Buying a goat isn’t rocket science, but there are a few things to keep in mind, the big question being: Why are you getting the goat?

Are you looking for a pet? Do you plan to show goats? Do you want to milk and make cheese? Do you want to butcher for meat,or are you looking for a combination milk and meat goat?
 
If you’re looking for a pet, check your local paper, Craigslist and the bulletin boards at pet and feed stores. Some people buy a goat or two and then learn they don’t want to spend half their life building taller and stronger fences and having the dings buffed out of their car hood, so they sell their goats to someone else.

If you seek a pet, you want to buy a wether (a castrated buck) or a doe. If you happen upon a young buck, you can have it wethered by a vet or the farmer you’re buying from. Read this to learn why you do not want an intact buck as a pet.
 
Small goat farmers cull (thin) their herds based upon their breeding priorities. If a dairy farmer is focusing on does with high milk production, bucklings and excess doelings will be sold either as bottle babies or after they’ve been weaned.

Don’t buy a bottle baby unless you know how to bottle feed. It’s one thing to want to build the emotional bond with a baby that you hand fed, it’s another to have one die because you weren’t prepared to bottle feed every hour or so.
 
Meat goats are sold if a particular line doesn’t run as heavy as another breeding line or the farmer just has too many. Buying from a small farmer is a good way to pick up goat stock at decent prices and most goat tenders are honest about what they’re selling and why.

If you’re looking for a “starter” goat, then high milk production, number of kids thrown, coloring that meets registration standards, high weight or cross breeding may not be as important to you as personality and general health. Ask the seller how much the goat has been handled and about its disposition. What you don’t want is a wild goat with an attitude.

You can also buy goats at most fairs, local swap sales and so-called ‘fur and feather’ sales. Pricing generally is reasonable. The people selling will explain their reasoning for culling and most will talk your ear off in the process.
 
Prices for pet and starter goats range from $35 to $250 depending upon breed, farm, quality and general greed, but if you already have some goat experience or are aiming for a particular standard in your herd, read further.
 
Goats can be found at reasonable prices at livestock sale/auctions, though most of these sellers aren’t required to obtain or provide health information about their livestock so diseased animals often are culled through auction sales.

Naimhe Jeanne inadvertently purchased a wether infected with Johne’s at a sale barn a while back. The barn wasn’t required to give her medical information and the owner wasn’t upfront about selling a sick goat. You don’t want this to happen to you. If you know what you’re looking at, try a sale/auction barn. If not, look elsewhere.
 
The experienced goat buyer with specific needs, or someone looking to show goats, seeks breeders of top-of-the-line registered goats. The prices are much higher but you’ll know the lineage of your goat for at least three generations back including milk production, kidding averages and other such things.

You can expect to pay $250-2500 for a goat from a breeder. Know what you want and only buy what you want. It’s too big of an investment to find afterward that you didn’t get what you wanted. Ensure ahead of time that the goat is registered and the papers will be transferred to you. It’s heartbreaking to pay $500 plus for a goat only to have the previous owner not transfer documents so you can’t register it.

Reputable breeders will disclose all they know about a particular goat and its pedigree. If you talk to someone who hems and haws around, find someone else to talk to.
 
Just remember, whether you’re buying a pet or becoming a budding goat magnate, study what you need, take your time, have some fun and build tight fences.

— Naimhe Jeanne