Somebody help me. I'm teetering on getting more goats.

[SkyWarrior]

MUST. RESIST.

Here's the story. I now have 10 goats. I'm planning on butchering the ND wether and putting him in freezer camp in the next few weeks. I also decided that the Nigerian Dwarf girl who is pregnant really isn't going where I want to go. I want to stay with full sized goats.

So, I put her up for sale. That way, I can justify getting a pure Boer doe in two months (the woman who I got my bottle baby from will sell me a weanling).

So far, no one wants to pay money. Fine. I barter. I'm in the throes of bartering with one woman. A guy sends me an email and offers 2 one year old Saanen/Nubian crosses for my pregnant ND.

To make matters worse, I actually responded to an ad in my area for a free pygmy doe. What in the heck am I thinking? I haven't responded back because I'll probably take her.

I've got 6 pregnant does, if you include the ND. I've got a young alpine doe, a boer/nubian buckling, and a LaMancha buck. Not to mention the wether. Oh and when the does kid, I'll have probably between 5 and 10 kids to sell or wether for meat.

WHAT THE HECK AM I THINKING?

Somebody, anybody, help.

 

[CrazyCatNChickenLady]

But what if you wanted to keep any doeling babies??!! And who and why would someone trade 2 saanen/nubians for one nigerian??! I'd love to see that cross though!

 

[SkyWarrior]

But what if you wanted to keep any doeling babies??!! And who and why would someone trade 2 saanen/nubians for one nigerian??! I'd love to see that cross though!

The person has yearlings. I suspect it may be due to feed issues. (We're concerned about feed too, but we're okay for a month or two before we have to look for hay again) I think they want to trade their full-sized goats to get a smaller goat who is preggers and will be in milk.

I asked for a reason and I asked for photos. He'll respond tomorrow. I'm not partial to the louder Nubians, but I do like Saanens.

As for keeping any of the doelings, probably not at this point. The reason is simple. I have one buck and I really don't want to pay to breed the girls to another buck just yet. My does will be freshened for years with Oreo and I'll be happy to keep a baby when they retire. But since they're all 1-2 years, I've got a lot of time. My plan is the does get sold and the bucks get wethered and eventually slaughtered for my freezer. If, for some odd reason I don't sell a doeling, then maybe I'll keep her but I'm going to have to plan it out pretty carefully.

 

[Pearce Pastures]

Hey, NDs are full size goats! They are just still small when they are "full sized". (Just teasing here, not really having a temper tantrum ).

If I may recommend, wait until the end of February, beginning of March to try to market them and I bet you get a better response. That time of year, at least for us, in when we start get lots of people asking to buy, even when we are not advertising. I would not take the guy up on that trade or the free pygmy, to be honest. To concerning that someone would make that kind of offer.

 

[alsea1]

I would have to see those bargain goats first.
If they are hard cases then it won't be much of a bargain. Also bringing in new animals is always a health risk for your herd.
Quarantine is a good idea, but difficult to truly carry out on small farms.
I would let hay prices be my guiding factor. LOL my husband is always telling me that my home raised meat pencils out just as expensive as his hunting trip meat. And with feed prices the way the are I cannot argue the point. LOL
But its fun.

 

[CrazyCatNChickenLady]

Hey, NDs are full size goats! They are just still small when they are "full sized". (Just teasing here, not really having a temper tantrum ).

If I may recommend, wait until the end of February, beginning of March to try to market them and I bet you get a better response. That time of year, at least for us, in when we start get lots of people asking to buy, even when we are not advertising. I would not take the guy up on that trade or the free pygmy, to be honest. To concerning that someone would make that kind of offer.

You made me think I called them not full sized! lol I have a little nigerian buckling and he is nowhere near full sized! haha 8 weeks old today and he's the same size as my 1 week old lamancha kids!! Just a whole lot heavier!

 

[CrazyCatNChickenLady]

But what if you wanted to keep any doeling babies??!! And who and why would someone trade 2 saanen/nubians for one nigerian??! I'd love to see that cross though!

The person has yearlings. I suspect it may be due to feed issues. (We're concerned about feed too, but we're okay for a month or two before we have to look for hay again) I think they want to trade their full-sized goats to get a smaller goat who is preggers and will be in milk.

I asked for a reason and I asked for photos. He'll respond tomorrow. I'm not partial to the louder Nubians, but I do like Saanens.

As for keeping any of the doelings, probably not at this point. The reason is simple. I have one buck and I really don't want to pay to breed the girls to another buck just yet. My does will be freshened for years with Oreo and I'll be happy to keep a baby when they retire. But since they're all 1-2 years, I've got a lot of time. My plan is the does get sold and the bucks get wethered and eventually slaughtered for my freezer. If, for some odd reason I don't sell a doeling, then maybe I'll keep her but I'm going to have to plan it out pretty carefully.

That all makes sense. I really like may saanen too but not the nubians cause of the noise factor. I think the droopy ears crossed with the airplane ears make really cool "flying nun ears" (as babsbag would say!!)

 

[Egg_Newton]

I completely understand. I have it too. When I read you were looking to sell your pregnant ND my first instinct was to see where you were located! And I already have a bottle buck I'm picking up next weekend. I only have four does right now but they are addictive little buggers aren't' they?

 

[SkyWarrior]

I completely understand. I have it too. When I read you were looking to sell your pregnant ND my first instinct was to see where you were located! And I already have a bottle buck I'm picking up next weekend. I only have four does right now but they are addictive little buggers aren't' they?

You are so addicted!

 

[that's*satyrical]

You came to THE WRONG PLACE for help!!!!