# Goats for protein/meat?



## gatorglockman

Just curious how many homesteaders are raising goats as part of their protein/livestock portion of self sustaining lifestyle?

I was enlightened by some of the rabbit threads on the cons of rabbit nutritional value. I am sold on chickens for eggs and chicken. Are goats a solid selection for protein on a smaller homestead?


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## BillS

Goats are usually used to produce milk. The gestational period for goats is 150 days. They can have from 1 to 3 young. You'd have to raise a lot of goats just to eat one every month.

Goat Reproduction at Animal Corner


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## *Andi

If looking at goats for meat, I would look for a meat type goat ...

Spanish Meat Goat, South African Boer Goat, or a few of the others. Goats along with other homesteading critters... (chickens, rabbits, etc.) Can and do add to the pantry.


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## The_Blob

if you've got the land, sometimes you can get young bulls for free after the calving from dairy farms -- castrate em' & raise them for meat, if you don't have any females nearby (smelling distance) they don't get aggressive (in my experience) 

IMHO one of the best 'larger' farm animals for meat to raise is pigs because they grow fast and will eat a wide variety of food (slops) without getting sick... I've never done more than one at a time though


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## VUnder

I caught six pigs in one trap. Put them in a pen and a few months later, I had 51 pigs. I kept them and studied them. Had a couple of Berkshire that were already in the pen. The wild pigs and the tame pigs operate completely different. The wild ones were actually better animals to handle. The tame ones were mean and ate alone, would not share. All the wild pigs would eat together from one trough. The tame ones only nursed their piglets. The wild ones, the little piglets went to the closest mother. 

Then, I had some show up around the house, after mine were gone, and one was with a bad right hind leg. One toe had some damage, and was growing back. It took up shop under my house. Now, this was one of those red hogs with black stripes running long ways down its body. That thing tamed up and followed me everywhere I went. I couldn't even work on things in my shop because it would get between me and what I was working on, I had to just push it over out of the way and make it lay down somewhere. Minded just like a dog. I gave it away after it was healed.


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## VUnder

gatorglockman said:


> Just curious how many homesteaders are raising goats as part of their protein/livestock portion of self sustaining lifestyle?
> 
> I was enlightened by some of the rabbit threads on the cons of rabbit nutritional value. I am sold on chickens for eggs and chicken. Are goats a solid selection for protein on a smaller homestead?


Goats are good. If you castrate, do it when they are less than four days old and they won't feel it so much. Goat milk is good to have around, because in a collapse situation, sometimes goat milk is all that some babies can drink. Cow milk is really not good because is made for different digestive system. Goats are more like us. In Bible times, they used goats. Plus, just like the other day, we had a 2500# Angus bull down stuck in a creek. I got kicked really hard trying to get him out. Goats are easier to handle and can't run you over like a one ton truck. But, the downside is you have to protect them. Like over in Afghanistan, someone is with that herd of goats all the time. My neighbor bought 25 goats, his wife called him at lunch the next day and their pet dog had killed 23 of them that morning. Just remember, if you get those big goats that can take care of themselves, they can take care of you too. Good thing is that they can eat almost everything.

Pigs will eat anything. I quit pigs because one guy the works on the farm killed a 7' black snake, hung it over the fence to show it to my dad. A pig grabbed it and ate it like a piece of licorice. Two days later my brother stopped by with a velvet back timber rattler he killed. When he threw it in the pen, it never touched the ground. I had one so big that it could put a whole two liter drink bottle in its mouth. I don't know how much it weighed. It got out and somebody shot it.


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## Jason

We ended up with a boer goat one time. It was a cut male that somebody bought as a pet and couldn't deal with. They don't housebreak well.

Time passed and we ended up butchering it. Tasted really good...we liked the meat a lot. We haven't raised more though. Just busy with other things.


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## VUnder

I went and visited some people in Amsterdam, and it was lamb and goat, very good flavor. I liked it a lot. Dad gave away two goats this morning. Nigerian fainting goats, last week we had a cow in the same pen that had prolapsed. The vet that came actually had 200 goats, but had never seen a fainter. He got a laugh out of that. We were both bloody for head to toe by the time we got that cows uterus put back in.


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## gatorglockman

Thanks for the feedback. Seems like most are not raising goats for food but more for milk. I know they are good eating. Thanks for the shared insight.

On the pig thing...you know, AL is getting "ate up" with wild pigs. I shot 2 last year in the hunting club I was in and the state is begging for people to take them out. We are allowed and encouraged to trap them, but you can't relocate them. That said, you could prob trap them in a big pen, close the trap when you have a few, then feed them and let them reproduce for some protein on the free.

Wild pigs are indeed pretty tasty if you take them before they get too big/heavy. Mine were awesome last year.


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## VUnder

I just stopped and built a pen in the woods. Fenced off an acre at least. Already had the remnants of an 18 wheeler load of net wire we had bought a few years ago. Drove T posts, which they are manufactured right here in my town. Ran the net wire. Ran an electric fence inside of that, close to the ground. Ended up having trouble when the weather was real dry, the fence wouldn't get a good enough ground to shock. So, we got the bright idea of getting 100 cross ties and putting them all around the outside of the fence and nailing the fence to them. That kept the pigs in the pen. Word got out that we had that outfit, and other guys like you could bring their hogs and have a pen for them. We have commerical poultry houses, so I had drums of feed. Each year when we swap chickens, we have egg houses, we usually have 2-3 thousand lbs of feed to get rid of, sometimes 5. Word got out, and people wanted pigs, so I either sold them on the hoof, or I slaughtered and skinned, dressed and had them on ice when they came to pick it up. They were gone pretty quick.

