# Price of buckling



## kerryandjennie (May 27, 2011)

As it happens, this is a bizarre situation... My neighbor gave me two bucklings when they were only a couple of days old so I could put them in the freezer in the fall. At the time, I didn't have any goats in milk of my own so I was having to buy the milk for the little guys from my neighbor (which is why she didn't mind giving them to me  lol). When the little guys were about two weeks old a guy came over to my place to look at my rabbits and saw the little guys and told me he wanted one to use as a herd sire for his goats. I immediately told him they were not for sale as they were strictly for me and my freezer. He insisted that he wanted one and pleaded with me not to wether him and to let him know after he was weaned how much I would take for him. Well, after I figured everything up and talked to my neighbor that said she'd have to have at least $40.00 for him (and I didn't puff up the #'s)... it came to about 200.00! (NO WAY would I pay that much for an unregistered mutt goat!) So, when I told the guy how much it would be (I even had a printed list of what I'd spent) he flipped out! I very nicely asked what price he was thinking and he said 50-60. I suggested he look on CL and that I was sure he could find one on there for that price. Am I being completely unreasonable for saying that I would have to have that much? It does seem exorbitant, but that is just basically paying for the goat, the milk, the supplies needed to raise the buckling, and the time I spent doing it! The other part of the equation is that he does NOT have a place to keep the goat, nor does he own any goats!!!! He wanted to have it for the "future" herd of fiber does that he plans on getting. Does it seem like me asking 200.00 is somehow trying to make $$ off of the goat? (I'll be happy to post my figures! LOL)


----------



## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

Well, if you take less, won't you be basically paying the guy for the priviledge of raising his goat?  The goat isn't worth that as a herd sire, but he costs that much to raise. You do'nt have to sell him, you didn't even want to sell him. So don't. He is worth more than 50 dollars in meat alone I'm sure.


----------



## lonestrchic23 (Jan 7, 2011)

Why does the neighbor want $40 if she GAVE them to you, & you shelled out the $$$ for milk?

From a buyer's perspective I wouldn't pay $200, note for an unregistered buck.

From a sellers perspective, I don't sell for under $100 unless they are picked up by a week old ($75-$100 soaking wet bucklings). I don't keep bucks intact past the pick up dead line as I am not established well enough to ask, and get what they are worth after a few weeks so if they aren't picked up by the deadline, we put them in the freezer around 4 months old. Good fajitas 

I'd eat those 2 & not worry with the buyer.


----------



## kerryandjennie (May 27, 2011)

She was going to sell them if I didn't want them, so I just asked her how much she would want to have out of it if I sold it, just so there wouldn't be any feelings of "I gave that to you for free and you sold it" I asked to be neighborly. 

Not only is the buckling unregistered, it is 1/4 Saanan and 3/4 Lamancha and has weird ears.... lol. I did hold off on wethering them because of this, though.


----------



## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Wether, raise, butcher. The end.


----------



## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

Alot of people just do not understand the cost of raising goat kids. Heck, *I* didn't really get it until I started doing the figures. I'm still cheap. I still like a deal, but I don't bat an eye when people ask for what they've got in them.

Trying to decide right now what to ask for a first freshener in milk. I've raised her two years. I'm training her to behave for milking. What is that effort worth? $150 in grain for two years, no idea what her share of hay would be. I've got two kids from that effort too. Maybe the kids off set the feed part of it.


----------



## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Yep, I understand, Angie. I still have 3 left to kid. That will make 6 milkers for me. I don't do herdshares (yet) so I have to get rid of a couple. My plan is two. But I have to wait til they all kid out. Getting rid of the bucklings is heartbreaking for us. But it has to be done! Got three sold. Sounds like she will feed them replacer. Ugh. Makes me think, no, not to this home. But really, they've got to go! 

How do y'all do this? How do you just let go?


----------



## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Pretty sad your neighbor is only raising bucklings that are worth $40 intact


----------



## marytx (Mar 17, 2008)

Still, if you ask me, that's pretty expensive meat. Seriously, are you going to get $200 worth of meat off a kid goat?


----------



## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

MF-Alpines said:


> How do y'all do this? How do you just let go?


