Wanna be farmer

[100%GoatCRAZY]

Hello, I'm new here. I have 2 small does, 2 Spanish does, 1 Alpine Nannie, and I'm getting 2 Nigerian buckling's. Open to advise on how to get started, I want to get into the soap-making business.

 

[Ridgetop]

If you want to get into business making anything from goat milk you need dairy goats that will give you a steady large supply of milk in terms of pound for pound feed ration to milk. Just having a bunch of different breeds will not necessarily do this. More than one buck for your 5 does is one too many.

Do you have experience in keeping goats? Do you have experience in milking goats? Remember that keeping goats in lactation requires that you milk them all every 12 hours year round. Is this a commitment you can handle? To be successful you will have to keep records of the amount of milk they give and also if you are using the milk for consumption you will have to be alert for any mastitis issues. Do you have experience making soap? How much milk do you need for a batch of soap. How many bars in a batch of soap? What is the cost of the other ingredients per batch. Break this down into the $$ cost per bar then add in the cost of packaging, your man hours per batch, advertising, marketing (where can you sell?) customer base etc.

Something else to take into account is whether you will need any special permits to make and market this soap.

Spanish goats are traditionally used for meat production. They have a shorter lactation. If you are making soap with the goat milk you will need a steady year round supply of milk. This means a dairy animal that can maintain a steady lactation for 10 months. If you are currently milking the goats you have for pleasure and have enough extra milk to start doing soap making as a hobby, the goats you have will be a good way to start. Then as you have repeat customers asking for your soaps, you can increase your herd as needed.

 

[Alaskan]

X2

 

[100%GoatCRAZY]

Yes, yes, the reason I have so many goats: I buy them cheap, raise them and sell them, that way I can make profit and buy more quality goats. I haven't had goats in many years, neither have I ever run a businesses. Thank you for the advice. ( I am more than ready for the commitment )