OK, culling, it’s a topic many don’t want to talk about. Who can blame them, when you see those sweet littles being born the last thing you want to think about is culling them. We are probably going to offend some with our views, but as a breeder culling is the one MOST important decision we can make.
When you buy a registered goat, you don’t buy them to later cull them; you buy them with the hope of what you will get from your purchase. All those visions of the kids that will soon populate your farm, the milk and cheese you can make. Hey, who hasn’t wondered about making goat milk soap!
There are quite a few that also think about the meat aspect of their Kinders, understanding from the beginning that some will be meat goats. As many know, who have dreamed of their first Kinders, there can be quite an expense to getting your first herd or ‘starter kit’.
There is the actual cost of buying the goats, throw in the cost of importing them into your state (especially if you don’t have any in your state), finish that all off with whatever it costs you to actually get them home. Can some of us say ouch? But to most of us, actually having our Kinders is well worth the cost to get them. So having spent so much to get them and waiting ‘not’ so patiently for your first Kinder kids – the last thing you would think of is having to cull.
Honestly, for us it isn’t an easy decision to make, but it is an important one. Kinders are new to Montana. Yes, we’ve been here a while, actually for years, but the breed is still very new here. Boars and Kikos are all the rage here, so one of the worst things we could do as Kinder breeders is sell kids that will NOT help the Kinder breed become popular. There are also problems that can eventually happen because someone doesn’t cull an animal that they maybe should have.
Let’s talk about some problems that could happen, and honestly have happened because culls weren’t culled. We’ll also use our kid crop from this year to talk about culling and why some of us make that decision.
When you buy a registered goat, you don’t buy them to later cull them; you buy them with the hope of what you will get from your purchase. All those visions of the kids that will soon populate your farm, the milk and cheese you can make. Hey, who hasn’t wondered about making goat milk soap!
There are quite a few that also think about the meat aspect of their Kinders, understanding from the beginning that some will be meat goats. As many know, who have dreamed of their first Kinders, there can be quite an expense to getting your first herd or ‘starter kit’.
There is the actual cost of buying the goats, throw in the cost of importing them into your state (especially if you don’t have any in your state), finish that all off with whatever it costs you to actually get them home. Can some of us say ouch? But to most of us, actually having our Kinders is well worth the cost to get them. So having spent so much to get them and waiting ‘not’ so patiently for your first Kinder kids – the last thing you would think of is having to cull.
Honestly, for us it isn’t an easy decision to make, but it is an important one. Kinders are new to Montana. Yes, we’ve been here a while, actually for years, but the breed is still very new here. Boars and Kikos are all the rage here, so one of the worst things we could do as Kinder breeders is sell kids that will NOT help the Kinder breed become popular. There are also problems that can eventually happen because someone doesn’t cull an animal that they maybe should have.
Let’s talk about some problems that could happen, and honestly have happened because culls weren’t culled. We’ll also use our kid crop from this year to talk about culling and why some of us make that decision.
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