Raising goats has been a learning experience. We enjoy exchanging tips and information with other producers.

If you have information on raising goats you wish to share, please email me and I will add them to this page.

ONE ON ONE, FARM TOUR

Interested in diversifying or entering the goat industry?

We will gladly share any knowledge we have acquired concerning

raising meat goats pertaining to Management.

Telephone calls are preferred over emails that are loaded with questions.

 We want to be able to have time to visit, please contact us prior to coming for a tour.

Unfortunately, we do not offer dairy tours due to cleanliness

& bio-security policies on our farm.

If you would like information on what is required to start a dairy contact the Saskatoon Health District @ 655-4608.

We will not share any information concerning our personal financial business affairs,

the number of liters sold or where we market our products.

The Goat Industry- An Overview of Goats

By: Guenette Bautz

 There are two ways to enter the meat goat industry:

1. The Breeding Stock Business can consist of producing purebreds, registered percentage or commercial does.

This type of operation requires a considerable amount of more time pertaining to record keeping and administration.

If you will be raising registered animals it will entail additional paper work and finances. Maintaining well kept records

of pedigrees and medical procedures as well as a list of clients and their contacts is essential. The breeding stock

industry requires more public relations, advertising and promotions than the commercial side of the goat industry.

In order to successfully market breeding stock, potential buyers must know who you are and where you are located.

It is a good idea to plan to spend time and money promoting your farm through advertising, attending shows, becoming

involved with goat associations, attending seminars etc. Producers who are involved in selling breeding stock must strive

to improve there herd each year through improving their genetics. A new buck can easily help each producer achieve

this goal. An additional bonus when operating a breeding stock business is, with every operation there will be culls

and kids that do not meet the breeding stock standards, these animals will be sent to help supply the short fall in

the meat market, the meat sales are an added bonus of income. Being a breeding stock producer is rewarding,

if you know you are providing sound and healthy animals to reproduce for the growing meat goat industry.

 2. The Commercial Meat Goat Producer is an operation where a producer sells its off spring to help

supply the short fall of chevon. There is an existing demand for goat meat in Canada as we import several million

pounds per year. We are years away from meeting the demand, which secures the industry for long term growth.

Marketing your meat kids can be done in a couple ways, each producer can seek there own local buyers and supply

their clients with custom cuts of meat. Or a producer can ship through local bonded buyers who co-ordinate loads

to be shipped to bigger centers such as Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton (to name a few) and many loads find there way

to the USA, mainly the eastern seaboard, Texas and California. Costs of Production Profit potential will vary from

operation to operation, depending on whether you have to purchase all your grains and hay or in part.

Each individual must evaluate there farm and the existing facilities available such as barn space, corral space and

pasture availability to work out the operation costs of each doe, an average producer can expect a doe

to cost them $60/year. In comparison to cattle, 7 goats will eat what 1 cow will consume.

 1 cow should produce 1 weaned calf worth $700, 7 goats should produce 1.8 kids each

totaling 12.6 meat kids @ $80 per kid (on average selling to a buyer) equals $1008.

Is Raising Goats for you?

 There are several additional benefits to raising goats!

~ Goats meat is consumed world wide more than any other type of meat.

~ Demand exceeds ability to supply

~ A diversification with a long term market in a growing industry for which there is high demand.

~ Grazing habits are non competitive with cattle. Goats are great at clearing underbrush organically

~ Low investment costs, very little handling equipment is needed

~ A livestock that is easily handled, making it great for families and retirees.

~ Herd expansion is easily achieved with goats due to multiple births.

~ A hardy livestock that easily adapts to any type of weather

Facilities

 Goats require shelter from wind and rain. If you plan to kid in the cold winter months you will need a barn that can

illuminate drafts and extreme cold temperatures. Fencing can be done in several ways?.. In our experience it is

best to use wood slaps, plywood or economy studs for corrals, holding pens or any smaller pen that the goats

will be confined in for any length of time. Pasture fences can consist of page wire with one electric strand

or a 4 strand wire fence with an additional 2 electric strands. These fence systems will work only if there is sufficient

feed for them in the pen, if they are hungry they will look for a way out.

Management

Managing a goat herd is very similar to cattle concerning feed, and medical maintaince except on a smaller scale.

It is a good idea to feed your goats good quality hay with grain. Having your feed testing is also a good idea,

although this is an additional cost , it will benefit you in the long run in a couple ways, 1. it will prevent

a producer from over feeding protein and other requirements which in turn will prevent spending unnecessary money on feed

2. A doe will produce more & healthier kids when she is properly fed, this in turn reduces your management

during kidding and also reduces the lost rate. Goats need to produce twins and triplets to keep your books in the blue.

Water is equally important as hay, a fresh clean supply needs to be accessible at all times.

Each producer will create a management schedule that fits their operation and environment, most producers

 will need to deworm at least 2 times a year, 8 way once a year and detox their kids to protect them from cocidious .

Another procedure that goats require is maintaince of their hooves, a simply tool such as a tree pruner

will aid in the trimming of their hooves.

Breeding

A good mature buck will service 40 + does if he is given adequate time to do so, a young buck should not be

 given more than 20 does his first year. The gestation period for a goat is 5 months, each doe produces

on average 1.8 kids. It is possible to get 3 crops in 2 years if your management schedule is set up right,

keep in mind you will have to kid during some very cold winter months in order to achieve the

3 crops in 2 years therefore as mentioned above you will need a fairly good barn.

Industry potential

The Boer goat has only been in Canada since 1994 they began having an impact on the goat industry in 1996.

Since 1996 the number of meat goats is steadily rising, Saskatchewan seen the biggest increase in the last 5 years,

the number of goats being raised has doubled from 7,968 to 15,797. With millions of lbs of chevon being exported

each year and the demand still not being met, we as goat producers have a good indication that the chevon market

will continue to stay strong and the demand for breeding stock will continue to grow with that. The wall street

journal published this statement in June of 2002: ?(Meat Goats) are suddenly among the fastest growing U.S agricultural

product categories nationally? state agencies .. from New York to Texas are pushing goat breeding as a way to revive

the fortunes of troubled small farmers ... the amount of goat meat imported into the U.S. has more than quadrupled

during the past decade, to 12.6 million [pounds] in 2001, from 3 million pounds in 1990."

Dairy Goats

Dairy Goats can also serve as a meat producing animal. They are titled as the dual purpose goat Although it is

not natural for them to gain weight at the same rate as a boer meat goat. It has been stated that both Nubian and

 Lamancha goats are the dual purpose goat, although all dairy goat breeds have supplied the meat goat market before

the boer goat was developed. Dairy goats can be cross bred with the boer to provide a great meat kid, the dairy

dams provide excessive amounts of milk for the growing kid and the boer sire provides the meatier confirmation,

producing an excellent meat kid. Small home dairies are becoming more popular, giving the dairy goat producer yet

another option to generate revenue. This inquires a more intense management schedule, time for marketing and

packaging your product.  Country Log Ranch Dairy is the only class 2 dairy in Saskatchewan at this time,

I expect to being seeing more and more producers taking this avenue in the next few years. Dairy breeding does

are also finding their way to eastern provinces where they are placed in intense class 1 dairy operations.