doe for dinner and does eating dinner

[45sixgun]

We raise goats for milk and meat. I slaughtered and butchered one yesterday. So far I've been using the "kosher" method because supposedly the little bit that the heart keeps beating after the jugular veins are cut helps to get all of the blood out of the meat. Well, I hate doing it that way and this was the last time. Next goat is getting a .22 bullet to the head. I don't care if it's not the best method. Didn't they use a .22 revolver at slaughter houses? Anyway, there's nothing like goat meat. I just love it. I tell the kids not to name the goats, but they insist. Believe it or not, this one was named "Sweetie Pie." Next one in line is named "Thomas." Sigh....

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Pf6235Cmi8U/UQ8UyZP7tAI/AAAAAAAAapY/c5SFnAlNpPc/s800/P1110129-001.JPG

These does think our goat hay is theirs too. They help themselves to it every day. Not a whole lot for them to eat right now out in nature.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-wk99COZJMJU/UQ8UziIGDEI/AAAAAAAAapg/tsZftjqqLqU/s800/P1110107-001.JPG

[TXGunNut]

Agreed about the .22 to the head. I once cut the throat of an old doe that I'd shot and it took too long to die, IMHO. I'm guessing you supplement your goat meat with venison from time to time, they look pretty healthy to me. A friend of mine names his steers appropriately, Ribeye and Hamburger, IIRC.

[RoyEllis]

Next to venison, goat makes great chili! In years past I've won some chili cook-off prizes with goat chili (and never told anyone what I used). Looks like ya have a whole yard full of eatin' material there.

[gbrown]

I've eaten a lot of goat meat in my life. My uncle raised goats and sheep in Central Tx. Wouldn't eat sheep, but goats, YES. Does, young kids (cabritto) slow roasted, delicious. I wish I could find a supplier at a decent price near me. Just a cut above/below? venison. I don't know, both are delicious.

[reloader28]

We have a few goats for eating. We aint had them terrible long though. Plan on killing a couple this spring.
We put a goat on the spit once when I was a kid and it was good.

If you have any special recipies, would you mind posting a couple.

[TXGunNut]

Look for a grocery store with lots of red and green in their signage, gbrown. I have a couple of neighbors that raise goats but coyotes and wild dogs are eating more than they are. Maybe I can trade a few coyote ears for a nice young goat.

[41 mag fan]

Does Brady TX still have their annual goat cook off? Went to one back in '88 there ....man that was some good eating. I think I ate it every which way but raw that weekend

[Bulldogger]

Goat is underapppreciated by many here. I found it in the International Market a year or two ago, after not seeing it in the city for a long time. Hispanic markets also stock it. I love to Curry it, really holds up to spices well. I second goat Chili, yum!
BDGR

[Beau Cassidy]

Bang, Bang, Bang! Seriously, though. My wife would kill me if I offed a few deer in the yard.

http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq95/OrthoNP/2011-10-15_18-51-50_298_zps023216d2.jpg

http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq95/OrthoNP/2011-10-15_18-51-55_46_zpse85ba906.jpg

http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq95/OrthoNP/2011-10-15_18-51-59_847_zpsab113dbc.jpg

Her britches look a little worn out. I gotta work on that.

[sundog]

Yeah, Beau. The deers in the yard are viewing pleasure ONLY.

[S&W-629]

lol that is cool.My old lady would kill me to if i shot one in the back yard to

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

question when your cutting thier throats do you cut in or cut out

a cousin showed me that if you insert the knife point first from the side till you puncture out the other side then push out the front it opens them up so the blood runs out almost as fast as if you were pouring it out

and it uses the least effort as you do not fight the hide and hair if you cut from the inside out.
the spine is about the only thing holding the head on after that.

[MT Gianni]

Thread hijack. In 1979, on a muzzleloader hunt, I had a deer run straight away from me and just before I shot he started doing the mule deer hop. He went off shaking his head and laid down. His head would rise then fall again as I reloaded. At 20 yards he lifted his head again and I put one through his neck. I set my gun on a tree, grabbed his antlers in my hands to try to cut his throat and th efeft one came off in my hand. I had hit him 3-4" out from the head, holing the antler and giving him a headache. I finially got the knife transferred to my left hand while straddling him and holding him by the right antler. I cut his throat but can agree with you that it takes far too long to kill an animal by slitting his throat.

[429421Cowboy]

I wouldbe careful about placing your shot on a goat with a .22, they have a thick skull that can stop a bullet in the right place. Sheep are still slaughtered using a knife, if the knife is put in right behind the windpipe and follows the jaw up they expire so fast i doubt they feel a thing. However if it was me and they were my personal goats i would likely do as you say and put a .22 behind the ear.

We eat several lambs a year, using it like either lamb or goat in our recipes since my mothers family is Armeninan and traditionally we eat alot of goat and lamb. I love good goat or lamb especially, i think too many people don't give either a chance.

