New to Goats have some financial questions

[andreab3]

I have been wanting dairy goats for some time, I have been reading as much as I can about them. This site has been one of the best sources for information. I have been looking locally for goats and have finally found some that are within my budget. I will have to travel 2 hours away. The 2 does are a mix of large breeds the mom is 2 and the baby is 9 months. The lady will hold them for me and breed them in November if I want her to. Anyway I am trying to figure out how much it is going to cost me so I can be well prepared financially. Can you tell me how much you spend a month, on what and how many goats you have? Thank You so much for helping me out!!!


Edited to add question: I live in upstate New York in the Adirondacks where it can get -20 at night what kind of extra precations should I take? They will be well housed in a garage like structure which also has the chicken coup in.

 

[lupinfarm]

Well I have 2 goats... we spend probably $40/month on grain at the moment, Not sure on the hay... but remember that you will have to pay for housing/fencing if you don't already have these things. So far I have spent about $300+ on building my 6x6' goat house, and I haven't started my electric fencing yet.

 

[Mini-M Ranch]

We have 4 goats. We are using a shed that we already had for their housing. Fencing was the most expensive thing. Like, stupid expensive. We spent about $500 just fencing in the pen area and are doing the pasture a little at a time as we can afford it.

Our girls together eat one bale of hay a week. We buy alfalfa hay, $5 per bale. Grain, we are feeding each girl .5 C in the am and .5 C in the pm. So, 4 Cups grain total for the day. A 50 lb bag will last us about 2 months and costs $15.00 per bag. So, about 55 $ every other month for food.

I spend far more for my ONE house cat who has allergies and has to have specific dry and wet food.

Something else to think about...one of our doelings has been sick with an infection. I have taken her to the vet for the last three Tuesdays for check ups and medications. It has cost an average of about $55 each time. If I hadn't already had money saved back in the "animal" fund, we would have been hard pressed to come up with the extra $150.00

Here's my thought about the weather/climate. For a couple weeks, our does hid in the goat house and barely came out at all and generally looked all mopey and depressed. That was when temps here were in the 80s. The past two days, it has been in the 40s at night and 60s during the day with really high winds. They have been out running and jumping and playing and letting their little goat ears blow in the breeze. I don't think they are all that affected by cold. Not that 60 degrees is cold, but I think you would have a much harder time raising them where it is hot than where it is cold.

 

[lilhill]

I have 15 goats presently and just spent $372 for feed (not counting hay) which lasts me about 2-1/2 to 3 months. We grow our own hay so don't have to purchase that. Vet bills depend on your routine maintenance of the animals and what the goats decide to get into that they shouldn't. And believe me, if there's a will, there's a way for them to do that.

Fencing is definitely expensive if you don't already have a good fence that will keep them contained and preditors out.

Sounds like your housing is quite adequate and if it gets really bone chilling cold, good thick bedding will keep them nice and comfey.

Just be sure to keep an emergency fund tucked away because there's going to be times when you just might have to dip into it. And look around for a knowledgeable goat Vet (good luck on that one), but there are some out there that will work with you when you need them.

Most of all, enjoy your new goats! I travelled 4 hours one way to get one of my bucks, and have two babies reserved in North Carolina that I'll be getting in the spring ... 7 hours one way for that trip.

 

[cmjust0]

If they were mine, they'd cost a $7.50 bag of 16% goat pellet and about two or three bales of $4 grass/clover hay per month. During the winter, I'd say two goats could burn a bale in 3-5 days pretty easy, so I'd be looking at maybe $30 worth of hay. If they began to lose condition during the winter, I'd up the grain a bit so I'd maybe go through 1.5 or 2 bags of grain @ $7.50..

I'm not just starting out, though.. I have well-fenced pasture and browse to offer.. I have a barn with stalls and feeders and a hay loft.. I have a stanchion. I've managed to amass a pretty good little medicine cabinet, of which several bottles have little "Rx"s on them...which means I've already spent enough time (and $$$) with my vets that they know and trust me.. I've also spent enough time around goats to have a fairly decent idea when something's up, and when something's nothing, and I can usually put a decent little treatment plan together.

Still...let's put it this way...the old fella I buy my hay from asked me once if there was any money in goats..

"Sure there is," I said. "Lots of people make really good money on my goats. You do, and so does TSC, Southern States, the feed store, catalog supply houses..."

