# What is the price range for selling baby goats?



## RAK123 (Aug 3, 2013)

Hello!

I had some fliers up around my town selling goat milk, and a nice gentleman contacted me wondering if I was selling any goats. I had been thinking about selling my female baby goat, so I said yes. He asked for how much and I just shot a number out there $125 and said it was negotiable . It turns out he knows nothing about goats, and was hoping to start a small dairy herd for him and his wife. He is coming to see the baby in two weeks (the baby will be seven weeks old then).

My baby goat's mother is a Saanen (who milks well) and the baby's father is a boer/kiko mix. 
I don't want to rip this guy off, so that is why I came here to ask you. 

Do you think that $125 is a fair price, and do you think that the baby goat (Heidi) will amount to anything as a milk goat?

Thank you in advance!!
~Rachel


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## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

Figure out what that baby cost you to raise and I think you'll find its more than fair for the buyer.  of course boer/Kiko isn't dairy, though Saanen certajnly is. A healthy CAE and CL free doeling...can't see selling one for less than $200. I don't sell does for less than $300, but they are all adga registered. 

They need a bare minimum of two goats to start with. They are herd animals and should not be kept alone.


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## RAK123 (Aug 3, 2013)

Okay, the baby has cost me hardly anything, really! I spent ten dollars to remove her horns. Okay, thanks!


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## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

You never fed her dam anything?


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## RAK123 (Aug 3, 2013)

Yeah, besides feeding the dam. lol =D


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## tendermeadowsnigerians (Sep 8, 2010)

7 weeks old is a bit young to wean. I dont ever wean kids until 4 months minimum. I want well grown kids.


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## RAK123 (Aug 3, 2013)

He wouldn't buy her then (I should have said that before), he doesn't even have a barn or fences yet. =D


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## Rose (Oct 26, 2007)

With the Boer genetics, I would ask $50.


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## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

I didn't realize she would be weaned, was thinking bottle kid. NO WAY, she is guaranteed to be ruined being weaned that early to someone new to goats.


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## Rose (Oct 26, 2007)

I think *ruined* is a bit strong a word.  She will most definitely be stunted.


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## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

It costs me $100 in milk to raise a kid to weaning. So even a mutt goes for $100 - at a break even price. I sell kids on the bottle and charge $100 more if someone wants me to raise it. I know when you are dam raising it feels like it isn't costing you anything, but it actually is. That's $100 of milk your family didn't get to drink. Your doe required more feed to produce that $100 of milk whether or not you would have drank it.


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## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

And that is figured at grocery store nonorganic whole milk price, not the going prices for goat milk which are much higher.


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## Whirlwind Ranch (Aug 7, 2012)

Angie...can you provide some more details? Are you basing the 100$ just off of milk fed? At what age to you wean them from the bottle?

I need to keep another spreadsheet this year. I'm thinking...cost/amt grain fed to does in milk vs. dry...amount of milk produced...cost of meds given etc. I kept records on the whole...but not broken down per animal. My new year's resolution...better record keeping of the details. Does anyone have an example spreadsheet they might be willing to share...or suggestions of something I left out?


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## RAK123 (Aug 3, 2013)

He is planning to bottle feed her.


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## [email protected] (Sep 18, 2008)

I would get her on a bottle before you let him take her. It will probably take some doing to get a 7 wk old kid to take a bottle. A new person trying to do it will probably give up and that wouldn't be good for the kid's growth. Then when she's stunted and doesn't milk well... guess who the buyer's gonna blame? :/


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## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

I figured out $100 based on bottle feeding $3/ gallon cow milk 3 months limiting to 1/2 gallon per day. $100 is actually low. 90 days divided by 2 times $3 is over $100, but they don't drink that much at first. That doesn't even figure in parasite prevention costs. I haven't priced cow milk in awhile...


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## doublebowgoats (Mar 6, 2008)

Since you already mentioned $125 for this kid, stick with it. I think it is a good price for a mixed breed. And I don't like waffling around on prices once you have already said a price. It will pay for her mother's feed and the disbudding and her shots. Something to think about in the future is how you can usually get more money for ADGA registered kids. Another thing you might want to do is offer a wether as a companion at a reduced price. I actually do free sometimes and then I don't have to pay to raise the little guys I am not keeping.


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## RAK123 (Aug 3, 2013)

I have given her a few bottles (human bottle) and she has taken it. I had this feeling she wasn't getting enough milk so I just gave her a bottle.


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## Whirlwind Ranch (Aug 7, 2012)

swgoats said:


> I figured out $100 based on bottle feeding $3/ gallon cow milk 3 months limiting to 1/2 gallon per day. $100 is actually low. 90 days divided by 2 times $3 is over $100, but they don't drink that much at first. That doesn't even figure in parasite prevention costs. I haven't priced cow milk in awhile...


Thanks Angie 
I think you are pretty close estimating 3$ a gallon for whole cows milk.


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## Good Goats (Oct 26, 2007)

Cow milk here is close to $5 a gallon in the store - yeah, ouch. That's why I train to sell all my kids while they are still young on the bottle, so I don't have to raise them out.


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