Cost of Buying Nigerian Dwarf Goats

[Danica]

Hello everyone,

I am working on convincing my family of Nigerian goats and they were curious what the cost of buying one would be. I have been reading that you can get kids and raise them yourself so I was wondering what that would cost keeping in mind that I would like these goats for milk so if that maters, I live in Pensilvania, and would like does. Another thing that I herd is you can buy does that are mature and have been bred by the breeder for you but have never given birth before. I was wondering if that was a thing as well if so what would that cost.

Thanks,
Danica

 

[Southern by choice]

Cost will depend on many factors.
Unregistered Purebred or Registered Purebred
Strong dairy lines, proven or not
Milk stars on dam or not or in the genetics etc

$150-$750(very high end IMO)

Some goats that are show goats with championship titles etc may not necessarily be high producing and some may. Some goats will come from stock that do DHIR testing and may have recorded proven milkers. Some stock may be unregistered with high milk output... The key is talking with breeders and hopefully they are honest.
Not all breeders do DHIR testing because a) it can be costly B) inconvenient or C) they are not trying to build a name or line and milk only for their family.

In all honesty many breeders guess at what their goats produce. I cannot tell you how many times we have heard "this is my best milker" oh she gives 2 qts a day or a gallon a day etc.
Not that they are lying or purposely deceiving just they guess, they don't keep track or record.

Some goats may produce a great deal of milk but have a short lactation cycle. Some may produce less but have a long consistent lactation cycle.

Example we sold a goat that produced 1 1/2 qts a day and it was excellent milk but she did not fit into our long term program as her lactation cycle was not great. By 5-6 months she would drastically reduce. We may have trained her udder in that sense... but point is she didn't fit.
Another goat is steady just over a quart a day... steady and long lactation but gets fat and we end up drying her off but her milk is my favorite on the farm

Another is a FF and gives 1 1/2 qts daily. Steady lactation.

Each goat mentioned is priced differently.

Figuring out how much milk you will need is important. Then you can target your search.

Never get more goat than you need! Pitching milk is awful!

Anyway this is the short version... LOL

My best milker is an unregistered Lamancha... out milks my registered goats even my most heavily starred pedigreed goat.
She does not have a great show udder or teats yet out milks them all. Of course that doesn't mean every goat is like that. We have some goats that were bred for confirmation, not milk production... beautiful udders but not always high dairy output.

Buying a bred doe is a great option. We have done that before. BUT we are always honest in giving all history. If it is a ff then we don't know what that output will be, but we can give the output of the dam's dam and aunt etc.

 

[Danica]

thanks a lot!!

 

[Southern by choice]

Your welcome. I forgot to mention... if you plan on showing then you will definitely want a registered goat. You also may want to purchase from a breeder that does show so they can better mentor you.

Unfortunately many that have unregistered goats keep no records of lineage and that can be iffy. We have registered and unregistered but we keep records of both.... most don't.

Nigies are great as pets, and can be great little dairy goats. You will certainly enjoy the breed!

 

[Danica]

Yes I am hoping that they will be a nice addition, I am not planning on showing but do you suggest I buy from a breeder that does register goats so they can mentor my family and I versus a not registered breeder?

 

[Southern by choice]

Registered or not many breeders do not mentor at all.
We have both and we mentor regardless of papers or whether a person got there goat from us. You can usually tell if a breeder is knowledgeable and is willing to be there in the long term or not.
Taking some general goat care classes through a county extension service when they have them available is helpful as well as connecting with others that have goats. Reading, researching for yourself is very valuable.

There is more than one feeding program, more than one management style, and more diverse opinions on all things goat than you probably wish there were! LOL

Looking for tested herds is very important. Ask for the documentation too! At the very least CAE.
We choose to do CAE, CL and Johnnes.
Some test for TB and Brucellosis especially if drinking raw milk...

 

[jodief100]

We don't do milk goats, we do meat goats but Southern is right. Determine what you need, ask lots of questions and find what is right for you. Try to find people who keep records. Buy from a breeder who is willing to talk to you and answer all your questions. Good goats from from good people. Find someone who raises them with the same management you want to work with. Goats raised under one management system may not do well under another.

You need at least two. Goats stress without a goat buddy to keep them company. Keep in mind at some point you will need to get them bred. Some breeders will let you bring them back for breeding, others will not.

 

[Danica]

Thank you this is important to know before I chose who to buy from these are similar tips to buying a horse, something I am much more familiar with!

 

[Hemlock]

$150-$750 is a huge price range. What would you expect to pay for a just weaned doeling? Prices I've seen in my area are about $400-$550. That seems so expensive to me for an unproven ND. Then again, I know barely anything about goats right now. Also, would you recommend registered kids if you were getting your first goats? I'm assuming that would make it easier to sell their future offspring.

 

[Southern by choice]

$150-$750 is a huge price range. What would you expect to pay for a just weaned doeling? Prices I've seen in my area are about $400-$550. That seems so expensive to me for an unproven ND. Then again, I know barely anything about goats right now. Also, would you recommend registered kids if you were getting your first goats? I'm assuming that would make it easier to sell their future offspring.

Welcome to BYH! @Hemlock

The first thing really is what are your needs? Pets? Milk? Both? Show?

We are a little different than most... we have Registered and unregistered as you have seen in the above posts. Our unregistered goats we treat no different- always improving, expecting great production, all tested, and in a nutshell quality goats. They may be unregistered for a variety of reasons.

An unregistered as well as a registered goat doesn't mean "junk" doesn't meann "great" there are many things to look at.

We have no problems selling our unregistered goats but again they are quality goats. Some that don't meet our standards are sold as "pets" meaning they may be able to produce a large volume of milk but had poor length of duration.... many factors. A good breeder can give detail about their goats. Sire, dam, milk production etc.