I butchered a Bottle-baby PICS

That kid had the easiest life, even if it was short. It was loved, well fed, and happy. It had no clue what was coming and was killed and butchered humanely. What more could be asked? Diane was a wonderful caretaker to that little fella and he spent his days happily and carefree. Nary a worry in his little head. Never was moved from his home and never had to suffer a thing.

Admittedly, I am not at a stage where I could do the butchering myself, but that has more to do with the fact I have never handled a gun and I feel they should be killed quickly and humanely. A novice with a gun can make a killing go awry. I have heard far too many horror stories where the animal did not die immediately. Since I can't do it myself and it is far too costly to have it processed by professionals, we don't eat goat. I happily eat Jersey steer though. Especially when it is from an animal I know led a full life.

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Roseanna
Morning Mist Herd
Journey's End Jerseys
Jerseys, Jersey/Norwegian Reds, Beef, Boers, Nubians & crossbreeds

That's pretty funny....why did you click on this topic?

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Diane Rhodes
Feral Nature Farm
LaManchas, MiniManchas and Boers
Member ADGA, MDGA

dupicate, sorry

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Diane Rhodes
Feral Nature Farm
LaManchas, MiniManchas and Boers
Member ADGA, MDGA

That is the bottom part of the hind legs. I cut a hole between the bone and the tendon and run rebar through the two back legs...you can kinda see it in the pic if you know what to look for. It is stron and even holds up a fairly large goat.

After I am done, I hose it off real good and let it hang a little while. We had an unusual cold spell here in texas so I took advantage of it. It is a good time to butcher goats and chickens when the meat won't spoil and there are no flies. It is actually enjoyable and not a difficult task when the weather is favorable. Summer butchering is rough indeed.

Those are my own brand of chickens. Sixteen years ago i ordered a collection of rare pullets and phoenix longtailed roosters and it has been survival of the fittest ever since. They free range and only the strong and those with wits about them survive and reproduce.

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Diane Rhodes
Feral Nature Farm
LaManchas, MiniManchas and Boers
Member ADGA, MDGA

Like that

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Diane Rhodes
Feral Nature Farm
LaManchas, MiniManchas and Boers
Member ADGA, MDGA

My good friend Roseanna here understands me well. This animal never had a sad moment in his life. I shudder when i think of the way animals die in the processing plants, still alive sometimes when butchering begins. And before that, they are taken from there farms and run through auctions, then loaded on trucks and then to feedlots. I try my best to stay out of that loop. I tend not to think of myelf as especially heartless!

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Diane Rhodes
Feral Nature Farm
LaManchas, MiniManchas and Boers
Member ADGA, MDGA

OH Please Feral Nature. I by no means mean anythihg bad about what you do. I do totally understand that they have lived a very happy and healthy life. Please don't take the heartless comment bad, like i said I tell my husband he is heartless, but I really don't mean it. You can tell you love them.

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Raising Beautiful Cashmere goats, to produce the best quality cashmere.
www.freewebs.com/sweetgoats
Lori

Are you kidding Sweet Goats? I PRIDE myself on being heartless

Come on, where's your sense of humour!

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Diane Rhodes
Feral Nature Farm
LaManchas, MiniManchas and Boers
Member ADGA, MDGA

Hey, new here. I accidentally clicked on this post lol. We have killed chickens and ate them, but that's it. I can't eat something once I have seen it alive and I wouldn't be able to kill and eat a goat especially if I had seen it born and raised it, but I am sensitive like that. It is better on them to shoot them, and the meat may actually be better because you know what's in it.

So you get $250.00 for your culls? Or do you not cull your herd and sell every single one of your bucklings each and every year from each and every doe as a herd sire for someone to improve their herd with??

If I had goats that fantastically amazing, I wouldn't be hanging them in a tree either!


But I like to cull my herd hard and only keep the very best each year. That is how you improve your herd and pass on better genes to other herds.

This was not a $250.00 buckling. It was cabrito.

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Diane Rhodes
Feral Nature Farm
LaManchas, MiniManchas and Boers
Member ADGA, MDGA

Hazyday your bucklings sure must come from incredible bloodlines. I currently have 12 Nubian/Boer cross bucklings for sale, any idea what they may bring in Canada? If your getting $250 each I'd be happy with $100 each. Down here in Tennessee these boys are only worth $60 each. I'm ready to export to my northern neighbors....TCW just got to tell ya, excellent thread!!!