I have been thinking about putting some goats in there, as I would like that more than pigs. Maybe build me a milking shed, and a place for them to birth, and take care of their babies. But, I can't see it from my house and I worry about wolves, coyotes, cougars, and even dogs. Maybe an electric fence at the top would help too.

What may be a better option, check into some of the smaller breeds of cattle. They have some that remain small enough to handle, but large enough to take care of themselves. Put a donkey with them. Donkeys will kill coyotes and dogs. Our dogs will not go in the pasture anymore.


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## gypsysue

First of all, I'm envious of you who live where there are wild pigs. I'd be out shooting an butchering those things. Organic pork? You betcha. It would almost be worth the trip down there if I could get enough of them! I'll bring my canners and a billion jars! lol

Second, this is the big one:

We were given a male goat last year and he's big and fat now, and we want to butcher him. But... apparently it's the "rut" (mating season?) or something. All of a sudden he stinks really bad, kind of a musky skunk-like weird perfume smell, which I gather has to do with his hormones or something?

How long does that last? Do we wait for that smell to go away before we butcher it? Will the meat taste funny? I have no clue about this. I wish we would have gotten him butchered a couple weeks ago, before this started! We were holding off until the forage started to die down for winter.


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## LilRedHen

*Andi said:


> If looking at goats for meat, I would look for a meat type goat ...
> 
> Spanish Meat Goat, South African Boer Goat, or a few of the others. Goats along with other homesteading critters... (chickens, rabbits, etc.) Can and do add to the pantry.


A few different friends of mine have Boer Goats and they are fragile. They seem to need a lot of medicines for various ailments. Boers were somewhat of a fad in this area, but it seems that people are really tired of the vet bills, medications, etc. and are now getting rid of them. We had fainting goats when I was small (they were called nervous goats back them). We rarely had problems with them & no vet bills that I remember. They were rounded up and the herd thinned out & sold once a year. If dogs bothered the goats, the farmer immediately shot whatever dogs were in his pasture. There were no coyotes in TN back then. Now, people either keep a Great Pyrnees (sp?) or a donkey with their goats for protecion.


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## LilRedHen

VUnder said:


> I went and visited some people in Amsterdam, and it was lamb and goat, very good flavor. I liked it a lot. Dad gave away two goats this morning. Nigerian fainting goats, last week we had a cow in the same pen that had prolapsed. The vet that came actually had 200 goats, but had never seen a fainter. He got a laugh out of that. We were both bloody for head to toe by the time we got that cows uterus put back in.


The next time you have a cow with that problem, use sugar. Wash the uterus with mild soap & water, rinse well and sprinkle sugar all over it. The sugar will almost immediately shrink the swelling and allow you to put it back in. A very old self taught country vet taught my father that trick years ago. Some years later, the Rooster had a cow in the same condition and we couldn't get her in the barn. He roped the cow and threw her & I sat on her head (I was largely pregnant at the time). He couldn't get the uterus back in, so I suggested he sit on her head while I went to the house for supplies. He didn't know what I was going to do, but after it was over, he has told several people about it like it was his idea


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## The_Blob

gypsysue said:


> We were given a male goat last year and he's big and fat now, and we want to butcher him. But... apparently it's the "rut" (mating season?) or something. All of a sudden he stinks really bad, kind of a musky skunk-like weird perfume smell, which I gather has to do with his hormones or something?
> 
> How long does that last? Do we wait for that smell to go away before we butcher it? Will the meat taste funny? I have no clue about this. I wish we would have gotten him butchered a couple weeks ago, before this started! We were holding off until the forage started to die down for winter.


Between September and March the females are in season (fertile) her fertility lasts up to three days. If the female goat is not mated, she will come into season every 21 days. That is why he is 'randy'.

October IMHO is the 'butchering month' for most large animals, but depending on where you live, you might do it earlier or later (the colder it is, the longer the meat has to age)

Q: aren't you supposed to castrate your meat males? I was raised that it was proper, but idk if it's necessary...

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don't forget to federal reserve your federal reserve


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## gypsysue

This goat WAS banded/castrated, but apparently they didn't do a good job. I would assume he's still fertile if he stinks like this. He's about a year and a half old, and a 'friend' gave him to us. He's an Alpine pack goat, so on the large side. The people who gave him to us raise and sell them, so they "fixed" this one so they wouldn't have competition in their market (someone using it as a "bull"? "Stallion"? Sire?). They sell the females. Not sure why they gave this male away. You'd think they could have raised and trained it as a pack goat and sold it ready to go? We worked with him some because my husband was going to take him along on his trapline to carry stuff. But he's decided he'd rather keep pulling is gear on the tobaggan and not mess with the goat. So we decided to butcher him. We have been trying for 6 months to give him away.

My question still is: Will the meat taste funny if we butcher him now? Should we wait? 

