Meat Goats

Triangle Farms has diversified to many different enterprises due to the circumstances it has encountered over the years. A lot of our farm has acreage that is untellable. For many years this acreage was used for grazing cattle. We could not see where raising cattle would be a profitable enterprise so we sold the cattle and planted most of the untellable acres back into Douglas fir for timber. When we did this we had a lot of brush start growing in areas. We decided to try raising goats to help control the brush. This has worked well but has to be managed properly to prevent damage to our tree plantations. As our goat herd increased so did the demand for goats for meat. While we could not sell all of the cattle.

We offer full blood Boer Goats papered and un-papered depending on your needs. We offer males and females of all ages. If you have an interest in crossbred Boer's we offer females and limited males. Due to the high demand we have for theses animals we are always taking orders ahead. We also offer weathers for meat or brush control.

Prices on our goats vary depending on quantity and the animal. Prices start at $2.00 per pound for wethers and up.

Call and come by to see what we have to offer. Having over 800 head of goats offers a lot of selection!

Pros and Cons of Raising Meat Goats

After raising goats in the Northwest for several years I have found that they require at least three times the amount of management that cattle require.

Meat Goats have less tolerance of parasites and normally require treatment every few months.

Coccideousas can be one of the leading causes of heavy losses if left untreated and seems to show up at any time. There are infections and diseases that can come out of nowhere and some with no preventions. Some infections such as soremouth are best left to run its course.

Feet must be cared for every few months in the winter months due to wet soils that are soft that don't keep their hooves wore down. Feet not trimmed invite foot rot, poor posture and lameness when not corrected.

Keeping predators out is a challenge in itself. We uses guard dogs to help control our losses. Last year we had a stray dog come in and kill 30-40 goats before we caught him after months of losses. We had four guard dogs with the herd. We saw the dog several times while the goats were close to home but he did not seem to pose as a threat except eat the food out of the dog feeders. When the goats were moved away from the barn he started killing. The guard dogs would not touch him. This animal was almost twice the size of our largest dog. After a couple of months of killing we were able to remove him, after we saw him physically kill animals.

Coyotes, stray dogs, cougars, bobcats, bears and large raccoons also like to eat goats, especially kids. With these predators we have had very good luck in the past several years preventing or reducing losses from predation. The major problem with guard dogs is that they will track and go after predators that come into their area. The second problem is they dig under barbwire fencing or jump over a five-foot fence, which I have seen them do when they want to move

We have found best is to use 49" woven with 12" or 4" stays with two strands of four point barb on top and one strand of four point barb wire on the ground tight. If you can use electric put one strand off set about 12" fro the bottom. This keeps the dogs from digging out and the goats from following when the hole gets big enough. New Zealand fencing I'm sure would work well if it is electric. Due to the fire danger and remoteness we use woven wire in most of our pastures. Woven is less annual maintenance from what we have found, but higher cost to install. Make sure you get 12" or 4" stays on your woven fencing unless you remove the horns on your goats or they will get caught and hang themselves in between the stays. This type of fencing we use cost around $3 per lineal foot depending on the terrain but I have found it requires the least maintenance over the years.

Our fences used for summer pasture normally last 20 to 30 years, but when used in high-pressure areas where wintering over livestock lasts 12-15 years.

We have found that feeding with good alfalfa and some mixed rolled grain, if trying to add weight, works best in the wintertime when trying to cut the cost of feeding. The pay off with goats comes in the spring with the eating habits they have.

We have found that they can make most overgrown weed patches look like a park in a few years. They love eating a lot of the evasive plants such as thistle heads, tansy, blackberries, nettles, trim trees up, etc. and are constantly moving.

Goats work very well with cattle since goats are browsers and cattle are grazers. Goats work well in environmental sensitive areas due to their size and eating habits. They normally sleep in large groups but cover a lot of ground while browsing during the day.

It is important to make sure they have all the salt and minerals they need or they can cause damage to desirable trees by removing bark. In some cases, this will not even prevent girdling on trees depending on the size of trees.

In our area we have found that breeding goats in late November into December and kidding late April thru May works best for us with the least amount of intervention. We prefer to not have to micro manage at kidding time and utilize open spaces with plenty of natural feed seems to work the best. Using this program we kid around 110% once a year. We have had the best success with this program.

We started our large herd of goats using Spanish Cashmere Does with Boer Bucks over the last four years. This spring we had our first Kiko cross kids. The Boer bloodlines have helped get larger framed and better dress percentage carcass for meat but we have found they are not as aggressive and lack stamina when first born.

The Spanish cross goats are not tame and act more like deer. Animals that have less human contact work best for brush control because they tend to prefer browsing over being fed hay and grain and do not seek human attention.

We also have a small herd of Fancy Full Blood Boars that we use for breeding stock and keep close to home. They are very nice animals with good dispositions but are not near as aggressive in brush control. We however force them to browse for food during the growing season. These animals are suited well for show animals and breeding stock and would make good starter herds or 4-H projects.

When we started raising goats our goal was to reduce using pesticides for brush control. Which as been very successful over the last few years. Selling the wethers for meat has worked well to help pay part of the winter feed bill.

We normally sell wethers weighing
30 pounds and under for $2.00 per pound
31-50 pounds for $1.75 per pound
51-100 pounds for $1.50 per pound
Over 100 pounds for $1.00 per pound
Prices are subject to change without notice
(The prices listed are from 2006-2007)

In the past we have kept our goats at home cleaning brush on our own property and building our herd size due to the large area we have. We are considering leasing our herds out for weed and fire control. If you have interest in this environmental alternative to pesticides please give us a call or contact us and we can consult you on options. Depending on the area, size and fencing will affect the cost for this practice. Timing when working with native forbs to kept must be also considered when using this practice. Remember that using goats for weed control is a simple theory that can be done two other ways one is pesticides and the other is mowing. Constant mowing will have a lot of the same effect as grazing without the selection.

Using goats to control weeds works well but it takes several years to get weeds under control and still requires maintenance or a change of plantings to prevent reinfestations. For example, we are using the goats to clean bottom branches on timber trees, tansy, stinging nettles, blackberries and many others in ten-year-old doug fir plantings. This works well but has to be managed properly so they do not girdle the bark on young doug fir trees. So far we have done this with minimal damage while helping control a lot of evasive species. There is also an added value, a high value-fertilizer. These pellets are virtually weed free and very high in nutrients that help the trees and are a natural product.

Goats can be a profitable venture but can take many years of investment in order to become profitable. In order for this to be accomplished takes intense management and marketing.