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Boer Goats Catching On Fast
"My brother started raising Boer goats two years ago and had his first crop of kids last year," says Gary Hauck, Bodo, Alberta. "Prices for two-month old does and bucks were fantastic - about $15,000 to $18,000 (U.S.) Prices have dropped a little now be-cause numbers are increasing slightly. But my brother did so well
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Boer Goats Catching On Fast LIVESTOCK Sheep/Goats 19-6-28 "My brother started raising Boer goats two years ago and had his first crop of kids last year," says Gary Hauck, Bodo, Alberta. "Prices for two-month old does and bucks were fantastic - about $15,000 to $18,000 (U.S.) Prices have dropped a little now be-cause numbers are increasing slightly. But my brother did so well we decided to get into raising them ourselves.
"Until last spring, there were only about 200 purebred Boer goats in Canada and about 600 in the U.S. because import from their native South Africa was restricted." Hauck says. "At the same time, Canada imports 2 million lbs. of goat meat a year from Australia, New Zealand and Europe every year. One U.S. plant needs 17,000 goat carcasses a week to supply its portion of the U.S. meat market. So demand is large and supply is still small."
With a herd grown to 27 does and 23 bucks, Hauck's learning a lot about the animals.
For example, they're very easy to raise, requiring only general herd maintenance such as vaccinations, he says.
Adult male Boers go as high as 370 lbs. and females 235 lbs., even when raised on pasture. "They clean up brush but leave most of the grass so they fit in well with cattle operations," he says. "You can raise about 10 does their kids and their kids on about the same amount of grass and grain you can raise one cow-calf pair on.
"The goats have a very gentle disposition and are easier to handle than cattle.My children tend them," he says.
As for reproducing, the goats are very prolific, Hauck adds. "Two kids is normal and three is common," he says. "You can sell them for breeding stock anytime after they're weaned at two months and reach 50 lbs. Kids born in the spring will breed in the fall."
Because of their size, commercial goat producers like to crossbreed their stock with Boers to produce larger offspring, he adds.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gary and Tilly Hauck, Box 33, Bodo, Alberta, Canada TOB OMO (ph 403 753-6619).
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