# Butchering Questions



## serenityfarmnm (Jan 6, 2013)

I'm not sure we will ever get to this part but I have a question or 2

IF you don't butcher yourself, how much would you expect to pay a 'processor' to do the job?

Do you give special instructions or just say "Have at it"?

Same questions for pigs if anyone raises/butchers pigs?


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## Lamberts_Mini-goats (Nov 2, 2012)

My husband and I raise our own meat ( goat and pigs ) We butcher ourselves, never took any to a processors sorry I can't help with ur question , hopefully someone can help you


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

we just took lambs to the butcher..cost us $70 each ended up being $1.78 a pound..: ) We have butchered turkeys and chickens..nothing big yet..but we will : )


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## serenityfarmnm (Jan 6, 2013)

We have (by we I mean DH) butchered our own chickens & meat rabbits but I just cant imagine him butchering the larger animals. We haven't even got pigs yet for fear of not being able to self butcher or what to ask for from a processor.

Also... what age do you usually butcher goats/pigs?


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

First of all there is a kill fee anywhere from $40 up, then a minimum pkg fee if under a certain hanging weight.
You just tell them what you want, all ground or half sausage; roasts etc.
Most of the time you have to request any organ meats as they will disappear if you dont.
Be prepared to take home spare parts from goats.


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## serenityfarmnm (Jan 6, 2013)

I can't imagine what I would do with the organs....


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Our butcher charges a flat fee...$70 for lamb, goat and deer,,...our lambs this last season were on the small size ...this years lambs are already twice as big at half the age...the average lamb went in about 80 pounds...I believe goat is best at 3-4 months old? Im not there yet myself..but we now have a few boer ladies we plan on breeding to our Saanen buck...kids should be large...we hope to have the nerve to eat one lol.....took a while for me to go lamb..glad i did..hair lamb are in my opinion better than beef : ) we love our home grown poultry..we have two pigs fattening up..but we will go to butcher for them


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## Used2bmimi (Oct 3, 2012)

I have never had a goat processed before so I can't offer much help there, but we have had a few pigs done. We have a slaughter guy who comes to the farm, kills, guts, skins and halves the carcass. (Our guy is awesome! Very humane, very efficient) he takes the offal away with him and charges in the neighborhood of $50. He then delivers the carcass to the butcher. Look around for the butcher you like at the price you like and then ask them for names of the slaughter guy. A goat is much smaller than a full grown pig. I think I would try to do that myself rather than pay the fee and then the butcher. You would end up paying a ton for your meat.


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## francismilker (Oct 22, 2011)

I usually butcher myself but have on occasion taken a load to the processor due to outside temps being too high. 

You should generally expect to pay deer processing fees for getting a goat or sheep done in my opinion. 

I slaughter my goats and hair sheep when they're about 80-90lbs live weight after they've been raised on grass and had about 3-4 weeks of cracked corn fed to them. My family prefers most everything ground up with the exception of the backstrap (loin) which I cut into small steaks and use for grilling or sautee'ing. 

btw, the fees in my area for procesing are usually around $65 per head.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Usually our butcher charges $70, but for sausage or ground meat it is much cheaper.


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## clearwtrbeach (May 10, 2012)

We butcher our chickens and goats (did the rabbit thing for a few years). As for pigs we haven't done the butchering, about 8 yrs ago I sent them to a butcher. Our neighbor had someone come buy a pig but wanted it killed first so we did the kill shot. 
As for organs some people eat them, I myself don't but hubby will eat heart and liver; and someone else on here does the brain ( I just can't wrap my mind around it I'm too much of a woos).


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## IONFarm (Feb 12, 2013)

We take hogs, goats and chickens to be processed. Rabbits we do ourselves. We just don't have a large enough, clean area to work on doing much ourselves. The chickens go to the Amish and the goats and hogs to a butcher. The goats are usually a flat fee of $50-$60 and the hogs depend on what we need. If we need hams they have to go to one place for killing and scalding and then to the butcher for it to be cut up. We do our own bacon/grinding/sausage, etc. If we don't need hams, they just go to the butcher to be killed and cut. There is a $40 kill fee and then usually 55 cents/lb hanging weight for cut and wrap. The butcher has a cut sheet to fill out that details how we want the meat cut. The price is less if we are just using the hog for sausage or if we get "wholesale" cuts.


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