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TOPSIDE FARMS

No I do cull. The 2 I have come from great parents and im keeping 1 as my herd sire. And the other well if some one wants a 250.00 buck then go for it. I think I may have sold him tho.

I do have away of doing my bucks. I give them till the next bunch of kids are born for some one to call looking for one or he gets wethered and sent to some one who wants him. I can't keep to many bucks! I get a call from people getting into nubians to breed for meat and don't want boers. So now I only have 2 more to sell! But i do get some good prices. The 2 bucklings I have now (1 sold) come from a doe that would beat any doe in New Brunswick or any onther place! She is un-reg and I hate to wether but these guys have another 19 days till the band goes on.

Amen, FN. That's the only way in any responsible breeding program of any type. I think Hazy is just young and will learn quickly that not all goats can/or will bring $250.00 regardless of paperwork. Not only not every buck, but danged few bucks are worthy of becoming herd sires.

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~Tami

Bob and Tami Parrington
COUNTRY HAVEN RANCH-

To get all the info on my new novel SHAKEDOWN, and watch the video trailer check out my writer's website: 'The Writer's Corner'

While some who butcher their own animals may be heartless, I think it's more often the case that they're more informed or more thoughtful then a lot of folks who refuse to raise their own meat, but think it's better to buy it at the grocery store. The meat you buy at the store generally comes from animals who have led a much more difficult life then FN's bottle baby. So maybe she's the one with the big heart, rather then the other way around?

I'm not trying to be argumentative. I'm just asking those who are disgusted by the thought of someone butchering their animals to look at the bigger picture. That's the reason we prefer to raise what we eat rather than let someone else do it in a much less humane way.

I agree, homebirtha. Some people condemn a person who raises and kills his own meat, yet they will buy meat from the grocery store. That is like saying murder is wrong, but you can pay someone else to murder for you and it is OK.

People are different. If someone wants to be vegetarian, fine. If they want to buy their meat pre-killed and packaged, fine. If someone wants to raise, kill and eat their own, fine. To each his own.

Around here registered bucklings sell for $200-$400. The keepers of course.

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"Look, that troll is doing an Olaf impression!"

Yes I am still learning. I have had 4 breeders who all have bred grand champions look at him and said he is worth to be a buck. I am selling $100 cheaper then other bucks just as good as him. I do want to be a good breeder but if some one comes and wants a buck to breed I will only sell the best I have. Now if it had bad legs and overbite it would be a wether and named philli so he could philli our freezer!

Going from posts here before and the signature line, HD does attempt to sell every buckling as a herd sire, but of course her/his/it's goats are so great that thats what they all need, a breeding home that will pad her/his/it's pocket.

Seems we have someone living in their own world on our forum. How awesome is that?

Shhh!!!!! Lalalala...I can't hear you......

Our wethers go through the auction in Eighty-Four, PA at around 8-13 months old. They spend all but the last month or two with their family units. Are separated about a month before we send them off and fed well. They go from our farm in the morning, to the auction, through the auction and most right into a slaughterhouse found there. Best I can do for them. They help pay for their mothers up keep and they enjoy browsing during the summer, are allowed to be weaned by their dams and get to be goats. They deal with one day of total strife and i like to think it is over fairly quickly for them after that.
In 10 years....we've intentionally kept one buck kid for breeding (he settled only his mother and not his five intended ) and we've sold two intact buck kids this year (out of the 26 born so far). As of 2003 every other kid born with testicles has had those removed in some manner by the time he was 3 1/2 months old because in 2002 those buck kids we left intact for a "better price" bred our does. With one buck being cut at 10 months old when the sale fell through. When you consider that we run a ratio of 2 buck kids for every doe kid most years (this is our 8th kidding season).....and have never had less than 8 kids born a year (54 last year) that is a number of bucks......

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Roseanna
Morning Mist Herd
Journey's End Jerseys
Jerseys, Jersey/Norwegian Reds, Beef, Boers, Nubians & crossbreeds

Thank you for the pics and for the detailed description of how its done.This is somthing I was going to ask and now thanks to you, I don't have to. I have no problem butchering out and eating the animals. Feel far better doing that than eating thoes poor animals that died at the slaughter plant so that they could end up in the grocery stores.