He sure SMELLS funny! And I don't mean like "ha ha"!


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## The_Blob

gypsysue said:


> This goat WAS banded/castrated, but apparently they didn't do a good job. I would assume he's still fertile if he stinks like this. He's about a year and a half old, and a 'friend' gave him to us. He's an Alpine pack goat, so on the large side. The people who gave him to us raise and sell them, so they "fixed" this one so they wouldn't have competition in their market (someone using it as a "bull"? "Stallion"? Sire?). They sell the females. Not sure why they gave this male away. You'd think they could have raised and trained it as a pack goat and sold it ready to go? We worked with him some because my husband was going to take him along on his trapline to carry stuff. But he's decided he'd rather keep pulling is gear on the tobaggan and not mess with the goat. So we decided to butcher him. We have been trying for 6 months to give him away.
> 
> My question still is: Will the meat taste funny if we butcher him now? Should we wait?
> 
> He sure SMELLS funny! And I don't mean like "ha ha"!


hahahahahaha he's a "teaser" goat, non-fertile, but still thinks he can get the job done... they're used to get unresponsive males to go after the does


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## *Andi

LilRedHen said:


> A few different friends of mine have Boer Goats and they are fragile. They seem to need a lot of medicines for various ailments. Boers were somewhat of a fad in this area, but it seems that people are really tired of the vet bills, medications, etc. and are now getting rid of them. We had fainting goats when I was small (they were called nervous goats back them). We rarely had problems with them & no vet bills that I remember. They were rounded up and the herd thinned out & sold once a year. If dogs bothered the goats, the farmer immediately shot whatever dogs were in his pasture. There were no coyotes in TN back then. Now, people either keep a Great Pyrnees (sp?) or a donkey with their goats for protecion.


I guess we did things a little differernt ... My husband raised boer goats for about 5 years. We had no large vet bills or lots of medicines ... :dunno: We did the 100 percent "Traditional" boer (4 teats). When we sold them, we had 63 nannies and 3 bucks. (a closed herd)

You can have a problem goat(s) with "any breed" ... IMHO ... but if it becomes a large problem, it is time to cull. Again this is only my 2 cent worth.


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## Possumfam

Sooooo glad this thread was started. Can't wait till hear more info. We are new to goats - we have 3 females, with the intent of breeding and milking them later. However, we milked one today. Out of the blue, her udder filled up and we milked her. No, she hasn't had a kid in over a year and a half - no, she has NEVER been milked. We don't know what (or how) this happened. We got almost a quart of milk tonight. No, she's not pregnant, no access to any Billy. SO?????? Would love to hear more input on goats. Thanks everyone.


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## *Andi

Possumfam said:


> Sooooo glad this thread was started. Can't wait till hear more info. We are new to goats - we have 3 females, with the intent of breeding and milking them later. However, we milked one today. Out of the blue, her udder filled up and we milked her. No, she hasn't had a kid in over a year and a half - no, she has NEVER been milked. We don't know what (or how) this happened. We got almost a quart of milk tonight. No, she's not pregnant, no access to any Billy. SO?????? Would love to hear more input on goats. Thanks everyone.


Some legumes have plant estrogens which can cause false pregnancies (and to make milk come on) ... do you have heavy clover or such where the goats are???

Second question ... do you have sheep???


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## Possumfam

*Andi said:


> Some legumes have plant estrogens which can cause false pregnancies (and to make milk come on) ... do you have heavy clover or such where the goats are???
> 
> Second question ... do you have sheep???


No sheep, and maybe a little clover. Do you think that if we continue to milk her, she'd keep producing? This just blows my mind.


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## Wags

duplicate post


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## Wags

I raise Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats. They are the smallest dairy breed with even the bucks under 2ft tall at the shoulder. Most of my does are about 20" tall and give a 1/2 gallon or more of very rich (6-10% butterfat) milk daily when fresh. In fact their milk is so rich we just have to shake the whole milk up in a jar to get butter. That higher butterfat also results in more cheese yield per pound of milk.

They are hardy, and usually kid multiples with twins and triplets being most common but quads are not unusual. Because they come into season every 21 days it is quite possible to stagger breedings so that you always have a plenty of milk for your family.

Their small size and gentle nature means they are safer to be around and maintenance such as hoof trimming is easier too. Plus they can easily be picked up (well one of my bucks is 76lbs I can't pick him up any more, but the does are all around 50lbs) and put into large or xl dog crates for transport.

I also breed specifically for goats that will do well without being fed any grain. My girls get alfalfa and pasture browse -thats it. I figure in an EOWASWKI scenario there isn't going to be any fancy feed to be found, so why give it to them now. 

Further if there was a situation where I had to provide more protection for them my whole herd could be easily contained in my garage, or for that matter I could put them in the crawl space under the house.


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## *Andi

Possumfam said:


> No sheep, and maybe a little clover. Do you think that if we continue to milk her, she'd keep producing? This just blows my mind.


I don't see why not ... :dunno: and I have heard of people doing it. I know one lady that milked a goat for 4 years without breeding her back. I like to give mine a break ... but to each their own.


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## gypsysue

So I guess nobody knows if the goat meat will taste funny if the male goat is having hormone-related body odor issues...