He got a real kick outta that. Asks me everytime I buy hay..."So, you started making any money on the goats yet?"

I just grin and say "Still building the herd."

He just laughs.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

you might want to call around to find out what feed costs in your area, including good quality hay...and you can check out the online goat supply companies for other stuff.

one thing i would recommend if you are trying to think about the expense is to ask yourself - what are your goals? are you trying to reduce your overall costs by getting goats? dairy products just for family consumption? a fun hobby? are you looking to make/break even or that isnt a concern and you are excited to have livestock?

i think its good to have a picture of what it will be 'worth' to you so you can feel good about the expense. as the others have said - an expensive vet bill can really but a damper on your goatie love. but if that doesnt matter and you just want goatie joy then you'll have different expectations.

i milked 2 full sized dairy gals this summer. they went thru a bag of dairy goat feed plus one alfalfa/grass mix bale per week (and a sweet feed about every 2 or 3 weeks)....so for us that was some thing like $12 a week. this did not include getting the milking supplies, housing, straw for bedding, or making the milking stand (or cheese making supplies). our 'gotcha' this summer was a stubborn worm problem that was solved by trying 2 diff types of wormers - we finally got that under control.

the upside is that we got was a 30% cost reduction in feed costs across the board for the poultry...and something like a 50% reduction for hog feed (2 pigs). and on top of that we saved at least $50 a month in dairy products for us!

if you take all of that, and factor in the cost to purchase the does, we probably are almost even. next year tho, since we have the big costs (purchase price, housing, etc) we'll definitely be ahead.

in winter we are expecting our costs to go up a bit b/c our goaties dont like the wet cold weather and stay inside and complain...so no more free rangin' cuz its free. last winter we needed to put a heat lamp in with our mini's because they acted like they were just about to die from the cold (for heavens sakes over-dramatic goats!).

good luck!!

 

[andreab3]

Thanks for the replies! My main goal is to have the milk. I can not drink cows milk, it makes me sick. But I have found that I can drink goats milk, the only lady I can find to buy goats milk charges me $2 a QUART. I have four kids and if we all could drink goats milk it would be a help to me. I am just trying to make sure I dont get in over my head - financially.

 

[Aped]

At the moment I have 3 nigerian dwarves and 1 saanen cross. They are all about 6 months old. I started from scratch since I never had goats.

A 8' x 24'Shelter cost me about $600 to build out of 2x4's and plywood. Partitioned to separate bucks and does.

The fence cost me about $1400, built by amish with welded wire but nothing fancy.

I got my goats in july and bought 2 bags of feed then ($16 x 2), as well as a bag of oats ($13), a bag of BOSS ($13), and goat mineral ($16). I have yet to buy new bags of any of these, they are about half way down now. I feed my goats about 1/4 c per goat of a mix of the above in the am and pm.

I go through about 2 bales of grass hay($5) and 1 bale of Alfalfa mix ($7) per month. I also let them out to forage a few hours a day.

Then there were other start up things like hoof trimmers, some ammonium chloride, probios, iodine solution, syringes, needles, vaccines which all cost me about $80.

Larger goats will be more expensive to feed, house, etc. But depending on why you want goats, you may need a larger breed.

 

[jlbpooh]

$2 a quart isn't bad. My neighbor is driving 30 minutes one way to a farm to pay $10 a half gallon for goat milk. I think it is gold or something. I tried it and it had way too much of a goaty taste for me. They had Saanen's.

 

[Griffin's Ark]

In some areas feed is a lot higher than others. Just looking at the replies I am amazed. We are milking 3 goats right now and they each get about 1 to 1.5 lbs of food per milking and their condition is very high, which means I could reduce the feed and not harm their production. Goats are cheaper to keep than dogs and cats, but not as cheap as donkeys. If you treat a goat like a house pet and run to the vet for routine shots though it will cost you double. The other problem is if you get a goat that becomes a pet you might get more attached to it than you thought and be willing to not eat for a month so you can take it to the vet. My DW asked the other day, "When do you think we will be able to afford Ice Cream again?" We have 30 goats (I think)(I have been out of town for several days and the total may have increased) anyway of all our animals, I spend hours and hours with the goats and love every minute of it and I spend somewhere around $300 a month on all animal feed (chickens (lots), rabbits (10), sheep (9), donkeys (2), quail (lots), pigs (2) and lets just say 30+ goats.) and then I spend an additional $100 every 3 months on medications and implements.
Chris