[flannelberry]

Hi all,

I am looking at starting up my breeding programme and had one of those difficult questions.

Do people with surplus/not breed standard ND goats eat them? If not, what do you do with them? I suppose boys are a bit easier because you can wether and they can be pets but... I've previously had sheep and larger breed goats. I am not sure it would be worth butchering a ND but am not sure what else people do.

Thanks.

 

[ksalvagno]

Yes, people put ND's in the freezer. I'd rather do that than have one neglected/abused. If you do a search, there was a thread about it earlier.

 

[flannelberry]

Yes, people put ND's in the freezer. I'd rather do that than have one neglected/abused. If you do a search, there was a thread about it earlier.

Awesome. Thanks. I thought I recalled seeing one and obviously didn't look hard enough for it!

 

[clearwtrbeach]

I completely agree Karen. I have one here that I bought as a breeding buckling his dad's la score was great 90, but then him dam failed mammary. If I can't find him a good home as a wether, he'll be going to the freezer. Being a ND vs Boer and lamb, I wouldn't expect all the 'cuts' just half or quarter them.

 

[hallsthirdacrefarm]

What is not on the other thread about this is some of the more practical stuff from experience of those who have done it...like what weight / age to harvest...what to expect back from teh butcher or what is best to do with the meat (ours only has a lamb form) for instance...do you do mostly stew / ground. sausage or do you get some larger cuts. I love, love, LOVE curried goat...and eventually will probably end up putting some boys in the freezer. I'm saying this as someone who kept the wether who wouldn't sell from our first year's breeding. We turned him into a pack goat...but that said, he EATS a ton, is hard on our infrastructure (gates ,fences,climbers) and knocks us around more than most at feeding time, hoof trimming, etc. I would send a boy to the freezer before the auction house (to catch some disease there and go lord knows where after). However...at 5-6 months the boys have NO meat...my wether didn't get meaty until he was almost a year old...so IDK....that's a long "holdover time".

Also...I would love to hear from those who have butchered older animals...does anyone butcher intact males who are no longer of use? What changes if a wether is butchered at a couple years? What about does who are a couple years old? I'm just trying to consider this information myself so when I'm in a situation whee processing is an option, I can have the information I need to decide if it's the best option.

 

[ksalvagno]

I put an ND buck in the freezer. He was 2 years old. I got 20 lbs of ground meat from him and he weighed 100 lbs. The meat was very bucky tasting. We ended up feeding it to our dogs but they sure loved it. I would not put a buck in the freezer again.

I did also put a 6 year old Boer doe in the freezer. I don't remember how much meat we got but we got all the cuts. The meat was wonderful. We were careful how we cooked it so it was very tender.

 

[christinajh]

I just put my 4 year old Boer doe into the freezer because she was accidentally let out by someone, and I couldn't catch her after 3.5 weeks. The liability became too much, so I finally found her and had her shot. Since I didn't have time to wait for my butcher of choice, we did it ourselves with some help from hunter friends. I wasted very little on her because I can feed most of what I don't want to the dogs. I can't tell you how many pounds of meat I got out of her, but she was 150 pounds prior to escaping. I'm sure she lost some weight while foraging in the wild for three + weeks. I think you'd have to put a lot of feed into a ND to get anything from it. I personally would not pay for a butcher on getting 20 pounds of meat back, so maybe it's something to look into doing it yourself. I hope to someday get to the point that I can do my goats myself, but I need more practice first. It was a big ordeal doing my doe, but it's because it wasn't planned. I'm mainly dairy, but I am bringing meat goats into my herd to help bulk up what I have kid wise because I'd rather just put them all in the freezer than deal with the prices here for goats. Good luck though. I'm wondering what I'll do with my dairy buck when I get a boer buck in the spring like I'm planning. I'll first try to sell him because he does produce nice udders, but I wouldn't hesitate to put him in the freezer as well for dog food if needed.

 

[milk and honey]

I have 2 ND wethers that didn't sell, and we are planning to BBQ them...but they are TINY! I'm hoping to get the equivalent of a chicken!

 

[clearwtrbeach]

I've not yet put up buck, I've done boer wethers, does and lamb. We do the butchering though, so if I had to feed for a long time (no browse so I hay everyday) or pay to have it done it wouldn't be worth it. I just got a call from a home I approved for this little guy that we were going to give up and put in the freezer. With young nd's like I said I'd half or quarter them, or just strip all the meat. An easy thing with the meat (although I do pull off the silver skin) is throw it in a crock pot until it's shredding apart, then make a shredded meat dish, goat tacos ( I just use taco seasoning and nobody knew it was goat).

 

[lovinglife]

do you cure them before you cut snd wrap like with wild game? I will be eating my excess as I agree, better a good short life than a longer painful neglected one.

 

[milk and honey]

I plan to hang or refridge rate for at least a day before I cook

 

[enchantedgoats]

i dont know about eating bucks but i have heard that it is like eating buck deer, some are very tasty and some are very gamey

 

[lottsagoats]

Most people I know who butcher a ND use them as a 1 meal thing, like a BBQ or something.

 

[ThreeHavens]

My wether meat has been very good, and actually we got a good bit of it! Our wethers are on pasture, hay, and some alfalfa pellets. My frist choice is to sell them as pets as I LOVE them, but I do not have room for all of them, and I don't like compromising on home quality. So when the 8 month mark hits, they are harvested. I know they had a wonderful life full of kindness and joy. So much better to have a short and sweet life, than an uncertain future.

 

[flannelberry]

What is not on the other thread about this is some of the more practical stuff from experience of those who have done it...like what weight / age to harvest...what to expect back from teh butcher or what is best to do with the meat (ours only has a lamb form) for instance...do you do mostly stew / ground. sausage or do you get some larger cuts.

Also...I would love to hear from those who have butchered older animals...does anyone butcher intact males who are no longer of use? What changes if a wether is butchered at a couple years?

I couldn't agree more. I'm thinking we'd mostly do ground/stew but am totally learning from others. I'm also wondering on the best way to cook goat. When I had my sheep our breed association always had recipes and cooking tips. Lamb has such a bad rap but when cooked well, it's amazing!

 

[ksalvagno]

do you cure them before you cut snd wrap like with wild game? I will be eating my excess as I agree, better a good short life than a longer painful neglected one.

I take mine to a processor. So I drop them off and then pick up frozen cuts.

 

[flannelberry]

I think I will take mine to the butcher too.

With my sheep, I banded everyone who didn't sell early that way they grew slower but I didn't ever have to deal with a rammy taste.

 

[ksalvagno]

We just aren't setup to butcher and quite frankly don't have the time. So we are happy to support the local butcher and bring our animals to him.