EDUCATIONAL INCUBATION & HATCHING CHAT THREAD, w/ Sally Sunshine Shipped Eggs

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daxigait said:
@mlm Mike @Wickedchicken6 @Farmer Connie
I would love your opinions. Our local once a month goat sale split in August. It is said that one of them took three big buyers, but that is rumor right now. This month the two guys are each running a sale on Thursday. Would you take a your last three bucklings to one of the sales or feed them another month which in the small pen requires hay and grain every day?
Click to expand...
I lost my original answer. :( I'll try this again...lol.

Likely Connie/Mike will have a better answer since they have goats. I'm not as familiar with their markets and their growth pattern. How is your market prices vs your feed prices? This is our approximate market prices right now. This would only be approx for Sask and Manitoba. Alberta has there own prices as do Ontario.
Screenshot (233).png


If it's a good time for prices for goats and if you'll make enough to warrant keeping them for another month it might be worthwhile. However you have so much on your plate right now and you're having issues with you shoulders and such (I got that right I hope?) I might be inclined to sell them if it can make things easier for you. :hugs

I can tell you what I did if it helps. Sheep run in a cycle here. Most people lamb in the spring, feed and push them to ship in the fall starting about September as feeder lambs.

I lambed in my off season when I had more time (Jan-April) and the flock would go out on grass until later. At about 3 months I select replacements which stay with the flock and the slaughter lambs were separated. They were grassed until fall die off and fed out to slaughter weight of 95-100 pounds. Lamb is scarce from Dec-Feb so they bring a better dollar. I shipped about January. ;)

We had our own hay but I bought grain from our employers. At the time it paid me to feed out my lambs to slaughter weight. To not feed them out meant I'd lose too much money. I would've been averaging about 150-170 lambs/year or so. I pail fed the sheep so there was zero wastage.

At that time we were feeding approx 420 head of cattle; we fed out the our feeder calves to short keep the next summer so we did enough bales and grain for two years worth of feed (it was drier years.) 70 breeding ewes with feeder lambs and 5-7 rams don't even make a dent compared to what the cattle required...lol. laughing.gif

Now we switched to shipping the calves right off the cows in January as well...it's a better market. They are almost weaned already and there's zero fuss. SO much easier!! Our cows get fed well enough they have no issues calving in march. We have machines now to help with feeding too, thank goodness.:woot We used to pail feed the cattle and feed by individual round bales that were hand spread.:thOmg...I had forgot about all that stuff. No wonder I'm worn out.:p

I was going for thorough. Did I over shoot a bit??:oops:
Unless you are going to lose a lot of money, if it was me, I'd probably sell them if it makes things easier for you. You can always keep the next ones and feed them out when you have less going on. ;)
 
Wickedchicken6 said:
I lost my original answer. :( I'll try this again...lol.

Likely Connie/Mike will have a better answer since they have goats. I'm not as familiar with their markets and their growth pattern. How is your market prices vs your feed prices? This is our approximate market prices right now. This would only be approx for Sask and Manitoba. Alberta has there own prices as do Ontario.
View attachment 1152216

If it's a good time for prices for goats and if you'll make enough to warrant keeping them for another month it might be worthwhile. However you have so much on your plate right now and you're having issues with you shoulders and such (I got that right I hope?) I might be inclined to sell them if it can make things easier for you. :hugs

I can tell you what I did if it helps. Sheep run in a cycle here. Most people lamb in the spring, feed and push them to ship in the fall starting about September as feeder lambs.

I lambed in my off season when I had more time (Jan-April) and the flock would go out on grass until later. At about 3 months I select replacements which stay with the flock and the slaughter lambs were separated. They were grassed until fall die off and fed out to slaughter weight of 95-100 pounds. Lamb is scarce from Dec-Feb so they bring a better dollar. I shipped about January. ;)

We had our own hay but I bought grain from our employers. At the time it paid me to feed out my lambs to slaughter weight. To not feed them out meant I'd lose too much money. I would've been averaging about 150-170 lambs/year or so. I pail fed the sheep so there was zero wastage.

At that time we were feeding approx 420 head of cattle; we fed out the our feeder calves to short keep the next summer so we did enough bales and grain for two years worth of feed (it was drier years.) 70 breeding ewes with feeder lambs and 5-7 rams don't even make a dent compared to what the cattle required...lol. View attachment 1152269

Now we switched to shipping the calves right off the cows in January as well...it's a better market. They are almost weaned already and there's zero fuss. SO much easier!! Our cows get fed well enough they have no issues calving in march. We have machines now to help with feeding too, thank goodness.:woot We used to pail feed the cattle and feed by individual round bales that were hand spread.:thOmg...I had forgot about all that stuff. No wonder I'm worn out.:p

I was going for thorough. Did I over shoot a bit??:oops:
Unless you are going to lose a lot of money, if it was me, I'd probably sell them if it makes things easier for you. You can always keep the next ones and feed them out when you have less going on. ;)
Click to expand...

Generally speaking.. Market prices and or auction prices are generally lower than private providers. I have seen some at local auction go for low as 35 clams.
Depending on age, breed, sex or if the private owner is not desperate to sell.
Kinda like when I sell Chickens. I sell them only young. The majority of my calls people are looking for EGG LAYERS for $5 bucks a piece. I tell them buy a chick for $3.00 and 6 months later and $60 in feed and you will have your egglayer.
Same when we sold Goats, doelings/weathers.. just weened a lesser price than something I emptied my pockets into. Bob chases the tire kickers away.

On the the other hand. (You can find desperate sellers) A neighbor friend bought out a herd from a uneducated goat owner. Their hoofs were foot rotted, their hips were poking out of their hind legs. All sick and major scours. 3 out of 9 died the first week. She got a deal on them.. some deal.

Around here, young bucks flood the ads around march/april. CHEEP. Folks don't know how to band duh balls and they are dumping the boys off, post haste.
Young pygmy doe's average 80-150ish..
MEAT GOATS boer's about 200-and max at 5ish.
Crosses of boer far less.

We stopped breeding. Until next Fall. We wish to purchase a new Buck for a fresh blood line. Our Buck is retired from our nannies but we stud him out periodically.

Winter is coming.. We will be at the mercy of the Hay Bale companies once again...
 

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