# Wethering for Meat



## sunshinegoat (Feb 7, 2012)

HI all,
I have a few Boer bucklings up for sale...If they do not sell we are going to wether them and raise them for meat for ourselves. At what age do I wether them if I keep them for meat to get the best taste and quality? They are about 12 weeks.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.


----------



## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Time to pull out your bander! Busy month here & didnt get to it, they are 3 mo & some have outgrown the Jewel Tool.
The best tasting meat hasnt anything to do with castration. Matter of fact we discovered that ground 2 yr old buck was absolutely delicious!


----------



## Dani-1995 (Mar 11, 2011)

I agree with Nancy... They need to be banded ASAP


----------



## peggy (Aug 11, 2010)

I just banded a 14 week old boy and it worked great. His "jewels" were too big to even begin to fit in the bander so we used some super thick heavy duty rubber bands and just wound them around really tight. He cried for about an hour and then he seemed okay. Good luck.


----------



## sunshinegoat (Feb 7, 2012)

Thanks guys..this is our first year doing meat goats. I had heard that once the bucklings get older it affects the taste of the meat (that "bucky" taste) So why do people band them so early? I have heard that wethers grow bigger, faster....is this correct..again, we are new to this side of things..we also run a small dairy herd.
At least one of these guys would make a good herd sire so we were hoping to sell him as one so weren't ready to commit to wethering them. 
Any thoughts?


----------



## Guest (Jun 1, 2012)

Kids that big have a lot of meat in the testicle and if I decide to castrate that late they go in the skillet, delicious. But I have found that if I want to eat one I just go out and shoot one and put it in the freezer. You know that you can put that band on them and then cut them right then and not waste 2lbs of meat. I wouldn't eat a buck in rut but other than that I see no difference. I do however prefer Doe to buck meat.


----------



## sunshinegoat (Feb 7, 2012)

Do most people castrate them at 2 months to be able to mix them in w/ the rest of the herd without worrying about them breeding anyone or does it affect the meat? I guess my question is...at what age do you castrate and why?


----------



## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Most of our customers buy intact so we usually dont bother. When they approach 4 mos old they'd be seperated anyway.
Oh & Sideplaner, buck in rutt is great meat if done correctly. We had him ground, pretty much expecting the meat to be tainted, and give it to the dogs. Never did feed any to the dogs it was toooo good!
It had better flavor than young. And yes, doe meat is great too!


----------



## sunshinegoat (Feb 7, 2012)

My guys have been separated since they were 10 weeks..they look great and are gaining fast! We had to rotate them to new pasture today and had to pick up a few w/ a big grunt  
I have been so preoccupied w/ when to wether them b/c I thought the older they got the more the meat was affected.
Am I totally wrong about this?


----------



## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

well, we have been banding our boers for past three years at -between 9-10 weeks. This year, they were quite big even as triplets so they were casterated at 8 1/2 weeks old. We don't like to wait too late as it might be harder on the bucklings. It hasnt effected their health or their growth rate for meat production. Older bucklings - some might consider cutting or having a vet do the job. Banding seems simple on young ones but harder on older ones.


----------



## Dani-1995 (Mar 11, 2011)

I don't know how much it would affect the flavor of the meat... I would assume buck meat would be more flavorful than wether. I think depends on what you prefer. I've heard buck meat is more gamy tasting


----------



## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Im not sure on the tast of meat, I have not tasted any goat meat yet, but one thing I did notice at the sale, there is a lot of 'do it your self' people there, the buck will always bring more money then the wether. I am guessing it has to do with tast (?????) If you have 2 of them I would band one and leave the other a buck and find out what you would rather eat. The worse that will happen is what ever one you dislike you can put the meat in stew or beans or something to kinda cover up the tast.


----------



## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

For me .. if our goats taste like that buck smells.. I just can't eat it.. it just gets to me. So far.. our wethers have not had a strong taste issue at all. I went to an 'East Indian' restuarant with my daughternlaws parents. The food was fabulous but the goat meat had that strong taste and it was the taste of the smell of a buck and I did not like it. I realized later that it was because they cook the leg meat with the bone still in it. (called 'goat trotters stew) If you cook the bone with the stew meat.. it may give it a strong flavor. So it is also with lamb.


