KID SALES TERMS
Waitlist & Purchasing
Shalom Farms reserves the right to retain any kid(s).
We do not take payment before any live births, however we do keep a waitlist.
Once kids are born, we will contact those on our waitlist with photos and videos for first rights. They will have a 48-hour priority window to select their kids.
After this window closes, any remaining available bottle kids will be offered to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.
We do not hold any goats.
Because of this, we ask that buyers schedule a visit to select their goat(s) and take them home at that time. Full payment is required at the time of selection; this is nonrefundable if the buyer backs out.
We prefer to sell goats in pairs as that makes the transition to their new homes easier for them, so preference will be given to those who purchase 2 or more.
Single goats will not be sold to anyone who does not currently have goats or bottle babies at the time. Goats are herd animals and do not do well by themselves.
Kids are not considered available to leave the farm until they are independently and successfully using our Cold Milk Lambar system.
Payments must be in the form of cash (in person) or Venmo.
All sales are final and nonrefundable. For the biosecurity and health of our herd, we do not allow any animal to return to the farm once it has left.
Out of State Sales
Shalom Farms is located in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Any out-of-state sales require a health certificate and vet check before the animal leaves. It is the sole responsibility of the buyer to request and pay for these services in advance, as it takes coordination to schedule a vet visit.
This must be pre-arranged so the appointment can be completed prior to your arrival for pickup.
In the event an animal does not pass the health inspection, the goat purchase price will be refunded in full. However, all applicable vet and health certificate fees are non-refundable.
If a certificate is not requested and paid for prior to pickup, the buyer assumes all risk for transporting the animal across state lines.
Bringing Your New Goat(s) Home
Keep in mind even the healthiest animal can get sick by the added stress of transporting and moving to a new home.
Because of this we recommend any new animals be quarantined for 30 days before introducing them to your herd.
We like to place our goats in groups of 2 because it makes quarantine and introductions a lot easier. While your new goat is in quarantine it’s important to watch for changes in appetite, snotty nose or cough and treat accordingly.
Bottle kids are fed goat milk from our does for the first 7-10 days (including colostrum for the first 3 days). After 7-10 days, we transition to Non Medicated Milk Replacer for Goat Kids.
Our kids are trained to a Cold Milk Lambar system for group feeding and are successfully utilizing it independently before they leave the farm. This helps them transition smoothly to their new homes.
We recommend providing free choice cold milk until at least 45 days of age. For optimal growth, some owners choose to continue providing milk to bucklings until 12 weeks and doelings until 16 weeks.
If you do not have access to raw goat milk or replacer, we recommend you use the red top whole vitamin D milk from the grocery store.
Once weaned, kids are fed free choice grass hay and have 24/7 access to clean water at all times.
Wethering
We can wether bucklings upon request (included with full payment received).
Bucklings are banded following Cornell University’s livestock recommendations for animal welfare; we perform this between 2 days and 3 weeks of age to ensure it’s as safe and pain free as possible for the kid.
Registration
All animals are sold as grade (unregistered) livestock.
We do not provide registration papers or applications for any kids sold from the farm.
Vaccinations & Health Management
We prioritize natural health for our own stock and do not administer routine vaccinations or shots unless necessitated by specific physical illness.
Since our kids typically transition to their new homes before three weeks of age, all future vaccination decisions and schedules are the sole responsibility of the buyer.
Frequently Asked Questions
First time goat owner and have some questions?
We try to add our most popular questions to our FAQ page, so check them out below!
Do you disbud your goats?
The short answer is, no.
We choose not to disbud or dehorn our kids for several reasons, mostly because we believe they are better off having their horns to protect from predators, as well as the fact that their horns help regulate their temperatures (keeping them warm when it's cold, and keeping them cool when it's hot).
We've also found that 4 out of 5 disbudded goats have issues with scurs for the rest of their lives.
