Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Cost of Raising Goats - What You Need To Know Before You Spent Any Money

By Ted Allen


One cannot just venture into a business without studying the requirements or cost it entails. Sometimes even a feasibility study is to be carried out in order to determine the practicality of the business. This article will discuss the financial implications or cost of raising goats.

The first thing do is to classify the costs into categories. The major categories are the costs for animals, feed supplements, health, transportation, land, labor, transportation, selling, administration and other miscellaneous costs. Animal costs could be further subdivided into costs for acquiring the doe, buck and the breeding fees. Feeding price involve costs for hay, grain and vitamins. Currently, the cost of raising goats is just cheap compared to other livestock. For feeding, alfalfa hay costs 9 to 12 dollars per bale. Grain is priced at 9 dollars per bag of 50 pounds.Dairy goats can be purchased between 100 to 300 dollars while 150 to 350 for a Pygmy goat.

The cost for land and shelter include on yearly tax, cost for leasing, fertilization, fencing and guard animals. Health costs include vaccinations, medicine, and other medical supplies. Anti-worming medicines cost about 8 to 15 dollars per doses of 10 to 20.Tetanus vaccines cost 2 dollars per vial and this is good for three kids already. The labor price of raising goats should also be considered especially if work involved is tedious. Transportation costs involve the costs incurred in travels for sales, shows, feed stores and symposiums. Also include the meal costs associated with these travels.

Administration fees comprise of the association fees, magazine and newspaper subscriptions, and software. Selling costs are incurred from advertisements, signs and business cards. Other miscellaneous costs include feed buckets, racks and other equipments and supplies.A common supply like the collar currently costs about 6 dollars. Hoof trimmers are priced at least 14 dollars while milking buckets cost 20 to 30 dollars.

Once the above costs have estimates, the next step is to lay them out in a spread sheet and a subtotal per category. A pie chart could be drawn to have a helicopter view of the cost of raising goats. An action plan can then be devised for the reduction of fees. Larger pies could be distinguished and alternatives to make them smaller could be considered. After having run the business for a year, the estimated money of raising goats can be revisited and compared with the actual costs incurred during the year.




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