Farm helper...goat care

[Jlblake]

The goats are pretty self-sufficient but 2 weeks is to long for the goats to be by themselves. They need daily care. Why are you buying a goat farm and not wanting to invest the time required? Might the owner want to stay longer? You might need to consider the tax costs. Selling the goats will take away the tax advantage of them. If that works in your state. If this is for your retirement then lease it until you want to move there. It does not need to be goats. Horse people, cattle or if the fields are suitable hay people might be interested. You can always split it up so that you rent the pasture and still have control of the house so you could stay or remodel or rent it for profit. Have a local attorney make up the lease, pay for the attorney to protect you and your investment. Ask for references and check them. A farm left unattended with draw the attention of undesirables. Make friends with the neighbors and provide them with contact info so they can call you if something looks wrong. Also provide the info to the local sheriff office.

I'm really buying the land and lake. The goats provided meat and an ag exemption to the seller. I can switch to a wildlife exemption for tax purposes. I like the goats, I just don't have time for it and I'm too far away. My biggest concern is the undesirables you mentioned. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Alien]

My brother decided to farm goats once. Their offspring now roam the hills somewhere in New Zealand. LOL

 

[quicksandfarmer]

How much patience do you have?

I love animals but goats really push my limits. Trying to work on an old lady friends jeep and couldn't keep the goats out of the engine compartment. Similar thing with a neighbor. Also, used to wake up with MY house surrounded by his goats. They are escape artists! They try and eat just about anything. Soft tops, trailer wiring, you name it.

I find a stern word keep the neighbor out of my engine compartment while I'm working on it. Although sometimes it needs to be repeated once or twice.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Good morning & Happy New Year!

I just bought a property that has 31 goats and 4 kids on the way. They are Boer goats. I will close on the property in late February and then I'm letting the seller stay for up to 60 more days. Bottom line, I have some time to solve problems.

I'm learning as much as I can about the goats. The seller will care for them until 60 days after we close. My concern is that the more I read, the more I realize that goats aren't self-sufficient. The property is fenced and cross-fenced. It's 66 acres with plenty of room to move the goats around. I live 2 hours from the property. I want to keep the goats but it looks like I need someone to take care of, feed and check on the goats daily. This creates questions:

1. do goats need daily attention or can I visit every other weekend and take good care of them?
2. if they need daily care, where can I find a trustworthy person in the area that might do this?
2a. Since I have enough land, would someone be willing to run their own goats and care for mine in exchange for leased space?
2b. What should I expect to pay someone if I have to pay cash?
3. would it make more sense to just sell the goats and then lease space to someone who has goats?

I don't know what other questions to ask. I'm really looking forward to this but don't want goats paying for my inability to be on the property daily.

Thanks!

What part of the world are you in?

 

[Jlblake]

What part of the world are you in?

Texas...Centerville area.

 

[GeneV]

Good morning & Happy New Year!

I just bought a property that has 31 goats and 4 kids on the way. They are Boer goats. I will close on the property in late February and then I'm letting the seller stay for up to 60 more days. Bottom line, I have some time to solve problems.

I'm learning as much as I can about the goats. The seller will care for them until 60 days after we close. My concern is that the more I read, the more I realize that goats aren't self-sufficient. The property is fenced and cross-fenced. It's 66 acres with plenty of room to move the goats around. I live 2 hours from the property. I want to keep the goats but it looks like I need someone to take care of, feed and check on the goats daily. This creates questions:

1. do goats need daily attention or can I visit every other weekend and take good care of them?
2. if they need daily care, where can I find a trustworthy person in the area that might do this?
2a. Since I have enough land, would someone be willing to run their own goats and care for mine in exchange for leased space?
2b. What should I expect to pay someone if I have to pay cash?
3. would it make more sense to just sell the goats and then lease space to someone who has goats?

I don't know what other questions to ask. I'm really looking forward to this but don't want goats paying for my inability to be on the property daily.

Thanks!

35 goats, including baby goats? That's quite a bit to take on when you're there and know what you're doing. If you're not and you don't, nooooooo! Water, feed (goats don't graze on grass like sheep...they eat brush and weeds, and go through it fast), predators, fences (goats are escape artists), diseases, and anything/everything else that comes up (and it will), all this stuff needs to be tended to daily. If raising livestock was easy, everybody would be doing it. I can't recommend enough that you go with your option #3.

 

[rgr33]

Having had a few goats back in my hobby farming days, I can tell you they are high maintenance escape artists. Fences that work well for cattle and horses are a minor nuisance for a goat.

30 goats can get into a lot of trouble if not tended to daily, and you will be responsible for damages to neighbors property.
In my mind, the best thing to do, if you are not going to be living on the property, is to lease it out to someone that will actually be working onsite, hopefully that will cut down on the weeds that will be coming shortly after the goats leave, if the seller has no interest in continuing with the herd.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Time to start a new business! If you could find a young and vigorous entrepreneur, maybe go 50/50, and let him take care of the goats?

Everything you ever wanted to know about renting a goat.

 

[Molalla1]

Time to start a new business! If you could find a young and vigorous entrepreneur, maybe go 50/50, and let him take care of the goats?

Everything you ever wanted to know about renting a goat.

You beat me to it . . . If you do not live there . . . you need a caretaker.

 

[Argonne]

For the last 2 years I've been a "once-a-day" caretaker at a horse ranch in NE Texas where there are also sheep, goats, dogs & ducks. The main part of the job is caring for the dogs and horses. Except during birthing season, or in the case of the sheep, shearing season, there is little to do with the sheep and goats. The 20 odd sheep and goats just roam the 133 acres eating mostly stuff the horses don't want. I would go so far as to say they are very self sufficient on a property this big. The big problem with them, and I'm mostly talking about the goats, is that they are often not happy with what they are finding on this lush 100+ acres and are constantly over the fences and on the neighbor's property, or wandering the roads. When they cross fences, they don't bound over them like deer, often as not they "climb" them and mess them up a little more each time they do. A beep from a passing car will have them climbing the fence again to get back on their home turf. And of course, climbing barbed wire fences is hard on a body, so they often have injuries healing from their less than graceful fence encounters.

They also get into EVERYTHING. They steal ignition keys from equipment, crap on seats, chew on rubber and plastic, break windows, dent vehicles, the list goes on and on. Feeding other animals on the property will become near impossible because the sheep and goats will bum-rush and swarm the intended feed recipient, which means there is no leaving a bucket of grain for any other animal, you will need to guard it with at least a sorting stick, and you will need to be fast on your feet because they will come in from multiple directions. The best goat control apparatus I have found is an airsoft 6mm bb machine gun. They really don't like seeing the white bbs coming in their direction.

They will attack you too (goats or sheep) if you are carrying food. Never turn your back on them if they are showing interest, and be sure to keep your knees bent when there is a chance you will be butted from the side, or you could end up with a blown out knee.

In closing, no, I don't like goats much. They don't so much require care, but they require constant vigilance to keep them out of trouble or engaging in destructive behavior. Here is a little video I shot this summer entitled, So You Think You Want Goats.