Well, does anyone know what goat tastes like? Is is light, dark, heavy, musky...? Will it be worth our trouble to butcher it? :dunno:

I doubt it tastes like chicken!


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## *Andi

gypsysue said:


> So I guess nobody knows if the goat meat will taste funny if the male goat is having hormone-related body odor issues...
> 
> Well, does anyone know what goat tastes like? Is is light, dark, heavy, musky...? Will it be worth our trouble to butcher it? :dunno:
> 
> I doubt it tastes like chicken!


Sorry Sue ... I missed your first question.:scratch

I put goat meat with venison ... and just like venison each animal can be a little different. I have sold just as many "billies" as I have "wethers". (yes, for food) Just for myself if he is having hormone-related body odor issues... (I like that ) I would wait.

On a side note ... I know a lot of folks that will not harvest a buck deer for the table, they think the meat is "strong", same for a wild boar meat ...

To each their own ... :flower:

(So I'm not sure if I helped or not) lol


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## goshengirl

Ha! I've got a couple of boys with hormone-related body odor issues... 

Can't help with the goats, though.


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## gypsysue

goshengirl said:


> Ha! I've got a couple of boys with hormone-related body odor issues...
> 
> Can't help with the goats, though.


:lolsmash: I guess I should have included the human males on our property in that description! :lolsmash:

From years of hunting and eating venison we've noticed two things that make it taste funny. One is if the deer panics and runs after being shot. The adrenalin gives the meat a tangy flavor. The other is bucks during the rut. Which is why we thought the goat meat might taste funny, since goats and deer are quite similar.

We're dropped deer that didn't even know we were there, and the meat was sweet and good.

We're leaning toward waiting, but now wonder how long that'll take? Right now there's lots for him to eat, but in another month everything will have died back and be starting to get buried under snow. He still likes to nibble willow and pine branches in the winter, but those won't keep fat on him. And we're hoping not to have to buy more feed when he runs out and he forage is gone.


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## Possumfam

Hubby is picking up a "visiting" billy. Guess he'll be here till he gets the job done. Don't know how long that'll take, but there are 3 females (don't know if they have to be in "heat" or not), kinda excited about the growing family.


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## *Andi

Possumfam said:


> Hubby is picking up a "visiting" billy. Guess he'll be here till he gets the job done. Don't know how long that'll take, but there are 3 females (don't know if they have to be in "heat" or not), kinda excited about the growing family.


Cool ... look forward to hearing about the new babies to come ...


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## HozayBuck

*Never ate goat meat but I expect it could run more to antelope then deer.. lopers can be a bit strong if killed while running ..which is what they do... for many years I hunted with my rifle sighted in dead on at 500 yards.. "Lopers" go about that far and stop, turn sideways and look back... bang..easy shot... I try to never shoot a buck.. they are funky in rut.. Does are so much better..

I've heard of ( but never actually seen ) that people actually eat sheep...:ignore:

I asked TLM about eating goat, she said weathers are very good.. and she has friends who only eat goat... never buy beef.. I'm not too wild about most beef... I like a good brisket and sirloin steak once in a while..love pork and chicken...

So.. I think goat will be on our table soon as the new billy has bred everything including the fence posts ..so I'll let ya know in a while*


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## Possumfam

HozayBuck said:


> So.. I think goat will be on our table soon as the new billy has bred everything including the fence posts ..so I'll let ya know in a while


*

Good, cuz like Gypsysue - I'd like to know about when's the best time to harvest. I've had venison and boar, but never goat. We use venison just like beef, in tacos, spaghetti, etc....and boar just like pork, but I don't have a clue how to use goat.*


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## HozayBuck

Possumfam said:


> Good, cuz like Gypsysue - I'd like to know about when's the best time to harvest. I've had venison and boar, but never goat. We use venison just like beef, in tacos, spaghetti, etc....and boar just like pork, but I don't have a clue how to use goat.


I'd say just use it like any non pork/chicken meat.. I usually cut the back straps out of my deer and chunk the rest and add pork fat and seasonings and double grind into breakfast sausage plus a lot seasoned to be good for sketty or meat loafs and chili ... usually either a hot or mild Italian , the breakfast sausage is usually a sweet Italian... my reason for this is simply that while I'm a pretty good cook I've yet to ever cook a deer roast that was worth serving.. always dry... tried crock pots, and you name it...and I hate dry roast..Bear is just like Pork and has to be cooked completely done!... but is very good..if you like Pork...out of all the wild meats, believe it or not..the best is Mountain Lion...at least when a buddy of mine fixes it...he's pretty handy in the kitchen too...

Sorry..I wondered away fro the question... I will let yawl know about goat asap...in fact I had thought about maybe buying a couple of them to butcher.. rather then waiting...


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## brucehylton

Goats taste about like beef if you cook them the same way. In western Washington, we get so much rain that even the venison and elk cook up moist and delicious.


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## kejmack

gypsysue said:


> So I guess nobody knows if the goat meat will taste funny if the male goat is having hormone-related body odor issues...
> 
> Well, does anyone know what goat tastes like? Is is light, dark, heavy, musky...? Will it be worth our trouble to butcher it? :dunno:
> 
> I doubt it tastes like chicken!


