My son also did a woodworking project for 4-H, guess what he made....a goat stand.

 

[Lou66]

I live in Brazoria county, Lake Jackson area, if you are looking for good sound advice in your area talk with Dudly Thomas in Danciger,, he knows more about goats than I know about beer,, and I know a lot about beer,, there are two kinds,, cold and real cold.. if you plan on using goats as Ag ex,, two goats per acre,, or one cow per five acres if Wharton county is like Brazoria county it is based on 200 pound pre acre.. Lou

 

[LJH]

JWSTEWAR Leave the hay down on the ground, and as you find the wet spots and poop throw some hay on it to cover it. This will keep the smell down and as it composts it creates heat. I have a three sided shelter and a fully enclosed shelter and the goats prefer the three sided. I have put my compost thermometer into the straw and have had readings as high as 110 F. When it gets to be about a foot thick I clean it out and start again or roughly twice a year. Just make sure the excrement is covered with fresh straw or hay and you be good to go. If you garden it makes great compost after you clean it out and let it set for awhile.

That's what we're doing too, it saves work, keeps them warm and IMO you can never have too much compost around a homestead aspiring to permaculture. And thanks for the site suggestions. I've been to fiascofarms and it's great, the other I never heard of but will check out.

Goats are a trip. Ours follow us around like puppies, beg for treats, parkour off everything in sight, make us laugh and trash whatever they're not fenced out of. I read a description recently - much like dogs minus the built-in desire to please - ayup. Goats are have no conscience or sense of guilt whatsoever. :laughing:

 

[weldingisfun]

Good luck with your goat project, Hotiron01.
We have been raising goats for just about 15 years. You are right to do some planning before putting a bunch of animals on your place.
You mentioned "cheap". Trust me, when it comes to raising goats there are two areas where you don't go cheap. They are your fencing and your herd sire.
Here are some Web sites you may find useful:
American Boer Goat Association
Texas Boer Goats - Breeders List
Health
index coni
How to Trim Goat hooves the right way.
Jeffers Livestock

Don't forget to visit our Web site as well.

 

[LJH]

Don't forget to visit our Web site as well.

[billstmaxx voice] Holy frig! [/billstmaxx voice]

Awesome site, whoever built it was a real pro. Easy to navigate and great content, very cool. Bookmarked. Gorgeous goats, ditto Suzy & Sweet Pea. And you grow great rocks too; I know because it's one of my specialties here at the Haphazard Homestead.

 

[DennisArrow]

For sure the layering of your hay/manure is the way to go and then long about late Feb or early March put it on the garden and till it in. STUFF GROWS........Not so good for root crops but for anything that is above ground Goat compost cannot be beat

We raise registered breeding stock and show goats. Recently at an auction in Murfreesboro, Tn there were MANY does selling in the $3K to $5K range and the highest went at $17K. The small breeder has a hard time getting enough genes together to really be competitive at the Nationals or State Fairs but it is great for the FFA and 4H kids to work on. My grandaughter, age 5 now, won several ribbons last season and a bit of cash money with one of the sorriest looking wethers you ever saw. The judges were intrigued with her I think. We have a billy out of Pipeline that won at the Louisville National last summer as well as a 2 year old doe. So.......
Folks are right saying you spend and spend and then give up. For those that understand about breeding, genetics, patience, and a love of tending stock Boer's are hard to beat.
The advice about baking soda on wet spots, for me, is not especially accurate. You do want to make it and minerals available. We put lime down on wet spots and when we CLEAN out the stalls we put a good layer down. You are always......ALWAYS ......gonna have that smell......lolol......wait until you get a billy in rut.

Give them CLEAN water, and it really is a good idea to have a heater in it to raise it up to in the 40's or above. Goats drink like 1/2 gallon of water per day and if they have to use body heat to raise that temp that is energy that is lost instead of putting on weight.

Don't just give them any kind of hay or straw. Bermuda is good stuff but the fescues and orchard grasses are for cattle. NO MOLD...........
Yes, resistance to disease has been bred out of them; but for us, that is one area that we totally concentrate on. Our stock, through breeding, has better and better worm resistance and is a great selling point for us. Yes, you MUST take care of their hooves. PERIOD....do it.........Pneumonia is a huge killer if you dont innoculate for it. Pink eye spreads through the herd faster than lightning.....on and on.....Wait until one of the 3 kids at birth is stuck and you have to go in and get it out......Wait until you have 3 bottlebabies..............anyway.....is it worth it.????????????
For me, a goat is just a critter lookin for a place to die............For my wife all the time, and me at sale or show time......the time and effort is priceless when you raise those winners............God bless........Dennis

 

[cqaigy2]

No offense meant but in my experience, a profitable goat business is very, very rare. Most of the ones i've been acquainted with, at best, run a small deficit and are typically supported by money brought in from other endeavors. I do know of a dairy that is currently making a profit, small but still in business.

But they sure are interesting animals and you can get very attached to them.:thumbsup:

 

[DennisArrow]

lol....yes it takes a LOT of kids sold to pay for the feed bill.........or.....One or two 8 month old billies with great genetics and perhaps a show ribbon or two will pay for LOTS of feed and hay.........God bless........Dennis

 

[jwstewar]

The advice about baking soda on wet spots, for me, is not especially accurate. You do want to make it and minerals available. We put lime down on wet spots and when we CLEAN out the stalls we put a good layer down. You are always......ALWAYS ......gonna have that smell......lolol......wait until you get a billy in rut.