I just try to get really excited about the ones I keep. It's hard to see some go though. Like Vicki says, those are resources that can go to your productive herd when you aren't feeding goats you don't need.


----------



## kerryandjennie (May 27, 2011)

Oh goodness, no, Vicki! My neighbor is opening a dairy in a few weeks and she bought the grade doe, from a clean herd, because she milks about 3 gallons a day, and the bucklings just had to go with her! LOL The lady she got the goat from did the breeding, my neighbor is VERY meticulous about her herd and breeding and does not sell hers for 40.00! LOL To answer the question about "expensive meat" I didn't add in anything "extra" other than a bit for all the "extra work" like sterilizing bottles and feeding. The milk alone cost me 85.00+ (I paid 8.00/gallon!). Yes, it is "expensive meat", but I don't' mind having "expensive meat" that I know from where it came and what is in it.  Like I said... I never intended to sell these guys, but I don't think I should just hand off all of the work I've done (by raising him until weaning) for nothing.


----------



## doublebowgoats (Mar 6, 2008)

You're right. You shouldn't throw away all that effort. Good meat is worth that much. I have paid close to $8 lb for grass fed, hormone free beef. And that is for ground meat. Roasts and steaks are much more expensive.


----------



## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

I did the math too and I'm still not over it!!! There is no way you can raise a wether to weaning and then get the price he'd have to bring to cover his cost. Maybe a good quality breeding buck, but not a wether. Now that I have figured that out, I know that I can't keep them that long, they just cost way too much every single day I keep them. So my goal is to get rid of them ASAP, even though there is no real market here. This spring I've been lucky: sold 5 under 3 wks old for $5 each (I know, by then I have more money in them than that, BUT they are gone, so I don't have to spend more), donated 4 as future 4H wethers to a local 4H fund raising auction, and selling 2 next week for $10 each. No, this doesn't make me any money, but it at least prevents me from losing money on these little boys.


----------



## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

You're selling them too cheap, Marion. Mine sold in two days on CL for $50 each.


----------



## Nancy (Oct 25, 2007)

We usually sell our grade bucklings for 10 each and they are usually under 24 hrs old ( have a waiting list for them). Works for us because they always come back to buy milk to feed them.


----------



## mamatomany (Aug 7, 2008)

The prices that you have established...$200 and you have 2 wethers you have supported. That equals $400 for meat goats? You would have been better off buying a calf and throwin him in your pasture as grass fed beef. Paying $25 kill fee and .58 a pound for vaccum packed steaks! It is very expensive to raise them...which is why most people don't  Why are you feeding them $8 a gallon milk? End product it makes no difference on store bought or goats milk!


----------



## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

CL, is that Craigs List? Really? I just never think of going that route. Maybe I should try, but it scares the bleepers out of me. $50 sounds great, though, wow. What age were they? Just baby bucklings or disbudded, vaccinated, etc?


----------



## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

They are two weeks old, disbudded and just wethered yesterday. LOL! CL = Craig's List.


----------



## kerryandjennie (May 27, 2011)

Linda, I'd love to get a cow, but I don't have a pasture! I wasn't kidding when I said I have 6 heavily wooded acres! LOL, just the hay and feed for a calf would cost more to raise than these guys (I've done the math). For me to let that one wether go it would have to be 200.00, because I did not pay for the goat, but I would have to pay my neighbor for him if I did sell him, so that adds to the price. Plus I did pass the milk bill onto the guy (well 1/2 of it) from what I bought from her as well as "charged myself" for the milk I gave from my goats, mainly that I even bought an additional goat in milk to feed the little guys.  I don't mind putting in the extra work or $$ to feed my family... that is my job... but it is NOT my job to put work into raising a goat for the guy down the road with nothing to show for it. If I were only going to "get out of it the $$ that I put into it" then I would only need to charge about 90.00 and then I would be out that much meat for my freezer in the fall. That doesn't make any sense to me, at all. The point of these wethers is not to "get them out of here". I chose not to feed them anything but goat's milk because I don't want to have to deal with any "side effects" that may be incurred by using grocery store milk, I want the real thing for them and just like my babies.... mother's breast is best! LOL (I've learned a lot in the past *almost* year!) LOL 

Definately use Craig's List, Marion! It is really easy and you can reach a huge market! If you don't want folks coming to your property to pick the goats up, just meet them at a gas station near your house!