Yes, the milk AND the meat will taste bad if the buck is kept near the does! The way I do it is to keep the buck clear on the other side of the farm.... or borrow a buck from someone else.


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## Maol9

> Yes, the milk AND the meat will taste bad if the buck is kept near the does! The way I do it is to keep the buck clear on the other side of the farm.... or borrow a buck from someone else.


I hadn't heard this before. I am Considering meat goats in the future, hence my interest. How far should the separation be? How long does a 'tainted' goat take to 'clear'? Does age matter? Length of time of the proximity matter?

Thanks.


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## *Andi

kejmack said:


> Yes, the milk AND the meat will taste bad if the buck is kept near the does! The way I do it is to keep the buck clear on the other side of the farm.... or borrow a buck from someone else.


I've heard this time and time again ... :dunno: But to be honest I've never had that problem, which I'm glad for. Right now my bucks are in a their lot, which happens to be next to the lot the girls are in. After the girls have been "serviced " The buck smell will go ... (well, after a good rain or two) and we are good to go till next season.

So as of now two of the girls have been with the older buck, in Nov. I will put 2 more in then come Jan. the other 2. They will all run together till the does come fresh. I've never understood why a buck will/would affect some does giving milk and not the others ... :dunno:


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## Wags

My bucks - three of them - are penned next to the does. No problem with the milk being affected by their scent.


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## VUnder

gypsysue said:


> So I guess nobody knows if the goat meat will taste funny if the male goat is having hormone-related body odor issues...
> 
> Well, does anyone know what goat tastes like? Is is light, dark, heavy, musky...? Will it be worth our trouble to butcher it? :dunno:
> 
> I doubt it tastes like chicken!


The first time I had goat was in Amsterdam, the people I visited brought some home from the open market. It was just a goat hind quarter, still had the hide, hair, and hoof on it. Just hanging up at a little open shop. It was very good meat. Not as lean and rich as deer, which is good. I liked it.

The best advice to process one is to hang it upside down alive and then cut its throat. That is how they still do in the middle east. If I was raising goats, the males would be castrated while young. Keep a Billy, and a prospective Billy, in case something happens to big Billy.

I have a large pen out back, net wire, cross ties around the bottom all the way around, and electric fence inside that. I did have 50 wild hogs I had caught, penned up in there. I have been leaning heavy toward goats. There have always been a few around here, but I have never went for having a herd.


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## gypsysue

We butchered the goat today. So far he's been 'dispatched', 'field dressed', hung on the gambrel, and skinned. Now it's chilling in our upper-20 degree weather and tomorrow he'll be cut up. My husband is going to cut out the backstrap and we'll cook it and see what we think of goat meat. If we can't stand it I'll process it for dog food. But we're not terribly picky, so I expect it'll be 'people food'.

We only have/had the one goat at this time, and it was a 'gift' from friends a year and a half ago. He was supposed to be wethered, but something was apparently missed! He was foul-smelling and bad-tempered. Too bad, because he was a beautiful animal. Looked like those white goats you see in pictures from Glacier National Park.

I'll let you all know after we do our taste-test!


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## Emerald

Now I do really wish I was your neighbor!! I love goat and don't get it very often..I have seriously thought of getting a couple good dairy goats for milk and hoping for a few males at freshening time for dinner. I do like them young tho, they are more like a nice lamb.. The older they get they start tasting stronger like mutton.. but that is good for stew with a rich gravy and veggie put over some nice mashed potato.
I got to eat goat many times when I lived in Florida when I went to some of the Haitian gal's homes for dinner after work. I wish I had thought to ask for some of their recipes.. they were spicy and yummy over rice.


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## Momturtle

Goat is delicious and rich. Kind of like lamb but not quite as strong. It is cooked much more overseas than it has been here. Makes excellent meal if cooked slow and moist (crock pot) with onions, carrots and such, with a touch of ginger and some hot pepper. For a super treat, stir in a can of coconut creme and 1/2 cup peanut butter. Oh my goodness is it tasty over rice or potatoes. The adult bucks, unneutered, can provide very pungent meat. A correctly neutered whether has no more smell than a doe. It is like an older boar pig can be rank tasting. 

Our Buck never caused the does milk to taste bad but we did have a doe that gave milk that tasted like it had sweat socks in it no matter what she ate or where she was. Now THAT was a cull doe, along with her offspring. The meat was good though. I hear the Nigerian Dwarfs are easier to fence in than some other breeds. Can any one confirm that? Most of the larger dairy breeds are like trying to fence in the wind.


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## *Andi

I'm not sure about the Nigerian Dwarfs and fencing. (I've never had them before.) I know for me ... it can be a goat, large or small that can clear a fence. (one way or another)

I have a jumper now and if she was not my best milker, she would have been put down the road a long time ago. I have but one lot I can keep her in and that is where she stays. With her, the grass "is always" greener on the other side ... even when it is not.:scratch


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## SageAdvicefarmgirl

gatorglockman said:


> Thanks for the feedback. *Seems like most are not raising goats for food but more for milk. I know they are good eating.* Thanks for the shared insight.
> 
> On the pig thing...you know, AL is getting "ate up" with wild pigs. I shot 2 last year in the hunting club I was in and the state is begging for people to take them out. We are allowed and encouraged to trap them, but you can't relocate them. That said, you could prob trap them in a big pen, close the trap when you have a few, then feed them and let them reproduce for some protein on the free.
> 
> Wild pigs are indeed pretty tasty if you take them before they get too big/heavy. Mine were awesome last year.


we used to raise goats and are getting ready to buy some this winter or spring, as soon as we get fencing & goat barn ready...

