Asking the Right Questions before Buying Goats

Part of the Raising Goats For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Although you probably are excited to buy goats and bring them home, taking some precautions to make sure that you get healthy goats is an important first step. After you have determined what kind of goats you want and how you intend to use them, you can eliminate goats from consideration by asking the following questions:

Are your goats registered? If so, with what registry?
What vaccinations do you give your goats?
Do you routinely test your goats for any diseases?
Are these goats negative for CAEV and CL?
Have you had any health problems in your herd, and if so, what were they?
Are your goats polled or disbudded?
Have you had any goats die from undiagnosed disease in the past few years? If so, what are the details?
Do you bottle-feed or dam–raise kids? Do you pasteurize the milk?
Have you had a history of abortion in your herd?
What is your feeding program?
What kinds of market weights do you get for your goats? (Meat)
How much fiber and what type do you get from your goats? (Fiber)
How much milk do you get from your goats? Are you on milk test?
Have you had any goats die from undiagnosed disease in the past few years? If so, what are the details?
Do you bottle-feed or dam–raise kids? Do you pasteurize the milk?
Have you had a history of abortion in your herd?
What is your feeding program?
If you’re buying goats to raise for meat: What kinds of market weights do you get for your goats?
If you’re buying goats for fiber: How much fiber and what type do you get from your goats?
If you’re buying dairy goats: How much milk do you get from your goats? Are you on milk test?