Age to Butcher Wethered Kids

YuccaFlatsRanch · #1 02/15/08, 07:07 PM

How old can you let the Kid Goats get and still have good meat. My kids I will be eating are 3/4 Boer, 1/4 Spanish. My neighbors says to butcher at 6-10 weeks. That sounds awfully young.

goatsareus · #2 02/15/08, 07:19 PM

our kids are usually born in March and we butcher Thanksgiving weekend. So wethers are about 8 months old. We butcher when it is convenient for us to do the job. The wethers nurse their whole lives. We get nice carcasses.

YuccaFlatsRanch · #3 02/15/08, 08:25 PM

That makes much more sense - thanks

Alice In TX/MO · #4 02/15/08, 08:36 PM

In our Hispanic communities, they barbecue at 12 weeks.

RiverPines · #5 02/15/08, 09:49 PM

I wait till they hit 80-90 live weight, between 6-12 months.
Why waist them when they wont have much in dress weight processing them sooner?
Heck, anytime under a year is still tender at heck.
After a year, they are still great roast!

BlueHeronFarm · #6 02/16/08, 06:42 AM

If you do eat them young (cabrito) there is no need to wether. I guess you kind of dress it our like a rabbit. (Or so I've read...We haven't done it yet.)

Why not try one each way - a young goat and a bigger meaty goat? Then report back to the class to let us know which was better.

farm mom · #7 02/16/08, 09:30 AM

So, if you don't castrate them because you plan on eating them at what age would you need to slaughter before they taste bucky?

goatsareus · #8 02/16/08, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by farm mom

So, if you don't castrate them because you plan on eating them at what age would you need to slaughter before they taste bucky?

I don't know the answer to your question, but for me "tasting bucky" is not the issue. It is to prevent any unauthorized breeding from taking place, as well as a gentler dispositon.

ozark_jewels · #9 02/16/08, 09:40 AM

If I plan on butchering my dairy wethers, I leave them intact and butcher them at about 3 months old.
I wether my Boer bucklings and butcher between 8-12 months. Usually more like 8-10 months. They are born in early winter and I butcher in the fall before I have to start supplementing with hay. Cuts down on my winter feeding costs. I do not wean before butchering.

stacygoats · #10 02/16/08, 10:06 AM

I haven't butchered one for my own freezer yet, but my meat goat customers want 10-12 weeks old at Easter time and anything under a year old the remainder of the year.
I clear out any goat not being kept for breeding by fall each year, to cut down the winter feed bill.

Susan