----------



## tlcnubians (Jan 21, 2011)

Encourage your buyers to feed the kids whole cows milk rather than replacer. . . . I'm not sure what "side effects" you're talking about . . . we've used grocery store milk for most of the 20 years we've been raising dairy and meat goats either to supplement when we didn't have enough goat milk to go around, or exclusively when we had no goat milk available. And we've sold many a kidling over the years with instructions to the buyer to raise it on whole cow milk rather than milk replacer . . .


----------



## kerryandjennie (May 27, 2011)

I've just read about some goats getting scours when going on milk-replacer or not gaining sufficiently. I fully admit that I don't know what I'm talking about personally, I just do a WHOLE lot of reading! LOL I've just read that if there is a choice between whole cow milk and whole, raw, goat milk, then the goat milk is the best choice.


----------



## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Yes, Jennie, that is true with replacer. Not so with cow's milk. My three little guys will leave with instructions to the buyer to feed whole cow's milk, although I know she's going to use replacer. I'll also send the warning of scours, lack of growth, etc.


----------



## tlcnubians (Jan 21, 2011)

The raw goat milk wouldn't be the best choice if it costs 2-3 times as much as the cow milk;-)


----------



## In it for the Bucks! (Mar 12, 2012)

Jennie I am with you. I add up all the feed that goes in to each goat and then I know price per head if I was to sell them. $200 is really not that much for a "herdsire". I have seen people round here asking more than that just for stud fees. I think if he really wants it he will pay for it. I have done alot of wheelin and dealin and have found that alot of people laugh at you but that is because they ar ignorant to the fact of all the time and money you put into your goats because they don't have any or don't care to put that much into theirs. It shows in the long run. Don't budge. $200 good meat in the frezzer is a better feeling than the one you will have if you sell it for less. IMO


----------



## kerryandjennie (May 27, 2011)

I intially had to buy the milk for a little while, but then I bought a goat in milk just so I could have the milk for the kids. Probably not the most cost-effective way to do it just for those two bucklings, but it definately makes sense to have the extra milk around for my family!  I don't think he's "worth" that much at all, and no way would I pay that much for him... but that is how much he is "worth" to me and how much it would take for him to leave my property.  Thanks, Cally, it is definatly a matter of him not knowing and caring how much goes into taking care of them.


----------



## lonestrchic23 (Jan 7, 2011)

Yes, CL is your friend. I had 3 bucks this year to sell. I post ads on CL about a week before they are due to kid to get a list of interested parties. When they are born, I call down the list. Whoever can be here 1st, gets them.

Sold the first 2 for $100 at 5 days old. Disbudded, colostrum fed, registration application, care sheet & soda bottle of milk. The other one went for $75, but he left at 18 hours old & I had nothing in him but colostrum & Bo-Se and they didn't want the registration application.... One of the buck buyers came back & bought a doe for a decent price...

Last year, we had 2 (minis) with no interested parties, so I left them on mom, didn't do anything with them (no dewormers, no coccidia prevention, left them horned, never offered them more grain than what they shared with mom), & off to the freezer they went at 4 months


----------



## mamatomany (Aug 7, 2008)

You should go and get that "grade" doe that is milking 3 gallons a day! She would beat even the top top top producer (purebred) in the country in her 305 day lactation with those numbers. She would really be worth some money


----------



## JamieH (Nov 29, 2010)

I raised two kids on whole cow milk from the store. They were about 9 days old when I picked them up and I weaned them at 5 months. It cost me about 350 per kid including milk, corrid and shots, and that was AFTER I bought them. Goats are expensive.


----------



## kerryandjennie (May 27, 2011)

Oh goodness, Linda, now I'm wondering if I got the information wrong. She was 1/2 Lamancha and 1/2 Saanen, and I'm pretty sure I saw her milk 12lbs while I was there after her twin bucklings were pulled. I'm not saying that she milks like that 4 months into lactation, but I was astounded at how much she milked. Geez, now I'm going back and asking because I don't want to be spouting nonsense! LOL I'll be sure to post when I get the correct number.


