Fair price for goats?

[Hatrick]

We're looking to purchase two dairy goats in the next month or so for our small family farm. We went to a local breeder who has two does we are interested in. I was kind of surprised by how much she wanted for them but since I don't know what goats cost I can't be sure the prices are fair.
This is what she's saying;
"Doeling #1 is 1/2 boer. Mom is a Boer Champion and she and her mom always win the dam and daughter class. Dad is a New Zealand kiko, La Mancha cross. Doeling #2 is 1/2 Nubian, 1/4 La Mancha, 1/4 boer. Mom is a champion percentage Boer Champion. ( At the Royal). The kiko boer cross doeling would usually sell for a minimum of $600.00. The little spotted girl would sell for approximately $200.00."
She's willing to sell them to us $500. for the pair, doe #2 is the runt of a triple kidding which is why she's cheaper. We just don't want to spend more than is fair. Any advice or opinion on price or the breeds as far as for a family dairy goat goes would be appreciated.

 

[Stacykins]

I guess it depends on the area, but that is a bit rich of a price for crosses. Perhaps if you were getting purebred kids from champion showlines, then I could see the prices she asks. I'd suggest searching for a different breed, too, if you want dairy. Boer and Kiko (and their mixes) are meat goats. Boers especially tend to have extra teats in the form of fish teats, a huge flaw that makes milking difficult.

Can you find a strait dairy breed, like alpine, nubian, la mancha, etc. ?

 

[shadowpaints]

sounds fair to me. especsially if the does mothers milk half way decent. i usually buy them as kids, usually bottle kids if i plan on milking them, sometimes it is cheaper that way sometimes.


i am getting ready to spend over 1,000 on a few champion milking doelings. probally only get 2 or 3 but they should milk around 1 gallon or more a day when they are adults and ready to milk

 

[Hatrick]

We're trying to find purebred Nubians and/or a dairy mix but I can't believe the trouble I'm having! Everyone wants to keep their doelings and since we only want two goats until we get the hang of it we don't want a buck. There's a bunch of those available. I didn't think I would have this much trouble. What about a couple Nigerian Dwarfs instead?

 

[Skyesrocket]

How old are the goats that you are looking at? Unless your looking for meat goats then whether or not mom championed doesn't mean much to you. Meat goats are judged for meat production.
If I was looking for dairy I think I would pass on those two. The only good thing about having some Boer in your dairy goats is that the bucklings can be sold for meat.
We have a lot of dairy goats around here. Personally I wouldn't spend more than $200 for a good nanny already in milk. I guess it comes down to supply and demand.
You won't get as much milk from a Nigerian and they can be hard to milk due to teat size. If you go that route check the teat size. I love my Nigi's but they wouldn't be my first choice as a milking goat.
Good Luck in your search.

 

[mlm Mike]

I don't know where you live, so pice may vary. But my neighbors get about $200 per unregistered Nubians and LaManchas. That's less than I get for my Nigerians. I would also disagree somewhat with Skyesrocket in regards to Nigerians, you can get 2/3 the milk on half the feed. But Skyesrocket is right check teats, not all of them are that good. If you want goats for dairy, get dairy goats.

 

[wolfie115]

I have a friend who raises dairy goats. She has Alpines and Alpine/Saanan crosses. Her doelings that are pure Alpine she usually sells for like $100 and the bucklings for $50, whereas the Alpine crosses are $75 and bucklings I believe are still $50 not sure on that though. Maybe they just sell there's for really cheap I don't know. But that seems to be a bit on the high end to me especially for crosses that serve a purpose you aren't looking for. I'd suggest you keep looking, you could probably find a better deal and what you are actually looking for.

 

[zzGypsy]

my opinion? too high for those goats.
and ditto what everyone else said on get a dairy breed.

I've got a doe that I paid $250 for 3 years ago that milked over 2 gal a day last year. here in SW MO I've seen in-milk does at the 1-gal production level going for $250-275, already in milk. if the production numbers are higher, I've seen them up to $500. unproven bottle doelings from top producer does are going at $125-200, and I think $200 for a doeling is too high unless there are exceptional producers up the line at least 2 generations... you're going to have to feed that doeling for a year and a half or more before you see any milk from her... and before you find out what her production actually is. of course, if you're looking for top-quality papered goats, and intend to show, you could spend way more than these numbers, however if you're interested in production only, the goats you saw, IMHO, are too expensive and not the right breed besides.

if you're buying for hand milking, check the teat size on the mama, and on the doeling both... teats will enlarge, but if the doeling has tiny nubs, she is more likely to have tiny teats... if she's got fingerling teats, she's more likely to have handlebar teats when she's milking.

My experience with nigi's is that they do not produce as much milk for their feed as my la manchas do, but they're quite comparable with my kinder, pound-for-pound. but milking mouse teats is not fun. I like them, personally, but I'm replacing all but 2 of them with full sized goats. those two have wormed their way into my affection, so they're staying.

BTW, if you're looking at breeding your does, and eating the bucks they produce, you can get a boer or kiko buck, or a buckling, or borrow one for breeding. your kids will be heavier, and will grow fast on the milk of their dairy moms. of course then you'll end up with some 1/2-1/2 doelings too and they may not milk as well as their mothers.

we breed our top producing dairy does to a dairy buck from a top producing dam, in hopes of more top producing doelings. we breed our lesser producing does to a boer buck in hopes of producing meat bucklings. most of the cross doelings we'll sell or go to the meat market as well.