So, it really depends on what you’re looking for in your goats.
If you’re just looking for a pet goat, you will probably pay somewhere in the region of $200 USD for an Alpine goat.
Of course, even a lot of pet goat owners still like to have milking goats for their homes, in which case you’ll be looking at a bit more.
A guide price for the average Alpine pet goat is $200 to buy.
But, owning goats involves a lot more expense than the initial purchase price.
In fact, this expense is probably the smallest of them, and in general, the expense will depend on a few things.
But let’s look into it.
Is keeping goats expensive?
Whether or not something is expensive is, in a way, subjective.
It’s about your own circumstances.
Nonetheless, let me try and give you an idea of the overall cost of keeping goats.
First of all, you’ll need to consider where you live.
Goats are good pets, but they are not good house pets.
They need a large, outdoor space to roam.
Furthermore, you cannot keep a single goat by itself.
Goats are herd animals, and highly social ones at that, so they need other members of their species to be happy.
2 goats would be better than one, but 3 would be best as a minimum.
This, naturally, affects the amount of space you need, but for three goats you would need at least half an acre for them to roam.
They won’t be fine in your little garden.
This is their pasture, and will also need to be filled with a variety of foods for them to browse.
Goats are browsers, meaning, unlike sheep and cattle, they aren’t happy just eating grass all day.
They need variety, and they need the exercise and enrichment of hunting down that variety for themselves.
Additionally, if you don’t already have some sort of barn or indoor shelter for them, you will need to build one.
In terms of indoor space, goats are best penned separately with individual sleeping areas.
For this pen, each goat will need at least 4 square meters of space.
In addition to that, you’re best off having somewhere in the enclosure to store food and maintenance equipment.
Constructing something of this size will not be a small expense.
Once it’s built, the big cost is certainly over with, but you will also have to maintain it over the years.
If you are able to provide a rich pasture with a lot of different things for them to eat, then the regular cost of feed will be reduced.
However, on top of their pasture, goats will need a regular supply of hay.
An adult goat will eat at least 2 pounds of hay per day, and up to 4.
Grass hay is fairly cheap, but they will eat a lot of it.
Grass hay is generally fine for most goats, but any does that are milking or kidding will need a higher calcium and protein diet than other goats.
Often, this is provided via alfalfa hay, which is a type of legume hay.
This is considerably more expensive, so if you wanted milking goats, you will be paying a bit more to keep them fed.
You can supplement a hay diet with alfalfa pellets, which may work out a bit cheaper.
Since this is the most regular cost of keeping a goat, you might also be wondering how long goats live.
How long do Alpine goats live?
How long a goat lives will obviously depend on its care.
Generally, the lifespan of a domestic Alpine goat is somewhere between 8 and 12 years.
This can vary a lot, though, between individuals.
However, it is generally agreed that goats, and Alpine goats especially, are very hardy creatures who will live for at least a decade if cared for properly.
They are extremely weather tolerant, as you might expect from their name.
They were originally bred in the French Alps, which experience very cold winters.
They’re highly weather tolerant, then, and won’t be worn out over the years by hard winters.
Unless you live on the Arctic tundra, where they won’t last long at all.
So, this is important to keep in mind in terms of expense.
Hardy as they are, one other expense not mentioned is vet bills.
You will need to see vets over the years no matter how hardy your goat breed is, and these can be very expensive.
So, keeping Alpine goats is a highly rewarding endeavor, but you’ll need to make sure you can provide everything they need.
Their needs are not especially complex, but large areas of outdoor space are not available to all.
That said, if you can cover the cost of the land and somewhere for them to sleep at night, keeping them is not actually all that expensive compared with other pets.
Just take everything into account before you start your herd and you will be fine.
More in Alpine
- How Long Do Alpine Goats Live?
- Are Alpine Goats Good For Meat?
- How Much Does An Alpine Goat Cost?