About South River Goat Farm
South River Goat Farm raises and sells percentage and full blood South African Boer Goats for both breeding and for sale as meat. We are located in Elkton, VA which is located in historic Rockingham County in the Shenandoah Valley area of Virginia.
Our goat management philosophy is to stay small but give individual attention and care to each animal. We interact and handle each one. We do not worm or medicate unless necessary. We provide high quality feed and full access to wooded area as available in season and supplement with high quality hay in winter.
We provide ample opportunity and space (24 acres) for daily exercise.
We provide warm and clean housing and individual kidding pens, equipped with heat lamps during winter. We assist the does for all deliveries and make sure the kids are dried and well cared for at birth.
Our does are happy and stress free and deliver twins, triplets and quads every year. We have a low mortality rate.
South River Goat Farm is a member of the American Boer Goat Association (ABGA).
Why Boer Goats?
The Boer goat is commonly a goat with a white body and a red head. Docile, high fertility and a fast growth rate are some of the traits that set the Boer goat apart in the purebred and commercial segments of the American meat goat industry. Mature does can weigh between 190- 230 lb and mature Boer bucks can weigh between 200 – 340 lb.
The demand for high quality, lean, healthy red meat is the one of the underlining forces behind the development of the American meat goat industry. With an eager base of ethnic consumers, the demand for goat meat continues to grow in the United States each year. The importation of goat meat into the United States is estimated to be over 30 million dollars annually.
History of the South African Boer Goat
The development of the Boer goat in the early 1900’s can be traced to the Dutch farmers of South Africa. Boer is a Dutch word meaning farmer. With meat production setting the selection criteria, the Dutch farmers developed the Boer goat as a unique breed of livestock. The Boer goat has a rapid growth rate, excellent carcass qualities and is highly adapted to different environments.
Through the subsequent decades of selective breeding, the Boer goat gained its genetic superiority and nobility, laying the foundation for what is today's American Boer goat.
The first full-blood Boers were brought into the United States in 1993, the same year the American Boer Goat Association was formed. Since that time a tremendous amount of interest in breeding Boer and Boer influence goats has exploded in the United States.