----------



## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

Well, we do wether pretty young (before 2 months) to avoid *unauthorized* breeding. If in your shoes I would probably wait a while longer for a buyer and then just go ahead and butcher.
As to meat flavor; we have butchered many wethers and had some taste a little like goat, if you know what I mean. Not bad or tainted, just enough to know it is not from a plastic package from the store.
We butchered our buck last month and thought he would go to my son's Great Dane. NO WAY!!!!!!!! He was delicious. We just did his wether pen mate who was 2yo. We BBQ'd some on Monday. Had we not told anyone I am sure they would have just thought it was really, really, really good beef.
What I am saying is, at least part of it seems to be the goat themselves, what they eat, time of year, handling practices etc.


----------



## sunshinegoat (Feb 7, 2012)

hey guys..thank for all the replies..One more question...has anyone ever used emasculators? That is what I was planning on doing and if they are too old for banding (which I don't think sounds too fun anyway, lol) then I may have no choice (?) Does anyone have any experience w/ them. I was a vet tech at a large animal hospital and assisted w/ horse and bull castration but no goats...


----------



## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

perhaps band , , wrap tightly,, then cut them after the circulation is cut off. I am not sure banding will go as smoothly on older animals.


----------



## GracefulAcres (Feb 22, 2012)

I use an emasculator on my boys and highly recommend it. The bucking only screams for the initial couple seconds then goes quiet as you wait. (well most of them) You do apply it twice, once for each side. No blood.. no waiting for anything to "die and drop off", no risk of infection/tetanus. I've learned that I have to take my time and hold the cord in place as you apply the device. Those slippery suckers can slide right out... then you are doing again in a couple weeks.


----------



## sunshinegoat (Feb 7, 2012)

GracefulAcres..Thank you for the reply about the emasculator..
I actually ended up ordering one and it came yesterday. I used it last night and was very pleased! I took my time and all went well and the little guy is doing just fine today..
The tool was relatively inexpensive. I would recommend this to anyone who has to do their own wethering.... I guess I've found my method


----------



## GracefulAcres (Feb 22, 2012)

:thumbup: 
I am very glad it worked out for you! 
With SO MANY options/opinions for raising goats, isn't it nice to make one definite decision on how you want to manage just a portion of your "goat mgmt plan"?
Good luck to you!


----------



## sunshinegoat (Feb 7, 2012)

Thanks, 
Glad that's settled


----------



## cowgirlboergoats (Apr 29, 2012)

we brand are so that the females in the pen with them wont be bred. 
weatering a buck will take the meaness out and you do not hsve to worry about them hiting you when you fed them.
Do gian so they well grow fast


----------



## Texas.girl (Dec 20, 2011)

This is so interesting. My Boer buck will be 8 weeks old on Friday. I got him only hours old and have been bottle feeding him since (him momma rejected him), so we have all fallen in love with the cute little guy. I figured it was too late now to castrate him. I have been hoping to find him a good home but since I live in commercial meat goat country I may or may not have success. I already have a buck and only 2 does, so keeping a 2nd buck is not possible. If I cannot find someone who wants a Boer buck who promises not to BBQ him, just how old is the limit for castration?


----------



## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

Well as the above post recommend: Ideal for a banding casteration is between 6-10 weeks I think. Any later than 12 weeks still isnt too late but it may be too big for the banding method. Have someone help you or watch some videos on how to have this done. It is really not a hard thing if you know how. If you want him for a pet- yes, I agree, he needs to be casterated.


----------



## sunshinegoat (Feb 7, 2012)

Texas.girl...
If you use the emasculators you can wether them at any age...the older they are the longer it takes for the testicles to shrink up but we did 3 bucklings at 12+ weeks and they all were done successfully w/ no blood or excessive pain. 
I would defiantly recommend getting a set...We got ours from Jeffers Livestock and they were around $40.00


----------



## goatiegurl*Oh (Nov 11, 2007)

For those who butcher dairy wethers, at what age do you butcher and about how much do they weigh at that time?


----------



## GTAllen (Jul 22, 2012)

A lot of good information here. I will add that, as with any type of meat, proper handling and butchering is paramount to the end product. Do not handle the hide on a buck and then the meat. That will get the off putting flavors. Fully draining the blood, keeping the carcass cool, wearing gloves, proper cuts, sharp tools, packaging, clean, sterlize and the list goes on, are essential to have a quality product. 

You spend a lot of money, time, and hard work to grow the animal, don't short cut the slaughter. 

There are a lot of websites that have video's and how-to butcher out an animal.


----------

