Miniature Goat prices do vary depending on available, Grade, height, age, colour, type, characteristics and sex.

Breeding Does are generally around $350 to $650.This will depend on the above.
Bucks can start at $650 and be priced up to $3,000 for one of Australia's top bucks. Average is $650 to $1500.

Be VERY wary of cheap stock. There is an old saying you get what you pay for. They also may not have the small genetics in their herd that are sought after. If something is cheap, there is a reason for it. Cheap bucks should especially never be purchased, there is no reason for a breeder to sell bucks of cheaply, small top animals are hard to find, top Australian Miniature genetics are even harder to obtain.
Ask what the breeder saw in the buck kid that warrants it being sold as a buck kid. If the answer is because mum and dad are small, NO that is not enough, if the colour's is good, NO, if they just like their temperament, NO. If multiple small genetics are right through the line, they have good conformation and have something to bring to your breeding program, then you could then consider paying your hard earned dollars and growing this animal out if you are serious about the breed.

Q.What should I look for when I am selecting stock?

Never select your breeding stock based on colour's or how nice the markings are or how "cute"the animal is, rather select for age, height, conformation and genetics. New buyers often make the mistake of purchasing a pretty coloured animal with genetics that really serve no purpose but looks nice in the paddock over a plainer doe that has everything they should be looking for in a top breeding doe that will bring in the genetics they need for the future MINIATURE breeding program of their stud. These white or cream animals will often have colour behind them and have a good chance of throwing coloured offspring when paired to colour. You will find that the reason for breeders selling them is that they have spent the years with quality breeding and locking the correct genetics in, but due to the years they have spent, they have multiple animals to choose from and most will let the lighter colour's go. When you are a new breeder, this can be a jackpot for you as you have not had to put in the years of breeding, do not have the stock to be selective over and really need the genetics. If you start with these animals in your herd you are working at the same level as the breeder that has put in 5,7,10 years.

It might take 5 to 10 years to breed down your heights, to introduce colour it might only take you 1 year (2 seasons) when you introduce a coloured buck.

Before you buy, look at health and the environment the particular animal has been kept in, make sure it has it been fed well and had the proper nutrition it needed to grow to its full potential. If you are buying from interstate, take a look at the breeders previous sales, word of mouth and even have a look at how much success they are having in their own breeding program. How long have they been breeding? What are they looking for in their own breeding stock? Why would they sell this animal? Is there something about this animal that is prompting them to sell it? Ask the breeder why they are selling him/her. If you select well right at the beginning of your breeding program you will be set right up through the grades. If you select for the wrong reasons you will continue up the grades with colour and cuteness but your goats may never make the higher grades as they grow too large to fit breed standard. This would require a breeder to start a new breeding program to flush out the larger genetics or stay at one level for many years while they go back and fix all the problems they have come across with their coloured mediocre goats.

Q.What about buying a buck?

While a doe can only breed a number of times a buck can sire hundreds of kids on your stud and really is what will make or break your breeding program and the quality of your herd.Your Buck may only be 50% of your herd Genetically but in my opinion they are everything to your breeding program. With Miniature Goats your selection for any buck you service to or buy is key to your success in Miniature Goat Breeding and what you sell on for the Miniature Goat breed for others to use and the difference between growing out stock for your own breeding that stays small and if you year after year get phone calls from previous buyers with bad news the stock they bought from you went over breed height and they want their money back or replacement stock. Reducing buck heights is one of the hardest and most challenging tasks breeders have to date.

"To be assured of having a breeding animal that will transmit the maximum of the good with the minimum of bad it is then necessary to select one that individually exhibits such an inheritance, and that has had no recent ancestors' from whom it might have received either active or dormant material to produce larger heights, The only practical method of directing heredity is to select for mating those animals that carry hereditary material of the desired potency and this can only be secured by the further selection of approved ancestors."

What you need to know is that Breeders often grow out multiple buck kids to see how they start to grow and mature as they age. They might then de sex most and continue to grow a smaller handful out that show further potential. Three years later, that same breeder may have kept one or even non from that season and begun raising more from further seasons.

As a new breeder to come into the breed and expect to buy ONE buck kid or young buckling no matter how great the genetics are and expect it to mature into a small, adult buck with top type, height and conformation that looks just like its Sire is not reality. I can not stress enough that in the Australian Miniature Goat, it is unlike most other breeds in Australia where you can get a male and a female of a breed and reproduce the breed. Mini Goats are NOT that simple. You can not put a male Mini goat to a female Mini Goat and get a Mini Goat, they need to be grown out to 3 years for final height. Does will generally stay under breed height but the bucks ( males) under breed height are rare as hens teeth. That percentage increases with the better genetics you choose in the beginning of your selection of stock to breed from. That is why adult Mini Goats are worth their weight in gold, especially the bucks.
If you want to be serious, you really need to decide if you are going to service to or buy an adult buck that has what you need with all the worry and heartache taken out of it, or if you want to breed/buy and raise 5 or so bucks on for 3 years, as that is really what you will need to do to get it right. A young animal can go many ways, the actual buck may grow larger than you expected for grade or even go over height and if you have used that animal over all your does this can create a large holdup in breeding up the grades or/and achieving your heights in future animals and if using young bucks by the time you find out, it is too late.

A very common mistake is to buy and use very young bucks that were offered for sale for a cheap price. This is an ok option if you do not want to breed the Australian Miniature Goat! Understand the risk involved and make sure if you do buy a young animal that you have chosen one based on good genetics so even if your young buck kid purchase gets that bit bigger as a 3 year old, with good genetics he will shoot the smaller genetics from his parents, grandparents's, great grandparents right through your herd so you are not wasting years of breeding and getting nowhere and with the good genetics every animal you produce from him is worth keeping.

