# poor hubby or...



## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

...when slaughter goes wrong.
I have to start with saying that my husband is a kind gentle man who would never hurt an animal. He is also very experienced at dispatching meat animals with one shot. So this was totally a freak occurrence.
I will leave out the gory details but suffice it to say; you know stories about cutting off a chicken's head and having it run around the barnyard? Imagine it with a goat. When I found out about it I had to laugh but I did not have to see it. Poor hubby said it is the closest he has come to becoming a vegetarian.
Have any of you had similar experiences with an animal that would not give up the ghost? Are you a beginner? Cuz if you are; letting you know it can happen.
And BTW he was an intact buck, 18 months old, had only hay and pasture, no grain. He is tender and delicious.


----------



## Chadwick (Jan 24, 2014)

So sorry, meat or not most guys don't want to cause undue pain or harm.


----------



## canyontrailgoats (Jan 4, 2014)

Oh, I'm so sorry this happened! My dad went through the same thing with our cow, and it just about broke his heart...I'm sure your hubby is a VERY kind man who would never willingly make an animal suffer....hopefully he'll learn from his mistakes . :hug:


----------



## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Goats have skulls made of steel. A well placed shot behind the head at base of skull at angle toward jaw.


----------



## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

Thanks all. He knows how to do it. He had shot him twice and slit his throat already. This is the only time this has happened in decades of butchering animals. We did botch his disbudding and he had horns and an extra thick scull so we thought that may have contributed. Whatever, it may be a while before he does another one.


----------



## canyontrailgoats (Jan 4, 2014)

Even the most experienced people mess up at times...


----------



## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

Ugh - what a horrific experience. I hope you give your hubby some extra TLC the next few days. Take him out for ice cream or something!

We don't process our own animals, but last year my husband's buckling (which he had chosen very carefully and we drove a ways to get) broke its neck while playing with my buckling. It died right in front of him, and he called the butcher immediately who said he would have to field dress it himself in order for them to process it as they were swamped. My husband is a fisherman with limited hunting experience. Needless to say - he still cringes when goats go at it (play or not).


----------



## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

It does happen. I've heard other stories like this. Not fun by any means when it happens to you.


----------



## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

The last goat I ever put down was the second goat I ever owned. She had been down about a week. Was still bright and alert but she was heavily infected with CAE and CL and her body and been destroyed by it over the years. It took me a week to get the courage enough to do it. I had never spoken to God hard (before and after) in my life. I asked him to give me the courage to end her suffering and begged him to let it only take one bullet. He granted both and I thanked him profusely afterward.

Working on that commercial farm for years that was heavily infected with CAE and CL, I had put down many goats. It always made me feel like a piece of my soul died each time. And as they say the Lord giveth and taketh away. He gave me the courage to do what needed to be done that last time and he then took away my ability to do it ever do it again. I had simply reached my limit I guess. For butchering I have to have my brother do it and for putting down, I call the vet out.

Kinda off the topic and a long winded story to get to the "guts". The next goat that needed to be put down after the above, I had a neighbor near the commercial farm come over and do it. It took him 5 shots to put the goat down and it was kicking and gurgling the entire time... Poor guy never came back over to that farm again


----------

