The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: plumseverywhere on August 19, 2013, 06:54:36 pm
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As the title says really. How do you prepare both your goats and yourself in the run up to that final trip? Not done this before so any advice gratefully received :)
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Something I would be interested in preparing myself for aswell.
This will be the first year for us and we have 3 some to go later in the year, :-\
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take a drive to the slaughterhouse you intend to use explain its your first time and ask for a look around. book a date so you have a target to work to. (we do this if we are using a new place just to get a feel of the place).
you will need to make sure you have the correct paper work, ears tags etc. plait baler twine to make a collar that is left on so we are not faffing about removing collars.
its hard for me to give advise as i was brought up taking animals in so its all pretty normal if you get what i mean.
you have to think forward to all the lovely meals the animals will provide you in the knowledge they have been well cared for during their lives.
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Ours will be going to the same place that we take both the pigs and the lambs, its just up until last year we have never had meat goats
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Ours will be going to the same place that we take both the pigs and the lambs, its just up until last year we have never had meat goats
one problem some people come across is not all slaughter houses kill goats out of the 3 we use 2 will kill them.
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Do you find it easier (for want of a better word) taking a few as opposed to a single one?
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very rare 1 of any animal goes in on its own i think its better for them, less stressful.
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Definitely do a trial run and when there ask how you have to take in the goats - the backing-up bit is the worst bit as invariably there are big burly farmers behind you in the queue watching!
A good slaughter house will show you what happens from drop-off all the way - and where the goats are kept should look just like pens in a farm
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Thank you for the replies :) He will be going in with other goats so not alone, love the bailer twine collar tip. Trying to spoil him a bit before he goes in - digestives and rose leaves :)
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Goats are not too difficult to unload, as they will happily (sorry for using that word) jump out from the trailer/van and walk in with you leading them.
I have to say that I have absolutely no problem taking in sheep or pigs, but chicken out with goats every time and get the OH to do it... maybe if you had someone else to come with you at least (to drive home for when you will be upset) it would be less stressful for you.
but I have no problems in cutting up the carcass, we have done ours now a few times.
Best to ask if they do goats regularly and maybe bring him on a day when there are lots of other goats about.
Also have your butcher sorted (for him to collect the carcass and cut up as you want it), so you only have to pick up ready packed stuff. - Burgers are good and lots of cubed meat for curries and other slow stews.
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They do goats regularly which is good then. He is being taken by someone else for me (can't do it) I will be here to console the kids (human ones).
Wasnt' the plan when he was born but circumstances have changed and I would rather guarantee the certainty of what happens that to have to hope for the best if he was rehomed. As a wether goat, chances are he would end up as meat somewhere along the line, this way I'm in control that its as humane as possible. I hope this makes sense?
I think though that this means I can start to produce our own meat which up till now I've not felt confident to do. Lets see how this one goes.
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Good luck with it, the first time is worst. It's not got any nicer but definately not as upsetting as the first pigs a couple of years ago. And as you say it's better to be in control of the whole process than rehome and not know.
Just wait for your first fully home produced sunday dinner, nothing tastes better.
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They do goats regularly which is good then. He is being taken by someone else for me (can't do it) I will be here to console the kids (human ones).
Wasnt' the plan when he was born but circumstances have changed and I would rather guarantee the certainty of what happens that to have to hope for the best if he was rehomed. As a wether goat, chances are he would end up as meat somewhere along the line, this way I'm in control that its as humane as possible. I hope this makes sense?
I think though that this means I can start to produce our own meat which up till now I've not felt confident to do. Lets see how this one goes.
Much harder with goats than with sheep, but at the end of the day the meat will be superb, you should also have quite a bit of fat/lard to render for great soap (not sure you can sell it, but great soap nonetheless).
Abattoir will prefer to have an empty stomach, so I don't feed any of mine the morning of the journey, no hay overnight, but water of course.
Lets hope it will all go well - have the meat hanging for two weeks.
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Lisa, I feel for you. :hug: I know how hard it was to let Curry go. In fact, if I hadn't had a very kind person to take him for me, I think I might have chickened out. If your lad is more than a year old, like Curry was, he will probably need slow cooking.
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poor you, its difficult, but a huge step to star producing your own meat, well done. have you eaten your sheep before or is this the first one?
