Start-up costs for dairy goats??

[yourbadd]

I've read and read and read about what's needed to raise, care for and milk dairy goats, however, I'd like real people's experiences on start-up needs so I can determine costs.

My plan is to get 2 dairy goats (breed yet to be decided). If I followed all the book's guides on what's needed I'd have the makings of a small vet clinic, so my question to all you goat owners...

1. What supplies are an absolute must? (Vaccines/milking/grooming/ supplies)

2. How much can I expect the average full sized (not dwarf) dairy goat to eat?

3. What items are truly necessary to store the milk?

4. What type of housing do you use? Where do you milk your goats?

I think that's all my questions...for now!!! Pictures are great too!!

Thanks

 

[savingdogs]

I'm interested in what everyone has to say, even though I'm at the stage where I have three goats, two due to kid in less than a month.......

So far our start up costs have not been bad, small investments over time but they have added up.

 

[ksalvagno]

That depends on so many things. If you are handy and can do a lot yourself and spend the time to find cheap materials, you can keep things pretty inexpensively.

Also you don't need to have a whole medicine cabinet but there are a few things that are nice to have on hand. I always keep Banamine (pain med), CDT (vaccine), Epinephrine, Long Acting Penicillin, B Complex, BoSe, ADE (vitamin) injectible and Probios (probioitc) on hand. I actually have a lot of other drugs but I have alpacas and birth alpacas for other people so I need a lot more meds available.

A full size dairy goat will eat a minimum of a flake a day of hay (per goat). And that flake may vary because flakes aren't always the same size. If the flakes come off very thinly, then it may take 2 flakes a day per goat. Feed depends on if they are milking or dry or pregnant. Right now my full size dairy goat is only getting 2 measuring cups once a day for feed. But when she is on the milkstand, she gets 4 measuring cups twice a day. Feed and hay costs really depend on your area. You would need to see what things cost in your area.

I have a barn and my barn is divided with corral panels so my goats are basically in stalls. I can close them up in the barn for bad weather and they are out in a pasture with overhang space off the barn to be in. Other people have different options. I milk my goats in the middle of my barn.

I store my milk in half gallon canning jars. You do need to strain the milk so a strainer and filters to go with the strainer are a must. I use a stainless steel bucket to milk into.

 

[FarmerChick]

and it is also all about your spending

do you buy the best of the best top dollar items?

are these top dollar goats with pedigrees or mutt type goats?

do you want a "real" 2 goat milker...that costs

are you going to hand milk into a bucket?

truly alot of the costs can be soooooo basic, but how you spend and what you desire can increase costs fast, very very fast

 

[rebecca100]

I paid $300 for my nubian doe, but the rest of the milking stuff I use is stuff I already had, like canning jars like someone mentioned above.

 

[freemotion]

I'll take the last two questions, since Karen answered the first two and you didn't say how holistically you wanted to be with the first question. There is a lot of variation.

As for milking supplies, I milk into quart size canning jars, and carry them in my "milking kit," which is a tote I found that has four dividers and holds three jars and a jar for udder wash/teat dip, and has pockets for misc. things I might want, like extra cloths, tape if I am taping up teats after milking, a set of hobbles (never used, made 'em when I first started milking and was ready to strangle my doe), a couple of small gift bags for gathering eggs, etc.

I will filter the milk directly into gallon jars during cheesemaking season, and also directly into quart juice bottles (glass, of course) for household use and for giving to friends and family (for their cats only, of course!) I use a small coffee filter, the type that you wash and re-use, and I set that into a funnel. I rinse it with warm water and then use the same solution for the udder wash/teat dip to pour over it, then rinse again, each time I use it. I need to buy a new filter each season. But no liners. Occasionally a hair will make it through the filter when it is brand new, but that doesn't freak me out. I eat enough animal hairs in my daily chores anyways. And I don't sell the milk.

I milk in a spare stall or in the hay storage area all winter, then move the milking stand up to the attached garage once the first mosquitoes come out in the spring. This works well, since I am milking multiple goats by then and they are peaking, so I can line a shelf next to my stand with spare jars to milk into.

I don't like a bucket, since a mucky foot will ruin the day's milking. With jars, I lose a quart at most.

I had to buy a second fridge the first time there was 7-8 gallons of milk in my fridge. I got into making aged cheeses and veg ferments, so it has proven quite useful. Got a great deal on craigslist.

I keep my goats in a shed that was designed as a two-stall barn for horses. I re-divided it so there are two small stalls for kidding or confinement, and one larger communal stall where everyone lives most of the year. The door to this stall is south-facing and open all year round, even in a blizzard. I adjust it so that it is only open a goat's width in blizzard weather. I have some opinionated does who might corner an underling and do some damage if they are locked up together. As long as they can get out of drafts and are on thick bedding, they do quite well even in subzero weather.

ETA: I also have two goats in a small box built as a temporary coop a few years ago....it is 4' H, 4' W, and 8' D. Works great. Door also propped partially open on the short end, facing south. They will rejoin the herd when the buck is gone. Don't want them preggers.

