[maybelle]

I have had two enquiries about people bringing their nanny's over to mate with my billy.
A few questions. 
How long does the nanny need to stay?
Does she stay in with the billy all the time?
How much do I charge?
Thanks

[Luce747]

I can't really help much because only had our 1st goats last saturday LOL, except to say we have had a quick look to see what billys might be available to use for stud later in the year and they are all £50 per nanny and the nanny is allowed to stay for 2 - 3 weeks

If not pregnant she is allowed to return FOC

Hope this helps a little

[Anke]

With milking goats stud owners can either have the female to board (usually only when the female is not milked anymore) for about 3 weeks, to allow for possible return to service, charges are usually around 20pounds for the mating plus any boarding costs (and female owner will usually rbing some of her own feed and hay to allow for a slow changeover to other type food if necessary); or the female is just brought there when she is actually in season, mated there and then (it is usually very quick!) and then returns home - all smelly and happy, and a lot quieter! Stud fees are the same. Most male owners now require a CAE certificate for the female, and the billy should have a valid one too. Stud owner completes a stud certificate, without which you cannot register your kids from that mating, so are quite important. I guess pigmies are the same?

Movement papers need to be completed for both outward and homebound journey, guess its the same in England. Most stud owners have isolation facilities, so any female coming for a quick mating will not cause a standstill.

I have done boarding for my female last year, it worked very well - but you have to be comfortable with the studowners set-up, how s/he handles your goats and that the right billy will mate your girl! This year it was drive-by matings, with one return journey, again it worked alright.

I had to de-louse my goats just recently and it seems the only place they could have picked some passengers up was during matings away. It's not a problem, but maybe worth keeping in mind (and have some Spot-on at hand).

[ballingall]

Prices vary a little- it depends on whether your billy is registered (and therefore the kids will be pedigree), if he is pure bred etc. For a registered, pure bred male I would prices are generally between £35- 60. For an unregistered male, I would ask for about £20.


Beth

[maybelle]

Thanks Anke, very helpfull. I have never had any females come to mate with my billy so its new to me.

Ballingall - My billy is registered and pure bred so I could ask £35 - £60.

[ballingall]

Maybelle- yes you could. Prices in Scotland are still around the £35 mark, but go south of the border and you rapidly find people charging £50.


Beth

[maybelle]

Does this price include their hay and feed?

[ballingall]

No- that fee is for stud only, as if they came in for 1/2 an hour to visit. If they were staying you would need arrrange boarding fees. In years gone by, it used to be £1 a day for non milkers, and £1.50 a day for milkers, but that was quite a long time ago. The only boarders we get nowadays, tend to just be one from a friend, so we don't usually charge. But if it was someone new to me, I would charge- or expect them to provide hay/feed.

Beth

[Roxy]

My pygmy billy goes out on loan (only to people whose set up I know, and know he will be cared for).  He is not registered so I charge £20 (although obviously people could use him on lots of goats!)  No spare room at the moment so unable to take visiting nannies, but again it  would be £20 plus £10 per week to cover hay feed and bedding.

[Anke]

When my nanny went to board I took quite a large container of food for her (but she was dry, not on much concentrate anyway) and a bale of hay. In the end I paid for the stud fee and in kind (i.e. honey and sausages) for the boarding. She was almost exclusively on home brought feed, and it was just the hay.

But think about how much it costs you per day to feed your goats and charge accordingly, insist on people bringing their own concentrate and some of their hay, as sudden changes especially in concentrate can spell disaster.

I would only take in goats from people I know, and probably not milkers.

[maybelle]

Thank you all this is very helpfull. As not knowing what to charge I didn't want to undercharge as I'd be out of pocket .