Monday, July 26, 2010

Finding Homes

I learned a lot this year about finding goats homes. For my Nigerians, it's pretty easy. A lot of people love Nigerians, and want them as pets. But I also had a Recorded Grade Wether, who is a lot harder to find a home for.

For those people who want to find great homes for their goats, there are three different ways of going about it.

1. The Positive Way - This means putting the goat you want to sell out there. Basically putting up advertisements. Some great places to put up ads are veterinary offices, feed/grain stores, and websites, such as your farm website or Craigslist. Also, put up ads at goat shows; people at goat shows usually have goats or are interested at getting goats.
2. The Negative Way - This means looking for people who want goats. Look for want ads in the newspaper, or at animal stores. Look at online sites, such as Craigslist.
3. The Neutral Way - This means waiting for people to ask you or contact you about goats. Often, people who say that it is hard or impossible to find wethers homes only practice the neutral way, and while it does work sometimes, you can't rely on it to find all your kids homes.

To find the best homes possible, you are going to want to use all three ways. Put up advertisements, look for want ads, and see if anybody contacts you.

Remember, if you want to find your goat a good home, put advertisements in places where you think you'd find one. The vet's office is great, because people who have animals and livestock go to the vet's. Avoid putting ads in places like Supermarkets or delis, since this could attract unwanted attention from people who want to buy a goat for meat.

If someone contacts you about getting a goat, don't just sell them whatever you have. Talk to them about what they want and what they need. Someone who wants to start a dairy farm should get does. Someone who wants to show should get good show goats. Someone who just wants pets could have wethers, or those goats who are wonderful but don't have good show qualities.

Never think, "I'm never going to find this goat a good home. I should just give up." Of all the people in the world who want goats, there has to be a few people who are looking for a goat exactly like the one you're selling. It might take some time to find that person, but if you really want to get that goat a good home, you're going to find them.

I hope this helps you find good homes for those wonderful goats. And, thankfully, it helped me find a great home for that Recorded Grade wether.