 

[Javamama]

OK, I go big or go home so it's probably not everybody's style.
I started from scratch this year. Got 2 mini lamanchas, bred, for 200 bucks total. The breeder was selling them cheap because she is advancing her generations and did not need these 2 anymore. I got great goats at an unbelievable price. Spent about $250 for supplies for a 6 x 12 barn, another $300 for fencing supplies - we got a 330 foot roll of goat fencing plus the posts. 6 months of alfalfa hay was $140. I would say these 2 goats still eat almost as much as a full size because they are 1st generation. Heavily pregnant they are getting 2 flakes each a day - and they do waste some but they are cleaning it up pretty well right now.
I have only bought one bag of grain at 13 bucks - they only get a cup a day right now until they kid.
My other things like feeders, kidding supplies and medical supplies and herbals - I probably put a couple hundred into, but I bought bulk and expect those to last at least a year or more. *I admit to going overboard but I wanted to be sure I had anything I might need.
Hoof trimmers were around $12. A must have. We also bought collars and leashes because we walk them out to our back pasture area. They live in our backyard inside their own fencing, but we do have the to-be fenced 1/2 acre pasture for them.
I bought a tub of Sweetlix minerals. Cost varies depending on whether you need to have it shipped to you.
I plan to milk into half gallon mason jars, which I already had.

I just ordered a milk stand for the sanity of my marriage. I think it will work out better for me - hubby really wasn't wanting to build anything else and I found one for 180, shipped. Great price and no nagging. If I thought I was capable of building one then I would. But I know my limits and I wouldn't want to injure my gals.

That's it I guess. Alot of up front cost, but like I said we started with nothing. If the goats themselves hadn't been so cheap I probably wouldn't have done it. We will sell the kids to offset some of the cost and they are registered, so I can get some decent money out of them. Hopefully

 

[FarmerChick]

I do the same

my meat goat operation (Boer)

bought about 50-60 right off the bat.
$150-250 range for the does each
that was 49 or 59 does and 1 registered buck for $450

I spent ALOT of money on a big herd and wow, it was work lol

granted I had the pasture fenced, alot of pasture land, barns in place, but I did buy a metal carport type shed with sides and made that into 4x6 kidding stalls inside to help when kidding started. about $2000

I bought feed by the ton so the savings was huge off bagged feeds.

I easily dropped $10k on this operation when I started. It did well til the amt. of work got out of hand when the herd hit about 120.....then I crashed it back. I just couldn't keep up lol


But you truly can make this expensive or super reasonable. Just depending on if you want some milk for yourself or if you want to go into some type of biz.

 

[ksalvagno]

Sometimes it also depends on where you live. You may have to make things look nicer so you spend more money on nicer fencing or a nicer barn. If you don't have to worry about what it looks like, you can do it for much cheaper.

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

I've read and read and read about what's needed to raise, care for and milk dairy goats, however, I'd like real people's experiences on start-up needs so I can determine costs.

My plan is to get 2 dairy goats (breed yet to be decided). If I followed all the book's guides on what's needed I'd have the makings of a small vet clinic, so my question to all you goat owners...

1. What supplies are an absolute must? (Vaccines/milking/grooming/ supplies)

2. How much can I expect the average full sized (not dwarf) dairy goat to eat?

3. What items are truly necessary to store the milk?

4. What type of housing do you use? Where do you milk your goats?

I think that's all my questions...for now!!! Pictures are great too!!

Thanks

well i can't tell you how much its going to cost you but i can tell you what it cost me...
if you are starting from scratch with no fence or any supplies then it might set you back quite a bit.
at first i had to start from scratch (i was living with my mom). i had to buy 25 t-posts and two 100ft rolls of fence and a post pounder. that set me back about $350. and where i was buying feed it was about $10.50 per 50 pound bag and i went through one bag a month and was buying it there for about five months (total feed $52.50) so just for may-nov. i spent $402.50...
now i live with my dad and i have a five acre pasture and a good size barn and a second barn (kidding pens)
so you have to price your own stuff for your price becuase even the person next door to you probly wont buy exactly the same things as you.
must-haves: milk stand, feed barrels, kidding pens, brush, milk pail, milk strainer and filters, jugs for milk in the fridge, hoof clippers, scissors (for clipping hair on udder, around the butt, for emergencies), teat dip
for milk we always just milk into a pail and put it through the strainer in the house. put the strainer over the jug and put the jug in the fridge.
housing should be to suit your areas weather. here in ohio we have to build for warmth in the winter. one of the barns is made from pallets and the other is made from old roofing tin.
you should have a (seperate from the rest of the barn) milking parlour with your milk stand, stool, teat dip, hoof clippers, feed barrels, etc. dont put your feed barrels where they are available for your goats to break into!!! this is why i recammend keeping the barrels in the milk parlour with a sturdy door and lock.

hope i could help!