Scurs are small horn re-growths that develop after a kid goat has been disbudded. Frequently, this is a result of the dehorning iron not being hot enough or not left on long enough at the time of dehorning. It may also be due to not waiting long enough between kids (to allow the iron to reheat). Sometimes scurs can occur even if a good job of disbudding is done.
So to us, it would be a disservice to the goats to disbud them.
However, you will see that many of our goats that we've received from other breeders were already disbudded or dehorned before we got them. So we do understand that many other breeders and goat owners love the convenience of goats without horns.
With that being said, we do not disbud any goat kids that are born at our farm.
If you require your goat kids to be disbudded, then unfortunately our goats will not be a good fit for you.
Will goats get along with my dogs?
As far as dogs, that's a tough question because it really is based on the dog.
As a farm, we personally choose not to have any dogs because we've found that the goats get very stressed with even a very calm small dog since they're not raised around them.
But we have a neighbor with goats who has a very active dog, so we know it's possible.
Just really depends on your dog(s) and making sure they are trained properly to not harass or chase your goats, in order to prevent injury to your goats and/or to your dog from the goat protecting itself.
Can I only buy one goat?
How do you keep goats from escaping their pens?
Before we got our first goats (while we were still in "research mode"), we realized that one of the main issues goat owners had was keeping the goats secured in their pens. So we decided that it would be worth it to set up our pens as securely as possible right from the start, and since then, we haven't had any escapees!**
Some practices we've established:
- Panels no larger than 4x4 squares
- We also strongly suggest to reinforce any kidding pens with 2x4 wire panels to prevent those tiny tots from walking through a 4x4 into a different momma's pen and being rejected from its true dam
- If needed (if your goats rush you when entering their pen with food, treats, etc), it is also strongly suggested to add a separate panel that you attach to a corner of your pen enclosing the entrance gate, so that you can successfully enter the pen (into a smaller triangle) and able to shut the gate to outside of the pen, before opening the additional panel and then the goats can bum rush you there (since you're securely in the pen with no open gate).
One very helpful resource for us was this post on fencing for mini goats.
Do goats stick their heads through fences?
In one word: YES.
Goats will stick their heads through anything.
However, it's one thing when a baby goat sticks its head through a fence that it can easily pull it back out of, and it's something else completely when that rascal is unable to pull it out entirely.
It's especially tricky with goat kids while they're growing (along with their horns), in addition to them being super ornery and curious.
One way that we've been able to combat this particular tendency is by reinforcing our 4x4 fencing with 2x4 wires - at least for any pens that goat kids have access to, in addition to building custom hay feeders with 2x4 panels that baby goats can't stick their heads through.
Otherwise, you'll be unpleasantly surprised when you've got to choose to cut your fencing apart in order to get a cute littlehead loose.
#beenthere
What do you feed your goats?
We grow our own hay at Shalom Farms. It's a mixture of grass hay and legumes and our goats actually love it!
Our home grown hay is actually all that we feed all of our males (bucks and wethers) for their entire life, at least after they've been weaned
Mama's + Kids
While lactating and throughout nursing/milking, our does and kids are supplemented with whole oats, alfalfa hay, alfalfa pellets, and occasionally grain in order to increase their protein/calcium intake during this time.
What type of feeders are best for mini goats?
Great question!
This is something we struggled with in the beginning since we started with minis.
Unfortunately, most of the hay feeder options we found were much too big for grown miniature goats, and virtually impossible for baby goats!
We ended up getting some plans to build a hay feeder and customized them to better suit our nigerian dwarf goats and kids.
On occasion, we do make and sell hay feeders for miniature goats so if you're interested, be sure to contact us for more info!
Do you name any of your goats?
YES!
We love our goats, and every time we get a new baby goat or even if we pick up a goat from a fellow farmer - we ALWAYS give them a name because they are now part of the farm!
Jeffrey and I both know every single goat by name, and we're pretty sure after a little while they learn their names as well 🥰
Still have questions?
Please reach out and we'll get back to you as soon as we can!