Starting a small "meat" goat farm in Michigan - What are the requirements?

Question

I am interested in starting a small goat farm in Michigan. I would like to take the goats to livestock aucions for sale - for meat.

What would I need to do to be legally set up? Licesenses?? Certifications?? Inspections?

I'm new to this - so a "walk thru" would be appreciated. Basically, it would be a small hobby farm that might turn a dollar or two .. maybe lol

Answer 1

I answered your other question about where stock is sold.  

This question is easy...I don't think you have much livestock experience, so DON'T do it!  

You will loose your shirt.

Maybe somebody told you meat goats are a quick and easy way to make some money?  They lied.

I've been raising meat goats since 1999...SUCESSFULLY.

I am a commercial breeder, I raise ONLY for the meat market.  I do not sell overpriced show goats.

First, you need land with browse.  Not grazing land, browsing land.  Goats browse.  Sheep, cattle, horses graze.

Now that you have your land with lots of nice bushes for the goats to browse on, start fencing.   Fence with woven wire, backed with three strand of electric.

This is to keep the goats from pushing their heads through, and getting them stuck in the woven wire, and to keep them from rubbing on the woven wire.  The electric also helps keep some predators out.

Next build shelters.  Goats need three sided shelters to keep the worst of the winter wind off, and so they can escape the summer sun.  Mind the direction you build your shelters, so the winter wind is not blowing strait in.  Goats are highly suceptable to pnuemonia, so do not build fully enclosed shelters.

Now track down a Vetrinarian, with Caprine experience, who will actually treat your goats.  Many Vet's refuse to treat goats at all.  You also need to make sure your Vet will treat them (and charge you) like they are livestock, and not family pets.

Now buy your water troughs, hoses, and stock tank heaters, to keep the troughs defrosted in the winter.

Now look at the area your goats will live.  Are there deer, bear, coyote, stray dogs, bobcats, or cougars in the area?  

If you answered yes to any of the above, you need LGD's (livestock guardian dogs) like Great Pyrenees.  Two dogs work better than one.  Line up the dogs, but do not buy them yet.

Why do you need to keep deer out?  Because of meninginial worms.  The deer carry them, and they will kill your goats (deer also carry other diseases).

Notice you have had to do all of this, BEFORE buying a single goat?  

Time to go goat shoping.  First, your buck.  He's 1/2 your herd.  For a commercial meat herd, you will spend $300-$500 for a good quality buck.  Check t******l size...a sign of fertility, make sure no lumps..yes this means you have to handle his testicals.  Check his teeth, and make sure he's not too old.  Registration papers are worthless for a commercial herd....registration, points and enoblements gain you not one penny more at the sale barn.  Make sure the buck has a good muscular body, which carries flesh, on both the rump, and the shoulders.  Make sure the buck has EXCELENT feet.  Foot quality is very much passed on to the young.  You do NOT want a buck which needs his feet trimmed frequently, nor for him to be passing that trait onto his daughters.  Your buck should be a purebred meat type buck, like a Boer, or a Kiko.  Temperment is a big factor.  Bucks should not be overly agressive.  I've met some dangerous physco bucks.

Now for does, unrelated to your buck.  I reccomend you buy does who have already had kids and RAISED THEM.  My personal favorites are the does who are half dairy breed, half Boer.  The kids grow quickly, and the mothers have plenty of milk for the young.  Look at her teats.  Does she have two sound teats, and no lumps in her udder?  Some does have teats far too large for the kids to nurse from.  Don't buy her.  Check her teeth, and make sure she's not a broken mouth (missing teeth).  She too should have good quality hooves.  Pass up does who are overly agressive.  They will be nothing but trouble.  Pass up does who are escape artist.  

Are you going to run your buck 24/7 with the does?  I do on my farm.  Your buck will be more mellow then, but kidding seasons become somewhat unpredictable.  If you want to know for sure when your kids will be born, you must sepparate the buck.  Basically, you cannot build a pen that is too stout.  I've watched agressive phyco bucks tearing appart pens built with 6X6 lumber.

Bucks stink.  Do not build his pen close to your house, or your neighbors.  They urinate on themselves, especially their beard, and the back of their front legs.  They have a very long p***s, and also urinate into their mouths, and comb it through their fur.  Does love the smell.

Now that you have your goats, bring your LGD's home if you are going to need them.  I hope your goats have been around dogs before....otherwise it's going to be very wild for you!

Research your local sale barns.  Find out which ones run meat goats through.  Do NOT take your goats to just any salebarn.  You will be very, very sorry to see your prime kids sell for $5 each at a salebarn that usually has only cattle.

To make a profit on the meat goats, you need to have three kiddings in two years.  Goats are pregnant for 5 months of the year.  This means you will be having a winter kidding.  The kids born in winter grow much faster, but you will have more losses due to pnuemonia, and freezing weather.

You will need to research what minerals are right for your area.  I"ve raise meat goats in WA & ID, so cannot adivse you.  You also need to be on a worming program correct for your area.  Again, because of where I live, I cannot advise you.  Find another SUCESSFUL goat breeder in your area, and get advice.  You should talk to a commercial breeder, not a show breeder.  What medication is poured into show goats is very different.

If you end up with a rejected baby goat, and have to bottle raise it, buy the goat kid replacer.  They will die on the lamb replacer.  Goats REQUIRE copper in their diet.  Sheep are sensative to copper and it will kill them.  By the way, make sure the minerals you are buying are for goats, and not sheep & goats.  Those will not contain copper, and within a year, your adult goats will be suffering with poor kidding results to show for it.

Join this online group:

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Co...

It is the best one for what you want to do.

You need to research the laws of your state.  Does your state enforce the NAIS?  I believe it does.  The NAIS is a form of Big Brother....you will hate it, and rightly so.  It's going to cost you money, and cut into your profits.  Don't buy into the B.S. that it makes our nations food supply safer...it does not.  

Oh, by the way, cobalt is another important mineral for goats that very few people seem to know about.  I have bright blue cobalt blocks for my goats.  Kid size and health improved immediatly.

I sell all of my goats directly off farm.  My customers come to me, and butcher here on my farm.  This is totally legal in Idaho.  In North Carolina, not only is this illegal, but it is also illegal to sell an animal to someone and for them to take it to their house and butcher it at their own home.  You will need to research your states laws, to find out exaclty what you can and cannot do.  

Pay attention to the Muslim holidays, and try to have kids ready around then.  That's when your best sales will be.  Ramadan starts in two days (Wendensday).  It lasts for thirty days.  They have a big feast when it ends.  Ramadan is based on the cycles of the moon, so changes every year.

I think I've given you more than enough to think about.  If you have specific question, email me, and I will answer.  Raising goats is not cheap, and not a quick way to turn a buck.  

~Garnet

Homesteading/Farming over 20 years

Raising meat goats since 1999...SUCESSFULLY.