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The practical side seems well covered, now just start looking at him as joints and look up some recipes so you'll be looking forward to trying different ideas in cooking. Luckily in a way I had other things on my mind when I took our first 2 in, we'd been flooded and the insurance asessor wa coming up, so I just dropped them off, sorted paperwork and dashed home.
(interestingly you may remember 'Peter Boddy's, Todmorden' in the horse meat scandal, when I took the last boy in, left it to hang a few days, if I'd gone to pick it up a day later it would have been seized by officialdom). Actually just got some of that boy out of the freezer for tomorrow
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I feel for you, I really do. 2 years ago we were 'blessed' with 3 billies and even though I knew from the start that they were destined for the freezer, nothing prepared me for the actual day. We have a 3 hour drive to our 'local' abattoir so I was in quite a state by the time we arrived. To make matters worse, the lovely guy who unloaded us announced, "I hate doing goats, they seem so intelligent". Really NOT what I wanted to hear at that moment. Anyway, they were unloaded and put in a comfy pen full of clean straw and the paperwork was sorted. Now I knew...really I had told myself...that I mustn't look back, but of course I did. There they were, 3 trusting little faces looking over the side of the pen. That just about finished me. My OH and I managed about 5 miles down the road before we had to stop and just bawled our eyes out.
Moving on a week, drove (the 3 hours) back down to the abattoir and picked up 3 boxes of jointed and bagged meat and I have to say, it was the best meat ever. Roast leg of goat is just lovely with summer veg and mint sauce :yum:
So my advice, be brave, be strong and have a BIG box of tissues ready. After that, enjoy your happy home produced goat meat knowing that at least you know you did your best for him and he had a happy life.
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Also make sure the price you are quoted doesn't shoot up when you are collecting them! I used to find that it doubled between the quote and collection especially as they knew you couldn't take them straight to the local butcher any more or have a man come in to do the job on site >:(
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He's actually my daughters pet but its just not working out and after a few months of trying everything to keep him confined to his fields, we've had to give up as my health is suffering. He is uprooting fences (proper, newly planted post and rail, heavy duty fencing) and doesn't feel the ping from the electric fences - the others scream and respect the fence and its like he is immune to it. On the tester it is registering full whack so I know its strong!
I've fished him out of the neighbours gardens too many times, i've nearly had my foot severed with a lead rope burn. My other goats are so well behaved and I've had them from kids too so I don't know where this has come from! he's massive, strong, deliberately naughty (i have hnever thought I'd say that about livestock but he knows what he's doing!!) and the health and wellbeing of my family and I have to come first. If he escapes onto the road and causes an accident....??
rather than risk a 'pet' home where I won't know how well he's cared for (and as a wether that is the best he's going to find -= a 'pet' home as companion etc) I need to do what's right.
As he's milli's pet and because the plan was to keep him, we won't have his meat back but will probably have some from another goat as a friend is taking him for me.
Very sad its come to this but better I plan his end than that he accidentally ends up in the wrong hands and has an end that I wouldn't have wanted for him in a million years.
gosh, what an essay! sorry folks!
I am sure now that anything born with the intention of going int he freezer would be raised and slaughtered as such and we could eat it. just not this particular one ;)
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Gosh Plums
That sounds worrying, you are obviously taking the only option for yourselves and his welfare, well done for not taking the easy option and offering him 'free to good home' which I'm sure many would think was best, but I would always wonder how they were doing, this way you know he's not going to end up tethered out in all weathers. And he doesn't sound very suitable as a 'pet'.
Good luck, hope everything goes smoothly, in this situation I certainly wouldn't have a problem, he's had his chances and as you say, the end will be controlled and humane, not a mess out on the road. (that sounds rather graphic, but I've decided to leave it in)
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I was actually worried about posting 'the truth' on here for fear that some may feel I AM taking the easy option by choosing slaughter :) Its been a long, hard decision. Not least as I've had to explain to my daughter the rationale behind the decision, she's only 11 and although she's a grown up 11 its still felt like I'm pulling her heart.
He IS currently tethered on a swivel, 20ft lead and access to hay, water and shed but there is no way on earth that this little man is going to live out his life tethered. Soon as I let him off though........ he's gone. Just waiting for the abbatoir date to come round as each day I hate seeing him tethered to one place and much as I take him for walks on a lead to eat blackberry bushes and bindweed, I can't do it for hours each day.
