# I want to raise my first bucklings for meat



## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

Well they are not my first bucklings but I'm considering doing them for meat. Our meat. I won't do the butchering, I know how... but I think the first time I'll sent them to the butcher shop and just drop off two goats and pick up lots of plastic packages....

I've considered all my goats sold because I wanted to keep Clouds two bucklings to grow out for meat.

So I have a few questions.

When I do wean them? Do I band their testicles? Do I put them on "all you can eat" grain or what do I do?

These are 3/4 saanen and 1/4 nigerian dwarf. So they won't be meaty I guess since they're not meat goats. I will just feel better if I start eating some of my goats that I grow. I put so much work into them and I actually EAT goat. lol Wild goat, all the time!

I'm not attached to them at all. They are not tame nor friendly. lol They are just happy curious kids that I don't handle.

So tell me what to do. Also do I do the CD&T vaccine? What about worming, etc.

As you can tell, I've never raised for meat before. I can probably pen an area off for them too if their feed needs are larger than my other goats.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

If we know they are going for meat they don't get wormed or vaccinated at all.
We usually wean at three months & no need to band unless they are still in with does & go before hormones set in.
Having said that we have eaten 1 & 2 yr old bucks in rut & the meat was out of this world!
Along with free access to minerals & hay they get creep fed three times a day. We use a 16% protein with a coccistat in it.


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## canyontrailgoats (Jan 4, 2014)

What age do you plan on butchering them? I would let them nurse as long as possible, the meat will stay tender and they'll gain weight fast. Goats don't marble fat like cattle, so shoving grain down them will only create more waste when they're processed. Milk and pasture may be enough for them to grow on, if not you can add some grain and/or alfalfa pellets. But free choice isn't necessary...(according to my local butcher) 

If you're butchering before six months then banding isn't necessary, but any later it's recommended you do. Some sources say wethers grow faster while others say the testosterone in bucks causes quicker weight gain, so I'm not sure which is accurate. I'd personally just wether them, so there's no oops breeding with mom....


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

I have searched around and I cannot find a goat feed with a cocci prevention in it! So would I just do sulmet at a particular time? Which is kind of lame because I'll have to catch them and do it for 5 days in a row and they are not going to like it.

What if I left them in with the does until 4 months and didn't band? They would probably nurse during that time too along with extra feeding?


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

I was thinking of butchering at 4-5 months. When they are still pretty young.


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

I just talked to the only place on the Island that does meat processing (I think it's the only place, can't find another).

$105 per goat/sheep. Regardless of size it appears. Thats to kill, butcher, package, weigh, label, and grind.

I have no idea if that's a good deal or not, but if I don't want to do it myself, thats the price.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

That's not a bad price at all, we paid 92 for one.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

That's not bad at all. I pay $60 for kill and hang. Then bring them home whole to cut and wrap myself.


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

okay good. I'm glad to know it's not a horrible price!  YAY!


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

I have dairy goats, this is how I do it.

Bucklings stay with mom until they leave for freezer camp at 7 months of age. 

I wether and disbud them.

They get dewormed when very young and have cocci preventions done until they are 6 months old.

They get hay and meat goat grower grain (I have a creep set up for the kids), free choice minerals.

When it's time to go to camp, I take them right from mom and the herd and off they go.

These are Lamancha wethers. I get between 50-55 pounds of meat from each one. 2 wethers last me better than a year.


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

Yeah I will keep an eye on them. I will wether them if I have to but would prefer not to. But I do plan on leaving them with/on mom Cloud until butcher day.


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## BOERKING (Jan 5, 2015)

Wish it was 90 bucks here its more like triple here

300 for boers at the auction yesturday! 
I bought one to eat for 280 and he was small 
Average price for boers is 200 and above at local auction i know its expensive


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

$300 for a boer butchered and wrapped or just a boer?


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## BOERKING (Jan 5, 2015)

Re sellers buy for 300 live in a lot of 5 or 6 sometimes more and they sell butcherd and cleaned for 350 dollars which is quite expensive 
you guys get it way cheaper
We used to buy from him we just pick which one we want and he does it for us but now we have our own farm so we do it our self

My dad bought one for 280 and we got less then 30lbs of meat
So we pay top dollar around here for goats so its hard to test for this that and find a good breeder they charge alot here 
everything is expensive here no joke lol

Females are cheap under 200 all day average 150 for a doe but the butcher shops buy them as there cheap


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

Well.. if I sold them, I'd se for $100. Then the cost of feeding plus the $105 butcher fee. And mine are mutts. Not meaty boers.


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

So, just curious..., is 5-6 months a good butcher time? I have 2 Nubian bucklings if they don't sell soon I'm thinking of sending them off to freezer camp...


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

Lol Ive been wondering the same thing! Im going to band him this weekend. I dont want anyone getting pregnant.


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

Mine have awhile, they were born on 5/10...


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

For ourselves we usually hold off until 80 lbs or just have them processed when the pasture is used up so we aren't having to feed hay to them.


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## ms_mac (Oct 7, 2012)

I know this is a reasonable action with butchering the unwanted bucks. My brain says yes but I will really have to do some thinking about the freezer camp. I know you cannot keep every animal for pets because it costs money to feed them for an average lifespan. I am just not sure if I can do this. I am a novice in goat management but I sure do love the little critters.


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## christinajh (Jan 24, 2013)

Goats feed a lot of countries, and the meat when processed well is quite tasty. I'm glad to see the US moving towards using this type of food source more frequently because they are easier for most people to raise compared to a cow.


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## christinajh (Jan 24, 2013)

P.S. I think the $105 butcher price seems about right. Where I live it's $60 for the kill and hanging, then it ranges $.30-.45 a pound on the hoof for cutting and processing. I've done my own so far, but I've been thinking about sending one to a butcher for grinding.


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## Mike_CHS (Mar 25, 2015)

I can't believe how processing prices are all over the place. We pay $65 to have a Katahdin killed/processed and I think it's the same for goats but we haven't done that yet.

We process deer that we hunt but for the price, I don't want to do the sheep that have been following everyone around for months.


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Well, I don't eat goat, lol. But just about every other goat person I know does :lol: 5-7 months old is the prime time for them to be butchered. 
My friend Donna has boers and they get wethered at 8 weeks. They get half a flake of alfalfa, 2x a day between 2 goats, and they have access to creep feed 24/7 if they are for meat. Her kids nurse until the day they are butchered too.


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