How to Raise a Market Goat

The industry of raising market goats is on the rise in the U.S. as the human population brings in more ethnic diversity. Worldwide, approximately 63 percent of all red meat consumed comes from goats, and the demand for their meat has grown over time, especially during religious or ethnic holidays when goat meat holds special significance. For the farm owner or entrepreneur, raising market goats holds plenty of profit potential because of the long-term security of the industry and the low maintenance needs of many market goat breeds.

Things You'll Need

  • Pasture or land for grazing
  • Building for housing goat
  • Electric fencing
  • Working chute
  • Pens
  • Buckets for food, water, and mineral supplement
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Instructions

    • 1

      Allocate a land resource for raising goats before purchasing any animals. Due to their digestive system, goats require pasture for foraging and need the fiber from brush roughage. One acre of pasture will support two to four goats if the grazing is poor, but healthy pasture will maintain six to eight goats.

    • 2

      Commit to the project and be realistic as to whether you can check on the goats at least twice a day without exception. Also consider the cost of purchasing goats, feeding them, housing them, and potentially paying for labor to help care for them. Keeping goats also requires observation of the animals to understand normal behavior for your herd, which makes it easier to spot a sick animal.

    • 3

      Build some sort of building to house the goats in cold weather on your property, or convert an existing building for the purpose. Dairy barns and outbuildings make good shelter for a herd, but each goat requires 20 square feet of space. For a full-time market goat herd, most farmers own about 50 goats, so the goat barn will need to have quite a bit of square foot space for a full herd.

    • 4

      Install high-tensile electric fencing around the pasture area. This type of fence takes the least amount of time and money to install and effectively keeps the goat herd on the farm.

    • 5

      Purchase a working chute and build smaller-size pens for the goats. The smaller pens provide a compact location to retain goats before leading them into the working chute for ear tagging, branding, hoof trimming, vaccinations, etc. Pens also make it easier to sort the herd.

    • 6

      Install feeding troughs or buckets and provide constant access to clean water. Throwing food out on the ground for goats to eat is unsanitary, imprecise, and wasteful.

    • 7

      Obtain goats for a herd if needed, but only healthy goats from healthy herds. When starting out, it is advisable to buy only cheap goats instead of the most expensive breeding stock animals. Check each purchased goat physically for a healthy appearance including clean eyes, nose, and rump. For each new goat introduced from a different herd, quarantine the goat for four weeks and monitor it for any diseases before exposing the whole herd to the new goat. Also consider buying goats from proven and profitable market breeds such as Boer goats, Kiko goats, and fainting goats.

    • 8

      Feed your goats the foraging from the pasture and grains in their feed buckets. The grains are known as feedlot ration, and goats unaccustomed to eating grains should be introduced to the feed slowly. Commonly they are fed corn, oats, wheat, and barley, with only 2 percent wheat for better digestion and 14 percent to 18 percent protein for market goats. Put protein in the feedlot ration such as soybean meal, roasted soybeans, or cottonseed. Provide the goats with at least 1 foot of feeder space each. Also include a mineral feeder filled with mineral mix designed especially for goats, as this will give your animals many needed nutrients.

    • 9

      Provide clean, fresh water at all times. Periodically clean the feeding and watering buckets; once every week to 10 days is sufficient.

    • 10

      Arrange medical care for the goats including regular vaccinations, hoof trimming, and internal and external parasite control. This aspect of goat care is done in consultation with a veterinarian.

    • 11

      Seek a market for your goats. Many ethnic markets or restaurants catering to an ethnic clientele directly buy from goat farmers. Other buyers include sale barns, processing plants, MarketMaker, Farm Direct, and buying stations. You can also sell breeding goats to other market goat producers and breed organizations. Lastly, breeding stock goats can also be sold as show goats to groups such as 4H or FFA.