# Age to butcher??



## Riverside Fainters (Feb 6, 2013)

Wondering the optimal age to butcher a goat and how long after wethering. He will be a year old in Feburary, we had planned on keeping him intact and selling later on. But his dad and 1/2 sibling have allergies and it may be genetic, so we have decided to cull him from the lines. I plan on wethering on the 31st. He went into full rut and is still peeing on his legs. I figure fatten him up a little and butcher, but I dont know if there is a certain age or not? Or optimal time to butcher after being wethered.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

8 months is supposedly the optimal age but I have had different ages processed and the meat was just fine. I'd make sure all the pee is washed off or clearly gone since you have to make sure the hide doesn't touch the meat which can give it a bucky flavor.


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## NigerianNewbie (Jun 6, 2018)

If you are going to wether him (castrate or banding) to help make the meat less bucky, it takes 4 weeks minimum for the testosterone and viable sperm to leave his system. A banded male won't drop his scrotum sack until 5-6 weeks later. As mentioned by ksalvagno, the hide touching the meat will transfer the taste when processing.


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## Riverside Fainters (Feb 6, 2013)

Raj was banded yesterday. We will be feeding him better and he will be butchered in 2 months or so


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