In my area of N. California the gas prices are:
3.79
3.88
and 3.99 a gal (The prices represent each grade of gas offered at the station, the most expensive being 'premium.' The most expensive station in town sells gas for several cents more; over $4.
Natural eggs go for $3.60-$4.20 a doz.
When my newest chicks are raised, (They arrive on June 9th) I'll go back to selling the eggs, and was thinking of selling them for $2. a doz.; dh says $2.50
I don't mind giving eggs away, and know I will (The local senior center really appreciates farm fresh eggs, btw, and garden produce.) but I'd like to sell enough to pay for the girls' feed, and maybe generate a little "egg money." So I will have to undercut a bit.
We have had goats for 20 years.....Alpines, Alpine crosses, Nubians, and Nubian crosses. When the children were younger (They are now grown.) we raised babies and used the milk. Now we just keep goats which need homes, like our current Alpine cross, Penelope.
The costs vary with your property. If you need to supplement their food with grass hay, and/or alfalfa, you need to price bales. If you will be giving grain supplementation, maybe during the winter, that needs to be priced, as well.
We used to de-bud our kids, as that's what people wanted when we sold them.
Aside from any vaccines, goats may need their teeth worked on, supplementation (our area is low in selenium, and goats who don't get it will simply die at some point. Especially if eating all local feed.) and wormer. We worm 2ce a year. Once being for liver fluke. Again, it will depend upon your area, you need to learn the special needs of yours. Call the "large animal vet" in your area, and ask what they suggest.
Also, goats need to be in a fenced area, unless you plan for an area void of certain plants. They are very efficient plant eaters, so you only want them where it's okay for them to eat anything that they feel like. If you have forest plants you want, ornamentals etc., don't let them in those areas.
Penelope just got finished having some treats of new blackberry growth, weeds and grass, and oak leaves. The reason I got my first goat was to clear the poison oak from the area around our new house.
I nearly forgot an expense. If you don't keep a buck (We almost always did, but a lot of people can't keep them far enough away from the milking does, or just don't want to deal with them.) you have to work out breeding any does which aren't giving milk/you want kids from. You might be able to work out something reasonable, or not. If you sell the kids, who are you selling them to? People who will eat them, which means any healthy, disease-free buck is fine, or people who want a purebred for milking?
All that said, I love the goats, and can't imagine not having them!
Penelope, who doesn't know she's a goat, (thinks she's a dog), gets along fine with the hens.
And, the healthiest hens I had were raised with clabbered goats milk as part of their diet. Perhaps there's a reason they shouldn't have it that someone knows of, but they did great on it.
