_sonshine_
Exploring the pasture
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I see goats on CL all the time but most dont state why they are selling. I would like to get some goats but do not want goats w/ major issues....
Is it ok to ask why you are selling your goat?
- Thread starter _sonshine_
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()relics
Overrun with beasties
You can ask anything you like...But that doesn't mean you will get a truthful answer, in fact,you may just get an outright lie...Better would be to go to a local breeder that specializes in the breed that you are interested in buying...A good breeder will honestly tell you what you are getting with each animal he/she has offered for sale...
I sell many goats every year to young people and new goat owners, trying to point out the flaws and strengths of each animal.... I find that honesty is the best policy....and not just in the goat business....My Craiglist experiences would lead me to believe the majority of the sellers there do not necessarily follow that guideline...especially with "new goat owners"....JMO and I hope I am wrong...
I sell many goats every year to young people and new goat owners, trying to point out the flaws and strengths of each animal.... I find that honesty is the best policy....and not just in the goat business....My Craiglist experiences would lead me to believe the majority of the sellers there do not necessarily follow that guideline...especially with "new goat owners"....JMO and I hope I am wrong...
ksalvagno
Alpaca Master
If someone is offended with that question or seems to skirt the question, I wouldn't buy the goat. There is no reason why you can't ask that question and get a straight answer.
Roll farms
Spot Master
And be wary of vague answers....
Also if they brag on the goat TOO much...if it's that great, trust me, they'd keep it. (Unless they're selling out.)
Also if they brag on the goat TOO much...if it's that great, trust me, they'd keep it. (Unless they're selling out.)
savingdogs
Overrun with beasties
If you are buying kids, with dairy goats the answer can be fairly simple, they were breeding so that they could milk the does and they have enough goats.
Since that seemed to be the best reason to sell a dairy goat to me, we were glad that is what we found.
We found people who were true goat enthusiasts to buy from. They were happy to tell us all they could in a couple hour's time, everything from where to buy good hay locally, what minerals are best for our area, where to buy other supplies at the best price, which vet in our area specializes in goats, as well as many other things. They were honest about the faults and good points of the three goats we bought. We really only wanted to buy the two doelings from the litter. They insisted that we buy the wether from the litter as well.
Now we are so glad that we have him, he is the little leader and makes the girls much easier to handle. So we did well by finding honest goat enthusiasts who really were trying to find good "homes" for the babies they raised in order to milk mom. We found and befriended these folks at the county fair at the 4H booth.
Other people might not be as lucky, but we are very happy with how our little herd worked out.
Since that seemed to be the best reason to sell a dairy goat to me, we were glad that is what we found.
We found people who were true goat enthusiasts to buy from. They were happy to tell us all they could in a couple hour's time, everything from where to buy good hay locally, what minerals are best for our area, where to buy other supplies at the best price, which vet in our area specializes in goats, as well as many other things. They were honest about the faults and good points of the three goats we bought. We really only wanted to buy the two doelings from the litter. They insisted that we buy the wether from the litter as well.
Now we are so glad that we have him, he is the little leader and makes the girls much easier to handle. So we did well by finding honest goat enthusiasts who really were trying to find good "homes" for the babies they raised in order to milk mom. We found and befriended these folks at the county fair at the 4H booth.
Other people might not be as lucky, but we are very happy with how our little herd worked out.
countrywife
Exploring the pasture
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Research, research, research. Believe nothing they tell you, and learn what you are looking for. When we were new to this, and did not know what we were doing, some fool sold us goats that were absolutely infected with parasites. Contaminated my field for years. Took a lot of work and money to clean that mess up, and 1/2 the goats I bought from him died. The same man still posts on CL, and every time I post looking for something he tries to sell me. He has portrayed himself as experienced, new owner, and everything else. Do not trust what people tell you, unless you get to know them real well and spend time with them, not an afternoon, months of time. Learn what you need to know, and then purchase.
goat lady
Ridin' The Range
We got most of our goats from another customer at our local feed store. I was looking for a large animal vet cause at the time I only had two goats, and the salesman gave me a guy's name/number and it just happen he was 69 and getting out of goats. He has been wonderful and I have bought 6 goats from him. My two that were bottle babies, but weaned when I got them were from craigslist. We made the 45 minute drive to look at the farm and check all the goats out and the parents also before making a final decision on them. We had a good experience there, but I did ask alot of questions, and yes I did ask why she was selling them. Turned out she is going away to vet school and her mom did not want to take care of that many goats. So ask around at your local feed stores. Alot people here in Florida post when they are selling animals. Good luck.
ksalvagno
Alpaca Master
I got my Boer goats from Craigslist. A doe and her nursing doeling. I had the doe tested for CAE, CL and Johnes. Came back negative on all 3. Very healthy goats with nice shiny coats. Not one runny nose or eye in the whole herd and they obviously were well fed. It was a good experience.