My 6 yr old told her grandad today that our goat is going for meat but he's had an awesome happy life where we've been kind and loved him and "grandad, that's the best you can do for any animal, isn't it?"
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Well done for making a very difficult choice, It sounds like the best you can do for him and your family.
Difficult for you all but it's an important lesson for children to learn about and as long as you can all talk about it the girls will cope fine.
good luck with it all. :hug:
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I was actually worried about posting 'the truth' on here for fear that some may feel I AM taking the easy option by choosing slaughter
slaughter isnt the easy option at all but it sounds like the best one. our first goat jumped in the neighbours garden who sent the police after me for it :rant: it doesnt go down well with friendly relations.
its a shame you arent getting him back as he looked a good weight.
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How is your 11 yr oldtaking it? hope she's OK
how old is he and when is the date? best to get it over with, I've been able to phone up and take them in the next day (I now know killing days are Monday and Thursday) so give myself shortest time possible to think about it.
I will get shouted at for this, but I don't have a problem with tethering if done right, you are obviously looking after him, its the ones looking sad and miserable with tangled up chains that upset me (once gave the local pub owner a rousting, 'pet' goat had tangled it's chain up so much it's collar was twisted and it could only stand over the peg, hot day, they were sat round a table drinking beer. I brought the goat home!
I recently had to keep a young male tethered because he's was pestering the girls, but away from kids and dogs, water in reach, moved regular. and within sight of the house. Another trick if you can try it is to use a chain nearest the peg and extend it by a few links or so through the day.
Anyway I hope you get him away soon and then theres no turning back. But your 6yr old has the right idea, I would much rather we eat our own animals that had a good life and quick end than something that was part of a 'system'.
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She's taking it fairly well. He can't go for about another 10 days. On the day he goes, I will have my daughter taken out so she's not here to witness him walk onto the trailer. When we grazed some sheep here, she took it awfully when they went on the last journey. We kept two as lawnmowers but the rest belonged to friends, my daughter was 9 - she ran into the field, opened the gate and told the sheep to "run...now!!" and then she sobbed all day and turned vegetarian for 2 yrs.
Well done you rescuing that tethered goat! we saw so many like that in spain, sweltering heat with no shade. hated it. If ever there was a right way, we are hopefully doing it well! so far so good but its sad that his herd mates are all free to roam, otherwise I wouldnt' feel so bad. the tether rope got caught on my foot after another goat butted him, it sawed right in several mm's with a bad burn, couldnt' walk for 3 days! another reason, he has to go
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You are doing the right thing, Lisa. I think, under the circumstances, giving the meat to someone else is a good idea. When I first became a goat owner, I talked to someone very experienced and she told me that she and a friend always swapped the male kids just before they went for slaughter so they didn't take the one they reared.
TBH, although it was Curry that went off to the abattoir, it never felt like him coming back. It was just a load of meat and that's how we feel when we eat some of our goat meat. Next time a male kid is born, tell yourself and the girls right from day one that he is going to be meat so you are more ready for it.
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Will do :) We only let the girls keep this kid because they'd been bullied out of school the day he was born and it felt like a 'new start'. of course 18 months on, he's chaos! Will female kids be escape artists too? am I destined never to keep any more young goats?! agh!
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Looks like you could do with a goat training coarse ;D
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if you hear of one, JJ let me know ;) wouldn't mind but I've had the other 3 since they were kids and have never known a goat so insistent on making me stressed!!
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There is always the odd one that doesn't fit in - in the caprine and the human world! I think you have made the right decision, not passing him on to another (unsuspecting) goatkeeper who then finds s/he cannot cope with him either would not be any better.
Incidentally I have just borrowed a new cookbook from the library (I rarely buy books nowadays unless I can get them secondhand), and it has a few very interesting goat meat recipes in it - goat meatballs, "slow braised goat's leg in cider etc", and most interestingly - goat bacon! yes, goat bacon - I will definitely try that this year!
It's called: "The Ethicurean Cookbook" - I thought it was quite a weird title!
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Slow-braised goat's leg in cider sounds interesting. My goat meat is a bit tough so needs slow cooking. Trouble is, most of the joints are too big to go in my slow cooker.
