Arrrgh! (venting about my Boer buckling search)

[Roll farms]

I want to buy a boer buckling, our next future herdsire.

I want him to be newborn. Young enough I can disbud / bottle raise it.

I have contacted at least 12 breeders and either been ignored or treated like a simpleton by each one.

Tonight I got a phone call from one, informing me that "You don't bottle raise boer goats, you leave them on the mom."

Gee? Really? You can do that?

I *get* that most people (99.9%) of boer breeders don't bottle raise unless they have to. But I want to.
I prefer bottle raised bucks, I prefer dehorned bucks, and I've been doing this long enough to KNOW WHAT I WANT!!!

(and yes, if you're picturing me hopping up and down and stomping my feet, you're right....)

I am not looking for a CHEAP KID. I want a quality buckling...I want good genetics, length, 2 teats, good conformation, etc.

I am perfectly willing to pay a good price for a good goat.

I've had one breeder tell me, "You probably can't afford to pay what one of my bucks cost." She didn't even quote a price or ask what I wanted to pay, she just *assumed* I am some cheap idiot looking for a low-cost buck.

I fail to see what the darn difference is, as long as I pay the full asking price, whether I take it at 2 days old or 3 mos old.
Heck, they might even come out better off financially (I'll be doing the vaccines, creep feeding, etc.)
Any 'risks' as far as taking one so young, would be mine

I guess it's just such an odd concept for them to grasp that they think I'm retarded or chintzy.

Dairy goat breeders sell bottle bucklings as a matter of course...they wouldn't bat an eye, in fact, they'd expect me to take him / raise him.

I've even thrown it out there, via some Yahoo lists "Hey...if you get 'stuck' w/ a bottle buckling you don't want to mess with and he's herdsire material...CALL ME!" (provided of course he meets my criteria) and gotten hate e-mail saying, "If you want a boer buck, be willing to pay full price for a good one, stop trying to scrounge up someone's cull kid."


I did find one nice lady in OH who was willing to sell me a buckling, she had a nice, long FB doe bred to a paint buck due any day....

The doe had triplets...DOES.


eta: Just an FYI...I'm not looking for help with my problem....only sympathetic ears.
There really are half a million boer bucklings out there....but I'm not willing to drive cross country for one, LOL.
BUT....If you happen to know someone w/in an hour of IN that just happened to have a paint buckling drop yesterday...hit me...lol.

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

Unbelievable. What is wrong with people??

 

[ksalvagno]

That amazes me. I would just want to verify that you know what you are doing. Once I understood that, I would have no problem. Especially in this economy, you'd think they'd be happy to sell you a buckling at a good price! :/

 

[()relics]

Hey I know this Guy...who knows this Guy...who lives across the street from this Other Guy....yeah nevermind I don't think he has goats...I just couldn't resist....But seriously...If I changed Ivan's name to peyton manning would you overlook the fact that he has horns?

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Well, dern. Two of three bucklings we have had born here were both bottle babies.

 

[FarmerDenise]

You'd think someone out there would have one and be happy to sell it to you. Why do people have to be so rude!

 

[Roll farms]

You'd think someone out there would have one and be happy to sell it to you. Why do people have to be so rude!

Honestly...I think they're rude b/c they can afford to be...?

The people I have contacted are some of 'the' boer breeders in IN and OH. (Of course, if I want a "good" buck, I have to start w/ "good" breeders....right?)
They typically sell their kids at production sales...where they're bid on as weanlings and the prices go high.
The impression I'm getting is, "Don't waste our time."

I don't know how many people that when I've dealt w/ them, I've tried to find the right goat for their needs...not just cram the one I want to sell down their throat.

And Relics...after the way you've told me about Ivan and his destructive ways....not no, but HECK no. Ivan can keep remodeling your farm...it helps reinforce my "NO HORNS" policy.

I have a friend in OH w/ a pregnant doe due in Jan.
My luck she'll have doelings or a 4 teater....or he'll be born w/ 6" horns,

 

[Ariel301]

No one willing to sell a buckling bottle baby, even at a reasonably high cost? That's a new one.

I WISH someone would pay me for my bucklings. They generally just end up in the freezer. The only customers for intact male goat kids here are Muslims wanting them for Ramadan, and if it's going to be slaughtered, I'd rather put it in my own freezer. They won't pay more than $10 for them anyway. Every year I get a ton of offers on doe kids...people here seem to think that $20 or less should buy them a good doeling for a future milker. It seems that $100 is unreasonable for a show quality kid from good bloodlines. I try to explain that they are paying for quality, but to people here, if a goat has an udder of any kind, it is a good milk goat, and they are fully satisfied to feed an animal that produces no more than a quart of milk a day for four months or so and after three years has an udder so saggy it nearly drags the ground. Nobody is interested in buying a good breeding buck, when they can get a scrub buckling from the local crazy goat hoarder for free. :/

Hope you find a good buck soon.

 

[jodief100]

I saw your post on the Yahoo groups; I didnt think it would be that difficult. It seems that everyone is assuming you want a bottle buck because you want a cheap buck. There are LOTS of Boer breeders around here in Northern and Central Kentucky. Let me know your criteria as far as what you consider a good herd sire and I will make some calls to some of my contacts.

I know bottle baby 1-5 days old. What else do you want? I care about pounds on the scale and that is it but you probably have some esthetic requirements as well.

I know you dont want any of mine, none are register-able. I do have several friends and acquaintances that may be able to help you.

 

[Roll farms]

I thought I found two yesterday....but alas, I did not...

A very nice breeder w/a very nice herd called w/a paint 2 teated buckling. Dad is a champion buck, mom wins all the time, etc. etc. I was tickled....til he said, "But he's only 75%" and he wanted $800.00 for him.

Now...here's the pickle...the boy probably is worth that price, based on parental performance....but do I really want to spend that much on a buck who's kids I can't register????

Argh...decisions....I passed (also because he was 3 weeks old and by then it's hard to switch them to a bottle and get the disbudding to take as easily) but I was sorely tempted, just to end my search.

The second one, a friend of mine in a town nearby had a paint kid, 2 teated, he would have been purebred instead of fullblood but I could still register the kids.

So I'm asking about his paperwork and she says, "I bought the doe bred, I'll have to get the service memo from the guy I got the doe from.", and mentions he's in Dunkirk...a relatively small town.

I dunno if any of you remember my post this summer, when I went to look at a 2 teated paint buck for sale for $600.00 and when I got there he was not only 4 teated but had an obvious CL abscess healing over...that the fellow then lied about. I was pretty ticked at the time.

Yeah...that fellow was from Dunkirk, too. I said, "Um...he's not so-and-so, is it?" and she replied that yes, in fact, it was.

Oh heck....

Long story short, she called him and got the runaround about the paperwork...between that and my fear of his unscrupulous practices...I decided to pass on that one as well.

SO...the search continues...

Jodie, I appreciate the offer but I'm trying to stay w/in 2 hrs driving distance so that I can be around here for my 20 preggos who'll start kidding soon. I'm more than 3 hrs from the KY line.