Selling kids

[Suburbanfarmer]

How do you advertise your kids for sale? And, when do you advertise? We have 2 bucklings and they would make nice breeding bucks, but I don't want to wait to band them on the hopes that maybe I could sell them as bucklings instead of wethers. They are only 2 weeks old, so I've got some time.

I put an ad on craigslist, but haven't gotten any interest. The owner of the buck thought I should start at $300. Too much?

They are AGS registered ND black and white w/blue eyes. Dam's side is heavy on the Rosasharn lines. One buckling is lighter boned and one is heavier boned (more solid and wider through the head and shoulders).

I would love advice from anyone who has experience. Thanks!
-K

 

[michickenwrangler]

Try www.bestfarmbuys.com or www.agriseek.com to expand your base. Try and get a hold of 4-H clubs (they are usually scrambling for goats this time of year for showing and projects). See if you can list your farm on ADGA's website, advertise on here and BYC. Word of mouth is good as well as is Facebook. I got more interest in goat shares and cheese on Facebook from my friends and family than I did from strangers on Craigslist.

 

[OneFineAcre]

First of all $300 is not an excessive price at all for a buck. Very reasonable. Registered bucks can go from $100-$1000 or more. Saw a Nigerian in the ADGA newsletter last year that sold for $25,000

Let me ask you a question, why do you think they would make great bucks for breeding? I understand that the damn is heavy in Rosasharn, which is a great farm.

But what about her? How many times has she freshened? Does she have a milk star? Is she a for sure 2 quart a day milker?

Not sure if do showing, but has she won a lot shows?

 

[Suburbanfarmer]

First of all $300 is not an excessive price at all for a buck. Very reasonable. Registered bucks can go from $100-$1000 or more. Saw a Nigerian in the ADGA newsletter last year that sold for $25,000

Let me ask you a question, why do you think they would make great bucks for breeding? I understand that the damn is heavy in Rosasharn, which is a great farm.

But what about her? How many times has she freshened? Does she have a milk star? Is she a for sure 2 quart a day milker?

Not sure if do showing, but has she won a lot shows?

Great questions. Honestly I had gone into this planning on wethering any bucklings. The breeder that I went through with the buck said that with the lines and the coloring that she thought these two would make good breeding bucks.

The dam is not shown. This is her second freshening and I got slightly over 4 cups a day off of her milking her last Fall (first freshening she had twins also). So far I have had to milk her out a bit because the twins aren't quite keeping up with her supply.

Maybe I should go back to my original plan of wethering them. ??
-K

 

[OneFineAcre]

I didn't mean to say that you should not sell them as bucklings. Just asking a couple of questions. 4 cups a day is not bad for a first freshner ND. Like you said, you have some time before you have to wether them.

4 cups a day, was that two cups twice a day? What point in lactation.

The bucks owner is correct, for many people color and blue eyes are very much a positive. We on the other hand are more interested in dairy character, udder attachment, capacity and milk production.

We've been doing this since 2009. I've only sold one buck kid. Wethered 3. I've got two right now. One I'm retaining, one I'm selling/or wethering.

But, the Rosasharn breeding is a good selling point. They produce some of the best in the country. I've got a doe, Coleus, that pretty much all Rosasharn. Her farm name is different, but the breeder I bought her farm owned a Rosasharn buck and doe.

I would love to see pictures of the doe and her udder.

I think I would probably try to sell as bucks for now. Follow the others advice on other ways to market.

Also, look on Craigs List for someone wanting to rent a buck. When you tell them that they have to provide health certification and you want $50-$75 per doe to breed, you can usually talk them into buying.
That's how I sold the one buckling I did sell.

 

[ksalvagno]

Do wethers sell well in your area?

My goal is to sell males as quickly as possible. I usually just end up selling wethers since they sell quickly for me. People charge $75 to $100 for wethers.

I offer them as a buck or a wether ($250-$300 for a buck, $75 for a wether) until 8 weeks old. Then I band the boys and strictly sell them as wethers. My boys are usually gone by about 10 weeks old.

 

[OneFineAcre]

Do wethers sell well in your area?

My goal is to sell males as quickly as possible. I usually just end up selling wethers since they sell quickly for me. People charge $75 to $100 for wethers.

I offer them as a buck or a wether ($250-$300 for a buck, $75 for a wether) until 8 weeks old. Then I band the boys and strictly sell them as wethers. My boys are usually gone by about 10 weeks old.

Wethers sell here for $75 also. Never had a problem selling wethers for that.

 

[Suburbanfarmer]

I didn't mean to say that you should not sell them as bucklings. Just asking a couple of questions. 4 cups a day is not bad for a first freshner ND. Like you said, you have some time before you have to wether them.

4 cups a day, was that two cups twice a day? What point in lactation.

The bucks owner is correct, for many people color and blue eyes are very much a positive. We on the other hand are more interested in dairy character, udder attachment, capacity and milk production.

We've been doing this since 2009. I've only sold one buck kid. Wethered 3. I've got two right now. One I'm retaining, one I'm selling/or wethering.

But, the Rosasharn breeding is a good selling point. They produce some of the best in the country. I've got a doe, Coleus, that pretty much all Rosasharn. Her farm name is different, but the breeder I bought her farm owned a Rosasharn buck and doe.

I would love to see pictures of the doe and her udder.

I think I would probably try to sell as bucks for now. Follow the others advice on other ways to market.

Also, look on Craigs List for someone wanting to rent a buck. When you tell them that they have to provide health certification and you want $50-$75 per doe to breed, you can usually talk them into buying.
That's how I sold the one buckling I did sell.

I will try to get a pic of her udder when I let her fill. Right now the bucklings are on her 24/7. I plan on pulling them at night in the next couple of days.

Yep, she gave me 2 cups 2x day. On her better days it was closer to 2.2 2x day. I believe she kidded in early June, I bought her in July and she started to tapper in late October (but she had been bred in September). I am going to try to milk her this time as long as possible.

My doe has a Rosasharn sire.

Thanks for the input! It is really helpful.
-K

 

[poorboys]

I just had twins, a boy and a girl, I will be selling both, but the boy I will sell as a wether because I know he is not buck material. I knew as soon as he was born that he wouldn't be sire material, they sell around 75.00 around here too.

 

[20kidsonhill]

My theory is if you are only going to get $75 as a wether, come down on your buck price. Can you post your craiglist ad for us to review it? Do you have a webpage built of the dam and the bucklings with lots of information? Like photos of the dam's udder from her kiding? I find someone with just 2 or 3 doe may be willing to spend $200 or $250. Try advertising them for $275.00 instead of $300.
considering offering them as a pair. Would be willing to sell one for 300 as a breeding buck and would be willing to wether the other one before leaving the farm for $75.00 So the total price for the pair one buck and one wether would be $375.00 Might be hard to sell both of htem as bucks.

Expand your advertisment.
I run an ad for one or two weeks in my area on craiglist, then pull the ad and run it in another part of my state or a craigslist area still in responable driving distance, like less than 4 or 5 hours. Normally I don't get flagged. Once and a while someone wiill flag me for advertising out of my area.

Just some ideas.
What about hanging signs at your local farm store?
Do you have a facbook? There may be places to adveritse on there if you join certain groups. I am on WV goats for sale, East Coast Boer goats, Boer Goats for sale(National), and Boer goat trader.