When purchasing a goat...just ask!

When purchasing a goat make sure you know what is important to you and ask questions. Some of them may be already answered in the ad you found, but others might not be. Below is a non-exhaustive list of questions you might want to know the answer to. A few of them are ones I wish I had asked myself in the past. Some of them are questions I would also verify myself, especially if it was a situation where I could look at the goat before purchase.

Remember though that many breeders already answer most of these questions on their website. So give everything a quick read before you ask directly.

My key questions

When buying a young goat: How do you raise kids? When buying a mature doe: How does she behave on the milk stand? What is your milking protocol? What is your biosecurity protocol? When was your herd last tested for CAE, CL, Johnes? For Nigerian Dwarf: Are you aware of any carpal hyperextension in this line? If they don’t have milk test numbers and say that the goat or the goat’s dam is a heavy milker ask for specific such as, how much milk does she produce in a single milking? Why are you rehoming this particular goat? What is the thing that makes this goat unique in your herd? Does this goat have any scurs? How are their feet currently? Any issues? Have they had any issues in the past? Have you had any parasite issues with this particular goat compared to the rest of your herd? For wethers: When was he banded?

What other questions do you ask?

The important thing is to have answers to questions that are important to you and your herd management. For example if a doe kid is a bit wild isn’t an issue for me because I find once they are shown or even just milked for a few weeks after kidding they settle right down. A wild buck however is a different story, because my bucks will never get handled as much as the does.

If you ever have questions about any of my goats, just reach out.