How much does a goat cost? The answer to this question depends on several things. For one thing, it depends on the breed of goat you want to buy and whether or not it’s registered with a governing body like the American Boer Goat Association — like if you are looking to buy a Boer goat, for example.
Another key factor to consider would be the age and size of the goat. What about how much do baby goats cost? The answer to this question will vastly differ. With all this in mind, let’s take a quick look at some goat prices and the factors that affect them.
How Much Does a Goat Cost?
The simple answer is, It depends. However, you can find a goat for as little as $20 or as much as $1,000 or more. The most expensive goat to have ever been sold is known as Marrakesh in Australia. It fetched an astounding $21,000, and the buyer described it as a very stylish buck.
As you can see, the prices vary wildly, and it almost always comes down to an agreement between the buyer and the seller. That being said, let’s take a look at some approximations so that you have a rough idea of how much you can expect to spend on each goat if you intend to start raising goats.
One of the best ways to go about this is to look at them per category or breed.
How Much Do Baby Goats Cost?
Even though the price of baby goats tends to depend on the goat breed in question, it’s safe to say that they generally cost much less than adult goats. It’s not uncommon to find baby goats for sale for about $20.
How much you pay for baby goats will also depend on the gender. Female baby goats (kids) typically cost more than the males.
You should also contact anyone local to you who raises goats. Depending on the size of their farm, you may get a good deal on their baby goats.
How Much Do Miniature Goats Cost?
Contrary to common belief, miniature goats such as Pygmy goats or the Nigerian Dwarf goat aren’t as cheap as you would expect. According to the Oklahoma Sheep and Goat Directory, you can expect to pay up to $500 for one of these miniature goats.
That’s about as much as a full-sized goat would cost in some markets. Miniature goats and myotonic goats (fainting goats) tend to go for the same price. You can expect to pay more than $500 for a registered goat.
How Much Do Diary Goats Cost?
If you are looking to raise goats specifically for milk production, you should look to buy dairy goats from professional goat breeders. It should be noted that you will be expected to pay a bit more for your goats when dealing with professional breeders, but it shouldn’t be much more than $1,000 for a single goat.
As mentioned, purebred goats will cost you a bit more. As such, if you are looking to buy a registered Nubian goat, you should expect to pay around $250 for a kid about a week old. Breeding-age does, and male goats go for around $500 to $1,000.
One of the main reasons it’s a bit costlier to deal with professional breeders is that they only focus on and sell animals that will give you the best goat milk yield from minimal goat feed. They only sell healthy goats.
If you want a reliable milk goat and aren’t interested in show animals, then an unregistered female goat from a dairy breed such as Nubian goats can go for as little as $100. The best way to find such deals is to tour the local farms and talk to different goat owners. You might even get a doe in milk for as little as $300.
How Much Do Meat Goats Cost?
Goats such as Savanna and Boer goats are bred primarily for their meat and for commercial purposes. Suffice it to say, a purebred meat goat is a highly-priced animal with good reason.
Not only do the bucks grow large and produce a great deal of goat meat, but they also tend to fetch a good market price as soon as they hit the desired weight. Female meat goats also tend to have year-round heat cycles, meaning they can multiply quickly.
These factors make meat goat farming a lucrative venture. You can expect to pay approximately $600 for a high-quality registered Boer doe and around $1,200 for a buck with excellent breeding and even better meat production.
Of course, other goat breeds are not exactly meat goats, pet goats, or milking goats but double up as all of the above rolled into one. These breeds include the Alpine goat, which is often bred because they are hardy, produce a reasonable amount of meat and milk, and can reproduce well.
In many cases, these goats are a farmer’s dream come true, especially if you aren’t looking for purebreds. Alpine goats and others like it are a bit cheaper than the other options mentioned here. You can expect to pay around $250 for a good-sized goat.
Factors Affecting Goat Prices
As you can tell by now, a few key factors will come into play as far as goat prices are concerned. Here are some factors you need to pay close attention to when buying a goat.
The Size of the Goat
Even though goats don’t require too much care—they aren’t very fussy and can forage for their food—buying a fully grown goat will often be more expensive than buying a baby goat.
There are several reasons for this, and one of the main reasons is that the farmer will expect compensation for their efforts. Caring for a goat until it’s fully grown requires one to spend a bit of money on things such as feed, veterinary care, and housing.
There are other factors, such as the amount of manual labor required to care for the goat, especially when it comes to learning how to trim goat hooves. Another factor to consider when it comes to buying a goat by size is that if you buy a fully mature meat goat or dairy goat, you will immediately enjoy the benefits of owning such an animal.
You can start milking it or fattening it for the market instantly. Whereas if you bought the goat as a baby, you would have to incur the costs of raising it to a mature age.
Registered and Unregistered Goats
As a new goat farmer, there’s a good chance you won’t be able to tell a purebred goat from a mixed-breed goat. Anyone can say they are selling a purebred goat, but the only way to prove it is if they have registry papers showing that specific goat’s lineage. That’s one of the main reasons why registered purebred goats cost more than unregistered goats.
Registered purebred goats come from a single breed instead of two separate breeds. They are often a bit more expensive than unregistered goats. Ironically, mixed-breed goats tend to be hardier than most purebred goats, which makes them easier to care for and raise.
The biggest difference comes when you start considering their productivity. Purebred dairy goats, for example, will offer better milk production than mixed-breed goats.
The Sex of the Goat
Typically, female goats (does or nanny goats) tend to cost more than male goats (bucks, billy goats) because they can produce more goats. For this reason, there tend to be fewer female goats for sale because most farmers like to keep the best does on their farms. That scarcity creates an increased demand and, with that, an increase in price.
Male goats, on the other hand, tend to cost less than female goats for two main reasons:
- Farmers only ever need one or two intact male goats on the farm for breeding purposes
- There are more male goats available on the market
This is true unless you are buying goats for meat production, in which case a mature male goat tends to be more expensive because it can produce more meat.
How Much is a Goat
As a farmer looking to raise goats, these are some factors you must consider when buying your goats. How much does a goat cost? As you can see, it all depends on the breed, the size, the sex, age, and where you buy it from (professional breeder or farmer). Either way, you can expect to pay anything from $20 to well over $1,000 for your goats. You might even get one for free if you go to a shelter.
If you plan to breed goats on your small farm or homestead and raise them for milk or meat (instead of a pet), it’s best to start with registered goats to ensure the healthiest bloodline possible.
If you are considering raising livestock on your small farm or homestead, it’s important to consider your property, setup, time and budget.