Delta Childrens Products 7183 Assembly Manual page 25

also be bought at livestock sales. Look for kids
from producers who have sold goats to other
successful 4-H'ers. Try to buy kids from someone
who can show you good records of the vaccina­
tions, medications, and dewormers the goats
have had before you buy them.
Farmers who feed and sell goats for a living
need to get more money when they sell their
goats than it costs to raise them to market weight,
or they will lose money. If you pay too much for
your goat kid or spend too much to feed and care
for it, and do not get a high enough price when
you sell it, you will lose money, too.
Before you purchase a goat kid, you need to
fill out a budget for your entire project. A sample
budget can be found on page 22. To decide how
much you can afford to spend on a goat kid, first
estimate what it will be worth when you will sell
Left: heavily muscled goat kid. Right: lightly muscled goat kid.
it. Subtract what you think it will cost to pay for
feed (see "How much will my goat eat?" to
estimate how much feed will be required), veteri­
nary care, supplies, transportation, bedding,
marketing costs, entry fees, interest on borrowed
money, and other costs. After subtracting these
projected expenses, you'll know how much you
can afford to pay for your goat kid.
Goats sold at 4-H auctions, especially cham­
pions, often sell for more money than goats sold
at local sale barns. Most 4-H goats will not be
champions, so don't expect a grand champion
price when you make your plans for the year.
Real-world prices for goats change from day to
day, so it's a good idea to follow market reports
in farm newspapers to find out what finished
goats are worth. New Holland, Pennsylvania,
goat market news can be found on the Internet at
Selecting Project Animals 23