----------



## kerryandjennie (May 27, 2011)

I stand seriously corrected... the goat is giving about 9.5lbs a day, not each milking! LOL Sorry about that, that is still a lot, though!


----------



## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

I've supplemented my goat milk with store bought cow milk to raise kids. I even use Sav-A-Kid milk replacer added to extend the milk and the kids do great.

The Lamancha buckling I recently bought is not doing well with cows milk. I started feeding him pasteurized goat milk from my newly fresh does, but since they are all FF and feeding their own kids, I needed to supplement their offerings. I started off with just a small amount. He immediately bloated. Stopped the cow milk and he was fine. Started again (1 oz cow to 19 oz goat) and he bloated again. I think he is bovine lactose intolerant! He is doing great on 3/4 goat milk and 1/4 Sav-A-Calf milk replacer.


----------



## fmg (Jul 4, 2011)

That's odd Sully, considering the milk replacer has cows milk in it too. Maybe he needs some kefir.


----------



## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

I guess my goat kids and I are the odd ducks out.... I have tried raising my goats on whole goat milk with not more than okay results and I almost felt that raising baby goats was a lot harder than raising calves until I realized that when I raised calves......I NEVER did that on whole cow milk, always on milk replacer. So I tried goat milk replacer...Big mistake. That stuff is junk and very expensive. So I tried calf milk replacer (a very good one, 20-20 whole milk, beta-moss in it, which is an anti coccidia product) and this spring my goat kids are growing like they have never grown before and I didn't (oh, goodness, knock on wood) lose a single one, nor did I have any need for medicine/baking soda/supplements other than their vaccinations. Just lucky? Maybe, but for know I'm religiously sticking to this protocol: 

High quality colostrum on day 1, fed immediately and often, as much as the kid will take by bottle, only from older does and/or yearling does raised on the property. Day 2-3: the dam's whole milk. Day 4: start on calf milk replacer and NEVER switch back, immediately offer starter pellets and increase as they start eating them. Hay offered when they are 3-4wks old and/or eat pellets well.

It works very well for me, so it's what I'll keep doing. If your system works for you: don't change it!


----------



## fmg (Jul 4, 2011)

Woah, Marion, you're saying the milk replacer was easier on them than real goat milk? That is weird.


----------



## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

yep, calf milk replacer. Weird, maybe, but I just 'blame' it on having an absolutely consistent product to feed them every feeding, and, again, I would not use just any calf milk replacer and certainly no goat milk replacer. This is a great product. I know it doesn't seem to work for everyone, but I just figured out it works for me.


----------



## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

Everyone needs an odd duck just to keep life interesting :biggrin
....Saanens can eat car bumpers and do well so not surprising :rofl
What is the brand dear girl ? Whole milk is the key. 
Does it have added enzymes? We fed calf replacer to buck kids one year and added powdered rennet to each batch. Had no issues but I think with killed enzymes you are looking at trouble.
Congrats on that success.
Lee


----------



## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

Quack!! It's Cargill Dairy Focus 20-20 milk replacer, medicated with Lasalocid (72.0 gram/ton), contains a source of live (viable) naturally occurring micro organisms (.50 BCFU/lb of L. Acid Bacteria: Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus subtilis).


----------



## Trysta (Apr 5, 2011)

Oh, and Lee, on that car-bumper ration....I am definitely interested, please send me the info. What with the price of hay these days and the undoubtedly high fiber content of the average bumper it should be great!!!! Do you think I will have to pre-chew them myself before feeding? :ugh


----------



## fmg (Jul 4, 2011)

You would probably just put them through a wood chipper first. :biggrin

Rennet? So, I guess that answers my husband's question, on whether you would make cheese if you tried to mix some whey into milk replacer. I tried mixing just a bit of whey in with my kids' milk (never know what to do with the stuff!), and, oops, forgot about it still having the ability to make cheese!! I might just offer them a bit in a bowl and see if they will take it. Couldn't hurt? I figure...as long as it's just a small amount.


----------