Guess I should clarify my statement a bit more. We use baking soda on the floor inside the barn since it has a wooden floor. Outside we use the lime. Gotta remember right now we are using our repurposed 8x16 garden shed that I build about 12 years ago. Guess I did a good job at building it, it is still in good shape and survived being moved back in 2003 when we built the 30x48 pole barn and then this past fall to get it in position for the goats. We used to call it a barn and now it truly is a barn.:laughing: I had originally installed vents at the back of the shed to let heat out. We picked up a couple of the smaller dual fan window fans last year on closeout. Once the weather starts warming up, I will put those up on the vents to remove the heat and oders/gases more. We will probably also "lock" them out of the barn for most of the summer unless it happens to be raining or something like that.

We have pieces of PVC with elbows at the bottom for one for their baking soda and one for their minerals. My wife and daughter then made a hay net that we keep their hay in. Wanting to make a wooden hay trough, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. Since we only have the 2 goats currently, each one has their own feeding trough. And they know whos is whos.:laughing: For water, we have a 9 quart heated bucket for them. Once we get beyond freezing we will go back to a normal 8 quart bucket until warmer weather and then we will go to a 5 gallon (maybe 2 in seperate areas of the pen) that will be changed twice a day to keep it as fresh and cool as possible. The kids like the smaller buckets as they are easier to carry from the water hose for them. Last year during the heat we had shade covers up for them and also kept a fan running for them - even during the 4 day power outage. Ran extension cords to them and the dog for fans to keep them cool. Goats don't like water, but let me tell you, after a few days scorching, they learned to appreciate the misting fan and would go stand in front of it. Just had to make sure there was still plenty of dry ground for them because of their hoofs.

 

[crowbar032]

Lots of good advice posted by others, and good links too. I'll throw in a comment on fencing. The joke about goats and fencing is that you take a bucket of water and throw it at the fence. Anywhere the water goes through, a goat will as well. That is a slight exageration, but goats crawl. Make sure your fence is close to the ground and tight. So far I haven't had issues with them jumping, but I have heard of others with that issue. Depending on the size of your property, fence selection is important. The goat fence is OMG expensive (2x or 3x regular field fence). Which is why I like my goats de-horned. That way I can use the standard 47" field fence and not worry about them getting stuck in the checks when they put their head through. This is usually only an issue when they are younger, once the horns get longer and their head gets bigger they no longer fits in the checks. Dehorned goats will still fit and saves me from weed-eating the fence row. As far as shelter, I'm not sure. I've often heard that a barn is an excellent place to store manure. I bought one of those port-a-hut metal shelters 12x16 and faced the opening to the east. It's not a palace, but it's dry and the wind is blocked. The only time my goats use it is when it's raining. The past week it's been around 10 degrees at night. Every morning, all 9 are bedded down in the hay (that they waste since I use round bales) out in the open. They won't drink water with any ice in it though, you'll need a heater.

Are you dead set on full blood boer goats? Full blood with papers will be expensive per goat. I've got a couple of boer/nubian cross does that are really built well and I got them for a third of the price of a full boer. I'm planning on selling for meat not 4-H though, so I guess it depends on you and your goals.

 

[weldingisfun]

[billstmaxx voice] Holy frig! [/billstmaxx voice]

Awesome site, whoever built it was a real pro. Easy to navigate and great content, very cool. Bookmarked. Gorgeous goats, ditto Suzy & Sweet Pea. And you grow great rocks too; I know because it's one of my specialties here at the Haphazard Homestead.

Thanks for the kind words, LJH. We are as proud of our Web site as we are of our goats.

We have been to your part of the world. The rocks there make ours look like grains of sand. Utah is a beautiful place, desolate but beautiful.

 

[hotiron01]

I appreciate all the comments regarding my future project. As we progress, I will keep everyone updated. I plan on visiting with breeders to look at stock as well as their facilities to see what works and doesn't work for them.
David

 

[sam5570]

We started out a few years ago, with a few head of good registered Boer stock. Found and purchased a buck with excellent bloodlines. Things mushroomed from there, and at one point we had a tolal of 150! Most people think you raise goats by buying them and letting them go. Don't believe it!!! Boer goats have had most of the natural diusease resistance bred out of them. They require worming and hoof trimming once a month, and if you get into this, you'll become the mosts educated goat vet in the area if you do it right. You will find this the most time consuming, costly and most labor intensive enterprise you've ever tried. With the cost of feed and hay right now, everybody in this area has sgiven up on he goat business. Take an old fools advice and DON'T DO IT!!!!

eyecatcher you are so right we raised and sold boer gots for 20 years if you do things right they are a very high matinance animal we tryed to keep around 20 but got down to 10 and got out totally 4 years ago one thing that helped us alot as far as keeping them healthy was we had 15 acres for them to run on we divided it up and switch them every 6 months from one to the other that really helped with the worms and foot rot once we did that we had no foot rot and could worm them twice a year no problem hope this helps.