We milked our goats, bred them each year, many had triplets, we'd keep the does (females) and named them pretty names like Darla and Annie and Jemima, we'd castrate the baby males (by banding their testicles, which dry up and drop off in a week or so, they say it mainly causes them itching sensation) then we named them Barbecue I, Barbecue II, etc. We'd butcher them at a couple of months, not much meat on these, being dairy breeds, (mostly Alpines and Nubians) but yes, Boer goats are meatier and you can milk their does, just won't get as much milk.

We also had dog problems, my advice: leave a couple of goats with horns to protect the herd. Our lead doe, Annie was a Saanan with horns, she was very gentle, but would stand up to a dog. We had 35 acres of pasture they ran on, and all we had to do was step outside the door and yell: "AAAANeee" and she'd come running, the others would follow her since she was the protector of the herd.

At one time we had over 30 goats. We only have a couple of acres now, so will be getting only 3 or 4 this time. My neighbor has a mule that keeps dogs out of his cow pasture. I've thought about buying a young jack and keeping him with the goats for protection (we also have a Great Pyrenees/part-bred dog that does watch over our chickens...but we're not sure she'll be big enough to fight a big dog...) The idea of a Mule would be to also have back-up transportation and hauling capacity! Any muleskinners out there?


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## Cornerstone6022

*My two cents *

Well, I didn't read all the previous posts - only a few. 
I currently raise Boer goats. As far as being unthrifty - I'd ALMOST have to agree. My Pure (100%) Boers are lest thrifty than my Boer/Kiko crosses. I have yet to call out a vet, but have had to treat for worms, lice and mites a few times. One injury which was very minor and healed nicely with a bit of comfrey oil. We have had a few does that didn't seem to put out more than single births - so they were sold. We have kept the ones that have twins, triplets and quads. Goats (at least ours, and that includes our buck) are very friendly and easy to handle. They are superb brush eaters, which depending on the SHTF situation may be a big plus over pigs that get your leftovers and such (won't be much leftovers here) or cattle that will certainly eat much more and have a much longer waiting period between birth and slaughter. My Boer/Kiko crosses weigh on average about 60# at three months of age. Triplets therefore could produce approx. 180# of live weight meat in three months. A thought on a SHTF type senario - no power or no way to preserve meat? With a few does birthing at staggered times(Boers and Kikos breed all year round) You could leave the meat "on the hoof" so to speak for awhile. I like our pigs and I like our cow, but the goats are seriously the easiest to care for and you could even keep the goats and pigs together if you had a bit of acreage - pigs eat low - goats eat high. 
I will agree that they can definately be "prey" in predator populated areas. I currently don't have a guard in with the goats. I do like the idea of a mule or a donkey as a guard...dual purpose (more so than a dog I suppose). We have enough horses, so probably won't invest in a donkey or mule. However would NOT recommend a jack for guarding. A jenny is best. Another nice thing about the goats...they can pack for you (if trained)if you had to Bug out and they can eat browse along the way. A small herd of goats sure could carry some supplies (including fresh milk) LOL. 
I also have one dairy goat that I keep around for milking...bred to our Boer/Kiko buck - her offspring grow the fastest of any that I have.

ETA: Boers and Kikos are easy to fence in...none of ours has ever tried escaping. But being a breed that is primarily kept horned, you do have to watch that your fencing doesn't allow them to get their heads stuck in the fence LOL. Another one that doesn't tend to be prone to escaping is the Myotonic (fainting) goats. They are a smaller meat breed, keep a buck and then one or two dairy does for milking?


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## stanb999

Goats...

They are hardy as long as they aren't producing much. With this I mean milk or meat. They will need grain if you want more than just a bit of milk and if your going for meat. they grow slow without access to top shelf feed. They will need medicines, wormer, minerals, and a bit of sweet feed if they get thin in the harsh months. In the north it's winter, in the south it's summer. Basically when the grass and brush isn't growing actively.


From a survival stand point. Stay away from top milkers or top meat goats. They require the best situation to thrive. They will do better under ideal conditions. But how many of us have that or will have that in the future? IMHO Get your self a few pair of average goats. Suited to your climate. Work them and see how it goes. It's taken me 5 years to have goats that thrive in this cold damp climate without much "extra" inputs. I still feed the girls grain/alfalfa just after birth and while milking. 

Taking the survival aspect further....

Don't feed your goat just hay. It will get thin and DIE.
Don't try to feed it corn and hay. See above.
Do give it plenty of browse.. They still get nutrients even if it's brown.
Do cut your own hay or buy poor horse hay. You want it fresh. But with brambles, sticks and all manner of weeds the horse people don't want.
Do learn to raise livestock as soon as you can. It isn't as easy as raising a cat or dog. It's far from turn key.