The person was just getting out of Boer goats because she recently had child number 6 and was too overwhelmed with taking care of 6 young children and goats.
So do your homework and visit the farm and really ask a lot of questions. If your gut tells you this isn't good, then walk away. You can just as easily get a bad deal as a good deal but buyer beware.
The person was just getting out of Boer goats because she recently had child number 6 and was too overwhelmed with taking care of 6 young children and goats.
So do your homework and visit the farm and really ask a lot of questions. If your gut tells you this isn't good, then walk away. You can just as easily get a bad deal as a good deal but buyer beware.
Yeah, you can't really go by what anybody tells you anyway because everything's subjective.
To some even on this forum, a parasite problem is indicated by *one egg* in a fecal. To me, a parasite problem is indicated by a change in coat, condition, eyelid color, etc.. So if someone comes to me and says "Do you have parasite problems?" I'm gonna say that our goats are in good shape with regard to parasites.
If they go have a fecal run and find eggs....well, does that make me a liar, or does that mean we just operate differently?
Here's another scenario, and this one actually happened to me... We wanted a few commercial does to run with our buck in the off season. Could have put him in with a wether, but hey...why not get some free market kids, right?
So, we found some folks who ran commercial goats and they seemed to be pretty knowledgable. I explained that my #1 concern was health, and asked if she'd ever had any CL or anything like that.
No, no, no...never.
I evaluated the whole herd -- no lumps, bumps, scars, nothing like that -- so we picked three and brought them home. They were going into a seperate area anyway, so they'd effectively be quarantined away from our "good" goats forever.. We did turn the buck in with them immediately because, hey, if one pops a CL knot it's not as if we can't sell them all and the buck too without it being a wholesale catastrophe.
Well, it wasn't CL...it was soremouth. After our buck came down with it, I noticed the teeniest, tiniest of scabs on one of the doe's udders. She'd had kids with soremouth, and they'd transferred it to her udders by nursing.. She still had one little scab -- and I'm talking about a postage stamp sized scab -- on the back of her udder, and that's all it took. I hadn't noticed it before because she was pretty haired up..
Needless to say, I was MAD.. What I came to realize, though, was that soremouth is nothing to a commercial breeder. The thinking among the majority of commercial breeders is that all goats eventually get soremouth, and that's just the way it is... So, when I asked if their goats were healthy or had ever had any diseases in their herd, it didn't really occur to them to mention something as piddly as soremouth.
To me, though...it was a real aggravation.
That's just how it goes. Gotta be really, really careful when buying goats.
To some even on this forum, a parasite problem is indicated by *one egg* in a fecal. To me, a parasite problem is indicated by a change in coat, condition, eyelid color, etc.. So if someone comes to me and says "Do you have parasite problems?" I'm gonna say that our goats are in good shape with regard to parasites.
If they go have a fecal run and find eggs....well, does that make me a liar, or does that mean we just operate differently?
Here's another scenario, and this one actually happened to me... We wanted a few commercial does to run with our buck in the off season. Could have put him in with a wether, but hey...why not get some free market kids, right?
So, we found some folks who ran commercial goats and they seemed to be pretty knowledgable. I explained that my #1 concern was health, and asked if she'd ever had any CL or anything like that.
No, no, no...never.
I evaluated the whole herd -- no lumps, bumps, scars, nothing like that -- so we picked three and brought them home. They were going into a seperate area anyway, so they'd effectively be quarantined away from our "good" goats forever.. We did turn the buck in with them immediately because, hey, if one pops a CL knot it's not as if we can't sell them all and the buck too without it being a wholesale catastrophe.
Well, it wasn't CL...it was soremouth. After our buck came down with it, I noticed the teeniest, tiniest of scabs on one of the doe's udders. She'd had kids with soremouth, and they'd transferred it to her udders by nursing.. She still had one little scab -- and I'm talking about a postage stamp sized scab -- on the back of her udder, and that's all it took. I hadn't noticed it before because she was pretty haired up..
Needless to say, I was MAD.. What I came to realize, though, was that soremouth is nothing to a commercial breeder. The thinking among the majority of commercial breeders is that all goats eventually get soremouth, and that's just the way it is... So, when I asked if their goats were healthy or had ever had any diseases in their herd, it didn't really occur to them to mention something as piddly as soremouth.
To me, though...it was a real aggravation.
That's just how it goes. Gotta be really, really careful when buying goats.
