We butchered our first goat kid today. I am really looking forward to more after tonight's dinner! We tried a couple of chops, the heart and the liver. I liked the liver best, hubby the heart and chops and kids the chops. Here are the stats:
It was a Nubian kid, just about seven months old. Live weight, about 68 lbs. Hanging weight, 37 lbs. Weight of all the meat with many bone in cuts and some stew meat, 26.5 lbs. I'm not sure how this recovery compares to what others have experienced. Hopefully it's good. :)
I can't wait to try some more. My friend from Puerto Rico is going to make curried goat with me. Yummy!
We're having the hide tanned this time, and hopefully we can make something pretty with it, or else just drape it over a chair or something.
DISCLAIMER: IF YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANY SLAUGHTERING DETAILS, STOP NOW!
Here's a tip I learned from a friend who has butchered a lot of goats: The hide is really hard to remove. A way to make it easier is to use an air compressor with an air nozzle with some plastic tubing attached to it. Just 8 inches or so of tubing would be fine. Make a small hole in the skin of a back leg, and blow the hide up. Really, it just blows right up. Repeat with the other leg. The hide is really nicely loosened that way, and while you still have to finesse it a bit, it works a lot easier. Do this blowing up procedure after slitting the throat to bleed the goat out, and before doing anything else.
Replies
This is so interesting! Thanks for the tips :) Our doe is due to kid in May and we've already decided to butcher any boys born here because we feel that there are too many boys on the market in our area as it is. I'm reading everything I can get my hands on and watching all the videos on youtube about it now in preparation for it because I want to make sure I have all the tools I need BEFORE we start the actual process. Do any of you seasoned goat-eaters have any extra advice to offer? Are there any tools you can't live without?
Thanks! I'll do that. :)
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
That sounds much more realistic! You can edit your original post by clicking on "Options" in the upper right-hand corner.
CORRECTIONS: I had the hanging weight wrong. It was about 37#, not 52. Also, I forgot to weigh some of the cuts that we had set aside, so the weight of meat (with bone) was 26.5#
I thought something seemed a bit off. :) Today I'm making bone broth to can for some good winter soups.
That is great to know about the air compressor! Removing the hide is what takes the longest!!