05/28/2026
I have been preaching this for a some time now! When your goat kids, your not just selling the kids your goat or other live stock gave birth too. There's SO much behind the scenes that go into the price factor. Especially when your doe is pregnant during winter months, theres no foraging, your spending almost triple on feed to get her thru. Plus if you're like us we're on well water that has high arsenic, which means I'm BUYING water weekly if not daily for them to have. Farming and having livestock is a full time job, that takes a lot of time and money to run functionally. So no, I won't be selling my kids for $75.
Please don’t offer a lower price when purchasing goats from breeders. A lot of thought and effort go into pricing and a lot of time and effort go into raising goats.
PS: I am only charging $100 for wethers right now 🤪
ChatGPT estimates for dam raised and bottle kids:
🌼Nigerian Dwarf goat doe raising twin kids — estimated total cost from breeding through weaning (including feed, housing, labor, and medical costs):
Breeding:
* Stud fee or buck upkeep allocation: $50–100
* Extra feed during breeding: $5–10
Pregnancy (5 months):
* Hay: about $50
* Grain during last trimester: $10–15
* Minerals, loose salt, baking soda: $10–15
Lactation & raising twins:
* Hay: about $45
* Dairy grain: $35–40
* Kid feed/hay creep consumption: $10–20
* Vaccines/coccidia prevention: $20–40
Housing & bedding:
* Straw/shavings: $40–100
* Barn, fencing, feeders, waterers, electric, equipment wear allocation: $75–250
Medical:
* Routine deworming, vaccines, supplements: $35–90
* Average emergency/illness reserve (mastitis, coccidia, pneumonia, dystocia, etc.): $50–300
Labor:
* Feeding, watering, cleaning, kidding checks, hoof care, health monitoring, bottle help if needed
* Estimated 40–70 hours total from breeding through weaning
* At $15/hour: $600–1,050
Estimated TOTAL true cost from breeding through weaning twins:
$1,035–2,125 total
($520–1,060 per kid)
🌸Nigerian Dwarf goat doe with twin kids pulled at birth and bottle raised — estimated total cost from breeding through weaning (including feed, milk feeding, milking twice daily, housing, labor, and medical costs):
Breeding:
* Stud fee or buck upkeep allocation: $50–100
* Extra feed during breeding season: $5–10
Pregnancy (5 months):
* Hay: about $50
* Grain during last trimester: $10–15
* Minerals, loose salt, baking soda: $10–15
Kidding & lactation:
* Increased grain for milking doe twice daily: $50–70
* Lactation hay increase: $55–65
* Milking supplies (filters, teat dip, sanitizer, towels, bottles/ni***es): $25–75
Bottle feeding twins:
* Kids consume roughly 35–50 gallons total milk before weaning
* If feeding doe milk, feed cost already covered through increased lactation feed
* Starter grain/hay for kids: $20–40
* Electrolytes, bottles, ni***es, cleaning supplies: $15–40
Housing & bedding:
* Kidding pen bedding: $15–30
* Kid pen bedding/heating/electric allocation: $40–120
* Barn/fencing/equipment depreciation allocation: $75–250
Medical & prevention:
* CD&T vaccines: $10–20
* Coccidia prevention/treatment: $15–40
* Deworming/supplements: $10–30
* Average illness/emergency reserve (scours, pneumonia, mastitis, etc.): $75–350
Labor:
* Feeding/watering/cleaning doe: included
* Milking twice daily: ~10–20 min/day for ~75 days
* Bottle feeding 2–3x daily, washing bottles, kid care, health checks: substantial additional time
* Estimated total labor: 70–120 hours from breeding through weaning
* At $15/hour: $1,050–1,800
Estimated TOTAL true cost from breeding through weaning bottle-raised twins:
~$1,575–3,025 total
Approximate cost per kid:
~$790–1,515 per kid
