Meat Goats

[gwi1890]

Should probably try and make a joke about you going the next step from easycares to goats but I can't think of one

I never thought the day would come where I was replacing cattle with goats

 

[steveR]

Meat goats are hard work- they grow incredibly slowly and take a lot of feeding to get there. They are not as robust as sheep either.

Well, according to @neilo , a good many Easycare sheep could pass as goats!!

But seriously, I have been asked more than once could I supply goat carcases. Butchering seemed to be basically cubing up everything!!!

I tried to find a source of kids, but none about, all the dairy folks had markets for all their kids. I will be interested in how your researches go @gwi1890

 

[steveR]

I never thought the day would come where I was replacing cattle with goats

Beat me to the EC crack

 

[steveR]

We knew someone who had goats for the North Africans in Bristol. They can jump! @spin cycle's hurdlers are tame by comparison. They grow better with more than grass i.e. hedges, shrubs, tree folliage. And lastly, home killing and butchering makes a difference to meat flavour. Taking them to the abattoir was one reason our friend stopped keeping them - and he was an experienced beef and sheep farmer.

Hmmmm.

 

[steveR]

Think of them as pet lambs.
Expensive to rear and a struggle to get fat.
We had 100 goat suckler herd. The only way.

Profitable?

 

[Wisconsonian]

Purebred boers here are stupid animals, get a boer buck if you have to on dairy or mixed does. Kiko or savanah even better. There's a market at most weights, but the market demands a certain animal at different times of the year and you'd better supply what the market wants, or it won't be worth the hassle. We don't have a huge Caribean market though, a big mix of everything from Mexican to Muslim, even Hmong have started butchering goats. Rumor has it the Jamaicans like the billy goats, and the prices are way more than you'd expect. If you have a steady market for nearly full grown animals, that would make it easier. $20/k is not off a good live price, not as good as it sounds though when you factor the hassle, slow growth, more creative at dying than sheep even, parasite vulnerability, and direct marketing into that price.

 

[gwi1890]

Well, according to @neilo , a good many Easycare sheep could pass as goats!!

But seriously, I have been asked more than once could I supply goat carcases. Butchering seemed to be basically cubing up everything!!!

I tried to find a source of kids, but none about, all the dairy folks had markets for all their kids. I will be interested in how your researches go @gwi1890

Yes will do, the majority of sub-Saharan African countries it’s all cubed stewed and served with “sadza” or “pap” which is basically boiled cornflour mash and it’s the daily staple over there. And something a bit more common here Caribbean communities serving curried goat with rice. We have quite a diverse population in the UK so it doesn’t surprise me that it’s something in demand.

 

[steveR]

Yes will do, the majority of sub-Saharan African countries it’s all cubed stewed and served with “sadza” or “pap” which is basically boiled cornflour mash and it’s the daily staple over there. And something a bit more common here Caribbean communities serving curried goat with rice. We have quite a diverse population in the UK so it doesn’t surprise me that it’s something in demand.

Interesting that the local Market has a "foodie" evening once a month. We went earlier in the year and my daughter had curried "goat".... I would want a DNA test on that goat!!

 

[gwi1890]

Purebred boers here are stupid animals, get a boer buck if you have to on dairy or mixed does. Kiko or savanah even better. There's a market at most weights, but the market demands a certain animal at different times of the year and you'd better supply what the market wants, or it won't be worth the hassle. We don't have a huge Caribean market though, a big mix of everything from Mexican to Muslim, even Hmong have started butchering goats. Rumor has it the Jamaicans like the billy goats, and the prices are way more than you'd expect. If you have a steady market for nearly full grown animals, that would make it easier. $20/k is not off a good live price, not as good as it sounds though when you factor the hassle, slow growth, more creative at dying than sheep even, parasite vulnerability, and direct marketing into that price.

Thanks for this all very helpful information, my intention was house them and let them roam an enclosed cattle yard and feed hay + whatever concentrate they need at certain point a year/fattening. Is this a viable idea?

 

[unlacedgecko]

Thanks for this all very helpful information, my intention was house them and let them roam an enclosed cattle yard and feed hay + whatever concentrate they need at certain a year/fattening. Is this a viable idea?

There's a large goat dairy in Gloucestershire. That is what they did with their dairy billies. Got to 50ishkg at 6months.

 

[steveR]

There's a large goat dairy in Gloucestershire. That is what they did with their dairy billies. Got to 50ishkg at 6months.

Good performance if costs can be kept under control...

 

[Nearly]

Profitable?

On the day we sold them.
It was when we were milking 1000, so a useful sideline for low yielding, healthy nannies.

 

[steveR]

On the day we sold them.
It was when we were milking 1000, so a useful sideline for low yielding, healthy nannies.

You didn't keep Dexter cattle as well?

Bought a Bull many years ago from a farm with a big milking goat enterprise on the farm that neck of teh woods..

 

[Nearly]

No

 

[Wisconsonian]

Thanks for this all very helpful information, my intention was house them and let them roam an enclosed cattle yard and feed hay + whatever concentrate they need at certain point a year/fattening. Is this a viable idea?

Yes, raising kids in confinement on concentrates or hay/grain mix is common. Confinement greatly reduces their parasite exposure over grazing. You'll still have to goat proof a cattle fence so they can't get their head through, or can't get stuck in any possible way, like sheep only smarter and more agile. Raising does and producing kids both in confinement is less common, mostly an issue of feed costs.

 

[Whitepeak]

Are you going to Bakewell on Thursday??

 

[milkloss]

Neighbour was involved in these goats. I think he had trouble with johnes and worm control. keep an eye out for johnes, I got the impression not all sellers are honest about it.

 

[unlacedgecko]

Pressing Pause - Just Kidding

When I started Just Kidding in July 2013, I could never have imagined what lay ahead – to be honest I’m not sure there was even a proper plan at that stage! I had an idea and a determination to see it through and the rest is history. The nine years since have been …

cotswoldkidmeat.com

 

[Guiggs]

Just to jump on this thread...
Do people castrate the male kids or leave entire?
Can goats run alongside sheep? I seem to recall there's potentially issues with parasite/ worms??
If someone was particularly mental and thinking of getting a starter herd of goats would they be able to share a paddock with the breeding tups?
Asking for a friend obviously!

 

[Wisconsonian]

Sheep and goats share the same worms mostly, sheep are more resistant so goats will suffer more. Muslims prefer an intact male "yearling" for Eid, which is the best price in the US for a larger goat. Most other markets don't care if their intact or not.

Rumor has it, billy goats will breed sheep, which will then abort leaving no lambs. Not sure if it works the other way or not.