Do you butcher any of your goats?

[ksalvagno]

We also put alpaca in the freezer at the same time and have to admit that we like alpaca much more than goat.

I didn't know you could eat an alpaca! That must've been very expensive meat since alpacas cost over $3,000!

I keep hearing this from people but see alpacas advertised on craigslist often for a couple hundred dollars? I don't understand.

Alpacas have gone way down in price. Also helps when you have been in alpacas for 14 years and these were your own home grown ones. It really depends on where you live. I have friends that want to give me alpacas and they know what I will do with them. In Ohio, you can pick up alpacas on Craigslist or some of these small auctions for $25 or so. I know breeders who will sell their pet boys for $50 to $100.

I just had one of my Nigerian males done. He weighed 101 lbs. Hang weight was 42 lbs and we got 17 lbs of ground meat. I'm sure I lost more with only doing ground meat. It cost me $60. While I'm sure some people would call that very expensive, I call it cheap compared to taking him to the vet and having him put down for $200 with nothing to show for that $200. He was an intact male that just didn't sell and I can't keep males around that I'm not going to use. The 3 that we have are stinky enough. I also won't take my goats to an auction because I want to know where they will end up. I'd rather them in my freezer than suffering from neglect or abuse somewhere else.

 

[arabianequine]

We had a really niced framed saanen/boer doe, she had a really nice bone structure on her and nice thick legs, her kids were always really nice. The problem we had with her was she didn't come into milk until three days after she kidded, not jut the first time she kidded, but every time. I tried to work wiht it and kept a couple daughters from her thinking they would still have the nice frame, but be better milkers. NOpe, The first doeling we got kids from at 18 months of age and she did the exact same thing. So we sent the entire bloodline to the the sale barns.

As far as muscling and bone mass, they were really nices crosses.

I guess I better buy some powered colostrum to have on hand. This will be my first breeding. I know I can freeze some if I get babies any soon yet.

 

[kstaven]

We had a really niced framed saanen/boer doe, she had a really nice bone structure on her and nice thick legs, her kids were always really nice. The problem we had with her was she didn't come into milk until three days after she kidded, not jut the first time she kidded, but every time. I tried to work wiht it and kept a couple daughters from her thinking they would still have the nice frame, but be better milkers. NOpe, The first doeling we got kids from at 18 months of age and she did the exact same thing. So we sent the entire bloodline to the the sale barns.

As far as muscling and bone mass, they were really nices crosses.

I guess I better buy some powered colostrum to have on hand. This will be my first breeding. I know I can freeze some if I get babies any soon yet.

Always a good idea to have on hand.

 

[20kidsonhill]

We had a really niced framed saanen/boer doe, she had a really nice bone structure on her and nice thick legs, her kids were always really nice. The problem we had with her was she didn't come into milk until three days after she kidded, not jut the first time she kidded, but every time. I tried to work wiht it and kept a couple daughters from her thinking they would still have the nice frame, but be better milkers. NOpe, The first doeling we got kids from at 18 months of age and she did the exact same thing. So we sent the entire bloodline to the the sale barns.

As far as muscling and bone mass, they were really nices crosses.

I guess I better buy some powered colostrum to have on hand. This will be my first breeding. I know I can freeze some if I get babies any soon yet.

Always a good idea to have on hand.

I always keep a supply from last seasons kidding, but if you are just starting out getting some from someone else, or getting what you can from the feed store is a very good idea.

We milk the first goat we get a chance to, even if you can get an ounce or two and save it, I figure better than nothing. Some does will have plenty even if they have twins, Or if both the twins start nursing on the same side then I take advantage of it and steal from the other side, ofcourse a single is a no-brainer. We save it for the rest of the kidding season and then for the next years kidding season, and then I gather more and throw out the old stuff that didnt' get used. I am always happy to throw-out the unused stuff, since that is a good sign I didn't have too many problems.

We freeze ours in small freezer bags, in 2 ounce, 4 ounce and 8 ounces packages. I really like the little freezer bags they sell in the baby section for mom's that pump breastmilk. They are a perfect size, a little pricey to get a box, but work really well, and are easy to unthaw in a warm cup of water. They also wash out pretty well, so I have been reusing them.

 

[Hobby Farm]

We have several dairy buck kids from this year that we are considering butchering for meat. Right now they are 4 months old and still intact. For those of you that butcher your dairy buck kids, do you leave them intact? We will send them to freezer camp mid November, making them about 8 months old. Will they have more of a "goaty" taste by leaving them intact or will they still be young enough that it won't matter?

 

[kstaven]

Meat may have a little stronger taste. The biggest thing is, there will be less meat.

 

[greymane]

I have had goat many times, but never in the states. I like it, but I think I would have an issue with eating my own goats. I guess that is silly since I just dropped six of our chickens off at freezer camp this morning.

 

[dhansen]

Kvasten,
What do you mean less meat? Do you mean you get less meat from an intact male vs. a wether? We are still stalling on the "killing" part. I think my husband will have to shoot the wether rather than slit his throat. Too gruesome for me!

 

[ksalvagno]

With dairy breeds there would be less meat than a meat breed goat. If you have small goats, there would be less meat than the larger goats.

 

[Prisca]

Hi!
We have raised goats forever - me 25 yrs and hubby more than that. We love goat meat and is a main part of our diet. I do have preferences however. I do not butcher them at a young age. I prefer them to be 2 to three years of age - wethers or older than that does. For years we have bottle fed all the babies of our Nubian does. You hold them in your arms and it is the best feeling in the world. So I have been asked many times "How can you eat those babies?" My answer is I don't eat the babies. I don't like the texture of the meat of the youngsters. After three months of age the babies go to the pasture and join the regular herd. There is little more contact with the wethers from that time until we are ready to put them in the freezer. The does on the other hand will conceive, have babies and go into the milk barn to be handled twice a day. While we feed them and they see us and we pet them the wethers are just growing chubby. We wether the bucks at a very young age - about 6weeks. The reason I prefer them to be 2 to 3 years of age as it has the best meat to bone ratio. We had one wether that was so big that after we butchered him I weighed the meat (no bones or fat) and came up with 168 pounds of pure meat! We have butchered older bucks that we did not want to maintain the bloodline on but we "Burdizoed" them a minimum of 6 weeks before so the "Goatie" taste would be gone and we have often given them a bath -- honest! (Oils can cling to the hair) I seldom grind the meat and prefer steaks, soups and stews, roasts and the like. When cooking it I find adding moisture and cooking it slowly makes for very tender and good eating. We do our own and invested in a meat band saw to help with the processing. Add a vacuum sealer and a few other things and you are ready to fill the freezer!

As far as the taste goes - it tastes like goat. Most people have no idea when they are eating it at any of the functions I provide food for. The plate comes back clean and am always asked for the recipe! In fact I served a cheesy bbq biscuit today at Bible Study and didn't bring home a bite of left overs. (Some of the cheese was made by me also)

Enjoy!
Prisca