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## stand

*Livestock and game will be gone if shtf.*

Starving dogs, cats,and people will see to that. The survivors of the first year will be lucky if there's any white pines left for bark, cattails, etc, and a few fish. I doubt that any freshwater fish will be left, with the possible exception of the Great Lakes. All the streams and small lakes will be fished out, by nets, traps, trotlines, fish poison, to feed starving people.


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## lazydaisy67

gypsysue said:


> This goat WAS banded/castrated, but apparently they didn't do a good job. I would assume he's still fertile if he stinks like this. He's about a year and a half old, and a 'friend' gave him to us. He's an Alpine pack goat, so on the large side. The people who gave him to us raise and sell them, so they "fixed" this one so they wouldn't have competition in their market (someone using it as a "bull"? "Stallion"? Sire?). They sell the females. Not sure why they gave this male away. You'd think they could have raised and trained it as a pack goat and sold it ready to go? We worked with him some because my husband was going to take him along on his trapline to carry stuff. But he's decided he'd rather keep pulling is gear on the tobaggan and not mess with the goat. So we decided to butcher him. We have been trying for 6 months to give him away.
> 
> My question still is: Will the meat taste funny if we butcher him now? Should we wait?
> 
> He sure SMELLS funny! And I don't mean like "ha ha"!


If he stinks like that don't butcher him. Male goats shouldn't be stinky or in "rut" if they've been banded correctly. These folks may have done it before both testicles had dropped down. At any rate, I can almost guarantee that the meat will taste funky if you eat this one. I am familiar with milkers, and I know that if you milk when a male is anywhere near you, your milking barn, or your producing females, your milk will taste like that male smells!! I'd either keep the guy to eat some weeds around your property or sell him to a neighbor or at the livestock auction. My personal philosophy is that any animal I'm going to feed must give me something in return whether that's meat, milk, eggs, whatever. If this guy isn't suited for any of that I wouldn't waste your time and money on him.


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## sunny

Nah, I have my buck living with all 3 of my milkers most of the year. The trick is, don;t touch the buck or where he rubs his scent on anything, before you milk, The buck smell doesn't get inside the does udder, it gets into the milk while you're milking. As long as you are very clean and cleaned the doe well, the milk won't taste any different at all.

As far as butchering a buck. Kind of the same thing. Wash the carcass down and butcher without letting the hair touch the meat. You may taste the hormones a little and will want to remove the glands. It's really just the same as shooting and cleaning a buck deer.

Nigerians are small and they find every hole in and under the fence. The babies can get out of a 6x4 inch hole without sweating.


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## Jarhead0311

The_Blob said:


> if you've got the land, sometimes you can get young bulls for free after the calving from dairy farms -- castrate em' & raise them for meat, if you don't have any females nearby (smelling distance) they don't get aggressive (in my experience)
> 
> IMHO one of the best 'larger' farm animals for meat to raise is pigs because they grow fast and will eat a wide variety of food (slops) without getting sick... I've never done more than one at a time though


With today's beef prices no ones is giving away calves....bulls or heifers. Week old dairy calves are bringing about $250 and as soon as they are weaned (off the bucket)$385.


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## Cornerstone6022

Wow those are some high cattle prices!! Dairy steer/feeders here run about $50-60 for week olds.


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## lazydaisy67

I think goats are fairly easy keepers as far as general livestock goes. Fencing could be an issue if you happen to get one that's a jumper, but so far I haven't had one of those. We usually let our 4 dairy goats wander free on our yard in the summer. When we come outside, they rush to our side to see if we have any treats for them. Only on a rare occasion would they wander across the road to the neighbor's yard. Raising meat goats around here is getting more and more popular as the demand for goat meat in the U.S. rises. I believe the U.S. imports approximately 1.5 million pounds PER WEEK!!! 63% of all red meat consumed in the world is goat!! You'll find some large-scale goat farms that are "Nazi" about their medications, but that's because their goat operation is their livelihood. On a smaller scale, 1-10 goats, you can raise them successfully with few expenses. The biggest obstacle to raising goats is worms. Goats have worms, lots of them! There's lots of info on the net about goats and worms. Read all of it, take what you can understand and what makes sense, and chuck the rest. Go to your vet and tell him/her you have goats. If they look at you with a deer-in-the-headlights look, find another vet. I've lost baby goats because the vet I took them to didn't have a clue how to treat them. They have a tendency to want to treat them like calves and it doesn't work. 
For the benefit of both meat and dairy, get dairy does and meat bucks and breed them. You'll get a finer boned animal from the dairy with good muscle structure for eating. You can butcher kids at 8 weeks or wait longer if you choose. If you have 4 does and one buck, you could potentially have 8-12 animals to butcher every year. The meat is tender and not gamey at all.
They're easier than pigs or cows, don't need a lot of medications or time, don't take up much space, will give you meat and milk and are generally fun to be around.
One word of caution. As with most little critters, baby goats are adorable and it can be hard to butcher them if you get attached.


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## Jarhead0311

Cornerstone6022 said:


> Wow those are some high cattle prices!! Dairy steer/feeders here run about $50-60 for week olds.


How long has it been since you checked ?......those used to be the price around here.