We are still in the early production stage of the breed and in my estimation around 80 to 90% of bucks bred are still going over breed height of 63.5cm at 3 years of age. This means that if you are looking to buy a buck it can make it very tricky no matter who you buy from as those genetics of previous animals really take the control out of the breeders hands.

To prevent some of the heart ache if buying young buck/s look for a buck that has small stock that was height verified at 3 years of age ( not 2 years like the earlier breed standards required) in the generations sitting and lurking behind your purchase. . Fact is you are going to get throw backs constantly, and if you get throw backs what are going to get?? Exactly what is in your bucks genetic makeup!

If you have a small mum and a small dad that means nothing much for you as all the throw backs will come from generations further back in most cases. If you have a buck with 2, 3 ,4 ,5 generations ( 5 is a bit hard at this early stage of the breed) of Australia's smallest bucks and proven height reducers along with a lovely selection of 3 yr height verified small does, what you do get as throw backs is going to be a good thing and going to give you the best chance of throwing and continuing to produce and reduce heights with further careful selection and not continue to be disappointed when those genetics come sneaking in.

Did you know?......

At 3 years a Miniature Goat Buck is Graded and Height verified. You know exactly what height you are working with from him and if from good genetics what genetics he has inherited. He was specifically chosen from a selection of kids from a breeding season because of the potential he was showing. He has been bottle fed for 4 months, kept in a separate holding yard from breeding stock for 3 years, hand fed every day and handled to maintain his temperament so he would pass this down through generations of offspring. For three years he has been wormed, vaccinated, Deliced, Hooves have been trimmed and his height and conformation have been scrutinized to ensure he is suitable for breeding. He has been height verified,registration updates have been done and he more than likely is proven. (proven that he can produce offspring). He is now one of the few adult Miniature Goat bucks available for sale in Australia that actually stayed under height and if you put all the bucks grown out from all the breeders in Australia with many years experience in a year, he is worth every penny the breeder is asking for him.

Anything under 3 years is sold on potential only.

Q. Should I buy a buck kid as a potential stud buck?

If you have been breeding for 12 months or so, you have already paired your breeding does for a season or two to adult height verified bucks and have offspring on the ground from these pairings that you are keeping and feel confident you know enough about the lines in Australia, selection and conformation then this is the time you possibly can decided if you are happy to play that game of Russian roulette.

If you need to look outside for lines to improve your herd then take your time, do not rush in.

please read the above information about bucks in the last section.

Q. How young can my doe fall pregnant?

Q.What age will my Buck breed?

Q. What Age should I breed my doe for the first time?

First time joining of a Buck to a doe should be done only when the doe is of mature age, this commonly is said to be 12 months. With Miniature Goats the breeder may need to wait a further 6 to 12 months if the doe is very small and would not be able to carry and deliver a full term kid to prevent the doe requiring a caesarian section or dying while giving birth as well as putting the unborn kid and mum at risk.

There is a fine line with Mini Goats as a downside of waiting too long, for example until the doe was over 2 and half years of age is that older first time kidding does often have hormonal and physical problems. The hormones estrogen and relaxin are needed to relax the pelvis for delivery as well as surrounding ligaments. As a doe ages the pubic area is rigid and her pelvis becomes inflexible. It is beneficial for a smooth birth to allow a doe to kid before physical maturity and again each year than waiting too long and end up with a doe that has hormonal instability with an inflexibly pelvis.

Q. How often will a goat come into season?

Q. How long is a goat in season for?

Q. How will I know my does is in season?

Some does will show obvious signs of being is season while other does can show no signs and you might not be able to tell, each doe is different from season to season. Some Bucks may rub up against a doe repeatedly,or chase a doe around a paddock wagging his tongue and making noises. This is also a good indication that there is something going on. The main sign from a doe is Flagging or tail wagging around a buck.

Other signs may include:

Rubbing herself against a fence near a buck she is separated from or rubbing against a buck if they are in the same paddock.

She may mount other does or let them mount her.
Her vulva may become swollen
Discharge from her vulva that can often be seen stuck to the hairs of the underside of her tail.
She may become more vocal than normal.

She may change personality.

Q. How can I tell if my doe is in kid?

You can have an ultrasound at a Veterinary practice but this can be very costly. There are some home ultrasounds on the market, one I have personally owned that goes by sound waves that I found to be inconsistent.

Physical signs are usually shown around 3 months along. The most common signs are a swollen Vulva and a "pouch" that can be felt by cupping the area around the teats, it will feel like a large muscle but is actually the udder forming. Does may even change personality. As the pregnancy becomes further along the symptoms above become more obvious.

Q. How long is a goat pregnant ( in kid) for?

It is counted from the day of the breeding to the day the kids are delivered. Kids born at 145 – 153 days are usually quite healthy. Babies born at 139 to144 days of gestation will be weaker and kids born before 139 days are not likely to survive.

If you have a premature kid it will need instant warmth to survive and if left with their mother will more than likely die.

We take the kid from the mother as soon as possible and use a heating method to keep body temperature as comfortably warm as possible ( box near fireplace, heat pad and jumper etc) Milk the doe and collect the colostrum each day for 3 days and feed accordingly every 3 hours around the clock.

Each case is different and some also require some other supplements to boost energy etc. If you are new you need to contact a vet for instructions after you have warmed up your premature kid.

To view a birth click here - warning it is very graphic