If you are looking for a good source of meat goats or lambs, consider your local 4-H county livestock show, many counties have meat goat or market lamb porjects, support a local kid and get good food in the process!

[45sixgun]

Cool pics, Beau.

We eat the goat meat every way you normally eat meat. If you want recipes you might look online for Greek recipes. They eat a lot of goat. For the past couple of days I've been eating the liver. Kidneys and heart are next. I believe in eating or using every part. I've been saving the skins for when I get motivated to do some leather work. I'll take goat over lamb, though I do like lamb. I think the goat tastes better, though. About slaughtering, I've always cut in. This one had a real hairy neck, so I buzzed it with clippers first. The last one died quite quickly. This one had stronger nerves or something and flopped around too much for my liking. We have three more that need to be eaten. Sold one recently for $100. We live in an area where the demand for them is pretty high. We have a prize milker that gives a gallon and a half a day. We have a mess of our own children and it's been quite awhile since we've bought milk at the store. We also make kefir with the milk, and I love that stuff. Supposed to be real good for you too. We have another great milker just getting old enough. With two good milkers going, we'll have plenty to start making cheese. We've made a little already, and I'm looking forward to that becoming regular. We thought about getting a cow, but goats are the way to go. They eat less. Their milk is healthier for humans. They birth lots of kids and therefore make lots of meat.

[Beau Cassidy]

The deer in my pictures is about 1 1/2 years old and totally wild. No collars. No fence. The guy who's house the deer lives at found it in a field when he was cutting hay. He picked the fawn up and took it home. It stuck around. It sleeps directly in front of the front door to their house and a large dog sleeps on the other side of the deer, protecting it. The deer plays with horses on the property. It does not like other deer at all. The deer is well fed- I don't remember what it eats but it was something unusual. I have video of the deer playing with the dog and running all around. It likes to be slapped around when playing.

[DIRT Farmer]

As far as naming the food stock, my last two bulls devoloped an attude and met with a solid lead object after challanging me. The current bull is named "next"

[gbrown]

Look for a grocery store with lots of red and green in their signage, gbrown. I have a couple of neighbors that raise goats but coyotes and wild dogs are eating more than they are. Maybe I can trade a few coyote ears for a nice young goat.

Thanks, will do. There a couple of carniceria's in town--only been in them once or twice. Also, some of the people that work at convenience stores (south/southwest Asia) have told me about markets in Houston. There are some people who raise goats around here, I may check with them.

[TXGunNut]

Thanks, will do. There a couple of carniceria's in town--only been in them once or twice. Also, some of the people that work at convenience stores (south/southwest Asia) have told me about markets in Houston. There are some people who raise goats around here, I may check with them.


429421Cowboy had a good point. The neighbor who raises goats got started with a granddaughter in 4H. Some goats were not show quality or not sold to other students. He sold them for meat or simply loaned them out for 4-legged lawnmowers.
Carniceria near where I work had some awesome T-bones last time I was there, don't recall seeing any goat but suspect an inquiry would pay off.

[starmac]

I don't know if Brady still has the cookoff (probably do), but I would bet Inmans is still there and still serving goat.

[reloader28]

Talking about naming animals, the kids named our steers that we butchered last year were named "Beef" and "Stew".

I could be wrong. but if you shoot them in the head, the heart continues to pump.
Thats how our butcher does it. Shoots em and then immediately cuts the throat. You can see the pulse for 2 or 3 minutes.
I would shoot them myself.

[45sixgun]

We have quite a few refugees from countries like Somalia and Eritrea living in our city. They just love goats. We gave some to a couple of families once (through some kind of outreach program). They were Muslims. They had me bring the goats to a Mexican butcher in some distant obscure neighborhood. The Mexicans knew the routine and asked if the Muslim man wanted to slaughter them. He did and after saying some sort of prayer over the animals, he proceeded to slice their throats one by one. It was pretty gruesome to watch. Then the Mexicans skinned and butchered them. We haven't donated any more since then.

Here's the first one I slaughtered some years ago. This guy was aggressive. He hurt my wife and kids several times. I'd always walk into his area with a board or something to protect myself. Must have been hereditary because his dad was even worse. His name was Dexter. You think to yourself as you're munching away, "Hmm, Dexter isn't too bad." That just doesn't work for my soft-hearted wife. They love these goats. They're out there birthing them and caring for them. To go and then eat them isn't easy. My kids are able to, but not my wife. You can see I've got Dexter hanging the wrong way...head up. Before and after...

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-mIuHv-9JyD4/SgQvQSoAOzI/AAAAAAAAYWI/LpVjz-bBf7U/s800/IMG_8082-1.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-GXBe20aPnh8/Ss5zY4Ya8SI/AAAAAAAAYfs/nKB1ppnfVks/s800/DSCI0085-1.JPG