[verdifish]

Whilst I love your sentiment I'd say you will be throwing money away,its going to cost the same if not cheaper to raise a dairy x Boer for meat and you'll do it a lot quicker and have a carcass that you really will be able to butcher into what ever you want rather than skinny joints from a dairy goat that will be 30 bone !

[Borderlands]

have you considered breeding pedigree meat goats?

We have yes and perhaps it something we will try as well. I guess I thought to do some (perhaps misguided) good by taking the dairy boys and offering them a bit more of life albeit still a short one. We had dairy goats growing up and I the boys were always raised for the pot so I think I've grown up to view that as really good meat and find it a shame it's not utilised more.

[Penninehillbilly]

Goat meat (Chevon?) is becoming more popular as TV chefs use it, I think there are a few enterprises starting up here and there, we had a message at our local goat club asing if we had any for sale, but we all rear and eat or sell our own.
powdered milk would be easier to use than milking your own goats, but more likely problems if you don't get the mix/temperature right. and it comes down to time,
I think 6 weeks is too young to wean a kid, and they put weight on better if entire, so if using goats for milk you'd have to make sure they didn't get to the milkers. But then of course you'd have to get them away early autumn before they get smelly, or keep them till Jan/Feb after breeding season.
I'm sure there is lots to think about, but you have sheep + calves, try it. why not chat to local butchers/restarants & hotels, see if there is a market?
I know a butcher who buys cull dairy goats, he bought a boer male off me for breeding with some of these goats, seems to be doing OK, saw him at the farmers markets a few weeks ago, shocked at the price he charges though 

[verdifish]

How much would you be paying for the dairy boys out of interest ?

[mart6]

Borderlands  where abouts in the country are you ?
I know a large Boer breeder that sells off surplus males cheap to farmers to fatten up

[clydesdaleclopper]

I think 6 weeks is too young to wean a kid, and they put weight on better if entire, so if using goats for milk you'd have to make sure they didn't get to the milkers. But then of course you'd have to get them away early autumn before they get smelly, or keep them till Jan/Feb after breeding season.

There was an interesting talk at the Grampian Goat Club meeting on Saturday by a goat meat producer. They did a comparison of castrated and entire males and there wasn't a significant difference in weight gain

[Lesley Silvester]

Agreed six weeks is too young to withdraw milk from a kid. According to the BGS kids should have milk for four months at least. Mine stay with Mum and wean at around six months.

Whilst I love your sentiment I'd say you will be throwing money away,its going to cost the same if not cheaper to raise a dairy x Boer for meat and you'll do it a lot quicker and have a carcass that you really will be able to butcher into what ever you want rather than skinny joints from a dairy goat that will be 30 bone !

I sent a Saanen x BA for slaughter at 20 months and had around 50kg of meat from him. It had to be slow cooked but if he had gone when he should have (about ten months earlier) I'd still have had a decent amount.

[fiestyredhead331]

I think you're idea of a relatively cheap and quick turnaround Borderlands may not be as quick or cheap as you first thought 

[Penninehillbilly]

There was an interesting talk at the Grampian Goat Club meeting on Saturday by a goat meat producer. They did a comparison of castrated and entire males and there wasn't a significant difference in weight gain

Interesting, I always think the castrated boys look 'girly' and vet offered to castrate 2 for me but then said they put weight on better entire, so I tend to leave them now, DH doesn't seem happy about doing the deed anyway  . But I'm talking Toggs who seem a bit more chunky anyway.
I've never sent them in at the same time so I've no weights so compare.

[Borderlands]

Borderlands  where abouts in the country are you ?
I know a large Boer breeder that sells off surplus males cheap to farmers to fatten up

Thanks Mart6, we are in mid Wales with a small holding in England just over the border in the Midlands. Happy to travel if the distance wasn't a problem for the goats...

[Borderlands]

I think 6 weeks is too young to wean a kid, and they put weight on better if entire, so if using goats for milk you'd have to make sure they didn't get to the milkers. But then of course you'd have to get them away early autumn before they get smelly, or keep them till Jan/Feb after breeding season.

There was an interesting talk at the Grampian Goat Club meeting on Saturday by a goat meat producer. They did a comparison of castrated and entire males and there wasn't a significant difference in weight gain

We've found the same with sheep. We do ring ours to prevent any unwanted pregnancies but weight wise I don't believe there is a difference with our breed (old hardy Welsh)

[Borderlands]

You will also need to supplement milk with a concentrate feed, but if you are rearing calves, the goat kids will do very well on calf mix (18% protein). I don't feed ad lib, except hay.

Yes hay rather than silage - much safer for youngstock in particular.

You need to have a reliable supplier of male kids (and decide if you can rear them horned, otherwise your profit is gone) and also a reliable sale outlet.

The meat is fantastic, esp slow-cooked. We eat ours as (slow) roasts (legs), cubed (for curries and stews) and minced (for whatever you need mince for...)

Can I ask about the reference to horn? Is that because de horning is expensive? Would castration solve that? With our sheep we castrate so horns don't develop.

[Borderlands]

Thank you all,

You've been utterly fantastic!

Re the weaning, I had thought it young - our lambs are classed as slow grown and we don't wean until closer to 6 months, I took the 6 weeks from another company who are doing the same thing. I'm hoping they'll talk to me but until I went off their website which said they get them in at around a week old and they are milk fed until 6 weeks.

I really thought that it would be a great idea ethically to raise them but as OH (a very pragmatic Radnorshire farmer) points out I am just a "bloody hippy" at heart
I'm mostly looking for something that will enable us to step away from *mainstream* farming and live on our small holding with the kids whilst showing them that you can raise animals for meat without selling your soul to a supermarket. The majority of farmers we know raise meat and then go and do their shop at Iceland but that's another soap box moment!

I have messaged a couple of companies but not found anyone who wants to talk to me yet. I guess my next step is to price up the cost of milk and feed and then find a supplier of kids to give me an idea of price.
Any advice gratefully accepted but thank you so much for all the help so far, you're all very kind

[Anke]

Goats have to be disbudded by a qualified vet, castration (same as lambs - ringed at less than 7 days old) will not stop horn growth. The costs for hat are substantial, but if your lay-out allows for horns you can probably work around the horns. (they will get stuck in fencing for example).

Also goats do better on milk longer in comparison to lambs, and it is expensive if you are talking milk replacer.

Other issues are vaccination for clostridial diseases and pasteurella, worming (if kept outside - no wormers licensed for goats, therefore withdrawal times not available).

I find goats are completely different to lambs/sheep - they are inquisitive and actively look for human interaction. This does make it a lot more difficult to send them off for slaughter. But we do it with our males, and by them time the boys-with-no-names(!) are about 10 months old I find them a handful and am ready to send them off.

[cuckoo]

I have pm'd you some information