WTB: Milk breed doe NC

[jason_mazzy]

I am looking for a doe hopefully broke to milk for a decnt price. Ifu knowanyone thinning down a herd please let me know. Looking for goats in driving distance from hickory area. Need milk for the family to drink. Funds are a bit low so any help would be appreciated.

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Expect to pay $300-$500 for a good dairy doe in milk.

If you want a less expensive option, you may want to purchase a doeling instead. Check Craigslist - may dairies will run ads for extra doe kids on there.

 

[Kenneth Flippen]

I live in Dobson just outside of Mt. Airy and there is a local dairy that usually has some for sale and another guy that may have a couple or know someone I will check around if its not to far to drive I think I'm about an hour and 15 min away

 

[Livinwright Farm]

I agree with greenfamilyfarms, however... sometimes you can find a great young milking doe that someone is giving away(or selling for cheap) due to new living arrangements/moving, it was their parent's goat & parent died, or they got it as a project for their child and the child stopped taking care of it.
Definitely check craigslist for any free to cheap postings! I got my entire herd of 5 goats for just $250!
Also be sure to check the posts at your local TSC, Blue Seal, Agway, and/or Farmer's Union. I have seen more than my share of postings for FREE to GOOD home: Sanaans, Alpines, Toggenburgs, Pygoras(mini fiber goat), & Nigerians(RICH in butterfat milk) at my TSC & Blue Seals.
You may end up with a pair of decent milking does for next to nothing!

 

[PattySh]

If you find a "cheap" doe in milk, milk or watch the doe being milked and taste the milk. Been there and done that. First herd ever I bought 20 yrs ago were ALL WILD very hard to milk. and would not stay in any type of fence. Second attempt at buying a goat in milk was horrid tasting milk from a $100 milking goat. I would also be wary if the person selling has many goats that (like my Sasha) kids might have been vet delivered so someone is unloading the doe and you may get an expensive vet bill next time you breed her. Not all sellers are honest. This herd we shopped carefully for. My goats were pretty inexpensive, young man heading off to college and could not take his goats with him and was looking for a homestead arrangement for them. He had them for sale for a bit and was having a hard time getting someone to take a "family unit" of goats. You can get a good deal but look carefully.

 

[Livinwright Farm]

If you find a "cheap" doe in milk, milk or watch the doe being milked and taste the milk. Been there and done that. First herd ever I bought 20 yrs ago were ALL WILD very hard to milk. and would not stay in any type of fence. Second attempt at buying a goat in milk was horrid tasting milk from a $100 milking goat. I would also be wary if the person selling has many goats that (like my Sasha) kids might have been vet delivered so someone is unloading the doe and you may get an expensive vet bill next time you breed her. Not all sellers are honest. This herd we shopped carefully for. My goats were pretty inexpensive, young man heading off to college and could not take his goats with him and was looking for a homestead arrangement for them. He had them for sale for a bit and was having a hard time getting someone to take a "family unit" of goats. You can get a good deal but look carefully.

I will say, that a lot of the flavor of their milk comes from what they eat... so ask what they have been being fed. Have they been primarily browsing? What goat grain do they feed? Have they been eating hay? if so: What hay do they feed?
If the doe in milk has been being fed alfalfa hay, free loose mineral, and BOSS, then odds are her milk will be nice & rich, high in butterfat, with no goaty flavor.

 

[jason_mazzy]

How About 3 quarts a day from an alpine for $200. Does that sound like a decent goat production? I am not an expert or well versed in dairy goat production

 

[PattySh]

How far along is she in her lactation? If you like the doe, she is easy to handle and milk (and the milk tastes fine)and you have $200 to spend I say go for it. I have a mininubian that milks only 2 qts a day(last yr first freshening) and I just love her.

Salty is the one flavor you don't want in milk, cries mastitis.