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I think this is a really brave and honest decision Lisa. So much better than letting him to to an uncertain and possibly unkind life. Good for you :thumbsup:
To be absolutely honest, I have always sold my goats' meat (and plenty of people want it) - I can't eat it myself. They're different from the lambs, fewer of them, they come in every night.....Might be soppy but there it is.
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I'm happy to eat any goat...but not this one ;D I've already broken a badly made promise to MIlli (ie. no we won't sell him, we'll keep him as a pet and no, he won't go for meat) I owe it to her that we don't then bring him back in plastic bags!
I've never forgiven my parents for telling me that my German Shepherd, Kimber, was going for a walk with a man when I was 4. I sat by the front door for hours waiting for him to come back. He'd been rehomed and what I didn't know what he'd gone to be a guard dog because he was showing signs of being a bit 'nasty'. They tried to do the right thing by me but I believe in honesty and truth from the first age a child can comprehend, even if its not as detailed as an adult can understand.
Keep the recipes coming ;)
The girls ate loads of goat sausages at the weekend, even the tiny one who's 6 and had said "eww I'm not eating goat..." she demolished a load and loved them!
I hate seeing him on that tether out there, the date for the abbatoir just can't come soon enough - for his benefit as its not nice being tied within a 20ft radius while your herd can free range, is it.
It is quick though isnt it? every time I try to do online research to put my mind at rest I see all the hard core vegan websites saying how awful abbatoirs are with graphic pics. that's not helping but I don't believe they are true in the UK either.
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It is quick though isnt it? every time I try to do online research to put my mind at rest I see all the hard core vegan websites saying how awful abbatoirs are with graphic pics. that's not helping but I don't believe they are true in the UK either.
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yes its quick.
i am always surprised at how well our 7 year old grandson takes it when we take animals in. he was more upset when we sold a breeding sow on to a new home than when we take them for sausages. its good for children to understand where there food comes from. if we take any in during school holidays he will come along for the ride and help to unload.
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Slow-braised goat's leg in cider sounds interesting. My goat meat is a bit tough so needs slow cooking. Trouble is, most of the joints are too big to go in my slow cooker.
I do mine in a large deep roasting tin and have a loose double cover (tightly bent round the edges of the tin) of tin foil acting as a lid for all my roasts - even the pork ones. Just makes sure that the meat (always in a good sized puddle of wine or cider) stays moist and if I want crackling from pork I normally cut the skin off and wack the oven as high as possible and put the skin back in on its own for about 10 mins at the end (and always in the process activate the smoke detector - it can't be overrriden as we have a fairly new built house...)
As for low temperatures, I do have low oven in my cooker, but you could just use 120 deg instead of the usual 160 and leave it in for as long as want. Mine are in at least 3 hours.
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Thanks, Anke. I need to buy some cider.
Lisa, it is a quick process but tbh I think you are best not looking too deeply into what happens. I knew someone who always stayed with her goats until they were stunned (probably not allowed these days) but I couldn't do that.
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I've never forgiven my parents for telling me that my German Shepherd, Kimber, was going for a walk with a man when I was 4. I sat by the front door for hours waiting for him to come back. He'd been rehomed and what I didn't know what he'd gone to be a guard dog because he was showing signs of being a bit 'nasty'. They tried to do the right thing by me but I believe in honesty and truth from the first age a child can comprehend,
That sent a chill down my spine Lisa. I totally agree that honesty is the best policy, I only give information as it is asked for and in a bite size piece. My 3.5 year old was asking about leather, and I told her it was skin from the animals who had been turned into meat. She was happy with that and needed no more info.
I am sure 'it' is quick. I remember I was so upset about our weaners going last year I had planned to give them beer to relax them! I didn't in the end and the meat was delicious so I figure they had a stress-free end. I actually think the trust they animals have in humans makes for a much less stressful end, as they have nothing to fear; unlike those animals who have very little human contact.
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In a handful of words Bumble bear, you have managed to reassure me so much. I hadn't thought of it that way - in that he's used to humans so it will be easier for him. Although we had sheep go from here (that we had helped bottle raise) this is the first time its one of our own completely so please excuse me being a bit soft :)
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Fairly sure the time is coming soon, or may have already passed but just to send a hug :hug:
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how has it all gone plums? :hug:
I've got a kid needing to go for slaughter in 6 months or so and I'm dreading it already as he has melted my heart despite my best efforts at not getting attached :(