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## Jarhead0311

stanb999 said:


> Goats...
> 
> Taking the survival aspect further....
> 
> Don't feed your goat just hay. It will get thin and DIE.
> *Don't try to feed it corn and hay. See above.*
> Do give it plenty of browse.. They still get nutrients even if it's brown.
> Do cut your own hay or buy poor horse hay. You want it fresh. But with brambles, sticks and all manner of weeds the horse people don't want.
> Do learn to raise livestock as soon as you can. It isn't as easy as raising a cat or dog. It's far from turn key.


 Here are some photos of my goats that are being fed corn and hay.









They don't seem to be starving.


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## goatlady

I guess everybody develops their own system for healthy producing goats, based on their local, the goat breed, etc. But in my 30+ years of successfully raising French Alpines and Nubian/Boer cross goats at high elevation in western SD and now here in north central Arkansas, in addiiton to my herd having a nice area to browse, they all get a flake of alfalfa/orchard grass hay daily each plus a cup of cracked corn and a handful of "sweet chop" twice a day. No added minerals or supplements other than periodic worming for their health. IF the alfalfa/grass hay is not available they will get a cupfull of alfalfa pellets twice a day with the corn and chop, and still get their flakes of lesser grade hay daily, each. Horse hay is really not too good for goats as goats are ruminants and have a far different digestive system than horses and far different nutrition requirements. Hay/roughage is THE mainstay for a producing goat to stay healthy and producing.


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## Cornerstone6022

Jarhead0311 said:


> How long has it been since you checked ?......those used to be the price around here.


LOL - today!! Prices quite low around here I guess


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## lilmama

Coming from experience, you do not want to drink goat milk from a doe that has been around a male goat that smells. The milk will taste just like the smell. Not good at all.


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## talob

*Meat goats*

I have chickens now and have been thinking about hogs&rabbits for other meat critters, have thought about beef but with cost and time to butcher leaning away from that. Anyway was driveing down the road the other day and saw a sign for meat goats, I really hadent gave goats a serious thought till now so now I'm doing my homework on meat goats, did a search here and came across this old thread a lot of good information here and sounds encouraging on the thought of eating goat.
Many years and a different lifetime ago had dairy goats I got to really like goat milk and it made great cheese, I've been telling this wife I'm gonna get her a couple of goats for her to milk for some time now ( was jokeing till now) this is the response I get:rofl::rofl::rofl: Have been looking at the different breeds and their characteristics one of my concerns is predaters have been loosing a few chickens to cyotes and there are some stray dogs running around here, anyway sounds like goats have some advantages lots of food for thought.


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## jeff47041

I keep thinking about getting goats for meat. I'd like to get some goat meat to taste to see if we would like it.

The lovely one talks about wanting a milk goat. We buy quite a bit of milk at the store, and she wants to learn butter & cheese making.

20 years ago, I raised goats. I bought a bottle goat for my kids. Raised her and got a buck. Then saved the baby girls from some litters. Ended up with 5 does and 1 buck. Each of my girls would have triplets each time. I would make a trip to a livestock auction when they were big enough, and I would sell 15 goats for $75 a piece. I'd get a check for $1125 for not much work at all.

But 1 day a pack of dogs came through and wiped me out of all but one goat. I gave up easily and got rid of her too and that was the end of that. 

Maybe I'll start up again, but do a better job.


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## Quills

BillS said:


> Goats are usually used to produce milk. The gestational period for goats is 150 days. They can have from 1 to 3 young. You'd have to raise a lot of goats just to eat one every month.
> 
> Goat Reproduction at Animal Corner


I'd like to note that, this may be true in the US, but goat meat, or chevon, is a main source of animal protein for much of the world.

We raise goats (Boers) for meat, and as a previous poster noted, you have to have the right breed. You don't get much meat from a dairy goat, and you won't get much milk from a meat breed -- kind of like chickens, with egg breeds and meat breeds.

When asked to describe the meat, the closest we've been able to come accurately is to say it's like a cross between lamb and venison. Goats are easy to raise, relatively trouble-free (they do like to go on walkabout, though, so make sure you have a securely fenced area for them), and easy to butcher. Overall, they're a very easy-to-raise source of protein, without much input cost.


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## talob

jeff47041 said:


> I keep thinking about getting goats for meat. I'd like to get some goat meat to taste to see if we would like it.
> 
> The lovely one talks about wanting a milk goat. We buy quite a bit of milk at the store, and she wants to learn butter & cheese making.
> 
> 20 years ago, I raised goats. I bought a bottle goat for my kids. Raised her and got a buck. Then saved the baby girls from some litters. Ended up with 5 does and 1 buck. Each of my girls would have triplets each time. I would make a trip to a livestock auction when they were big enough, and I would sell 15 goats for $75 a piece. I'd get a check for $1125 for not much work at all.
> 
> But 1 day a pack of dogs came through and wiped me out of all but one goat. I gave up easily and got rid of her too and that was the end of that.
> 
> Maybe I'll start up again, but do a better job.


Sounds like you did really well with selling the goats wonder how it would be now, I had exactaly the same thought on trying goat meat would like to try some steak, roast or something to try, wife said she had goat years ago and didnt like it but I told her its like venison there are so many varibles, gotta try it again tomorrow I'm gonna call this place and see about getting some to try they have boer and savannah.


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