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Offline The15thMember

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Butchering Our First Goat
« on: October 01, 2021, 12:20:57 pm »
We will be butchering our first yearling wether next month.  We've butchered chickens and rabbits before, but never a larger animal, except my dad, who has done deer before, but not for a long, long time.  Anatomically a goat is essentially the same as a deer, and I know several of you are hunters.  I was wondering if anyone had any good tips or tricks to offer a beginner, either from experience dressing game or from farm livestock.           
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Offline gww

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Re: Butchering Our First Goat
« Reply #1 on: October 01, 2021, 02:41:50 pm »
On deer, it is not hard but is hard work.  I do not know how others do it but I hang by back legs and skin and then quarter.  I like having a battery operated saws all.   I then debone.  lately I have been deboning while hanging rather then quartering.  Then I take the time to remove as much fat and tallow as I can.  Then I slice thin against the grain of the meat.  You will see lines in the way the meat runs, you want to cut where you are cutting the ends of those lines so you have no lines in your cut meat.  I like thin cause I fry everything and so I cut slices somewhere around a quarter to three eights of an inch thick.   Wrap in freezer paper and freeze.  It probably takes me 5 hours to cut up a deer and you do not end up with near the meat you think should be there.  I usually take the back strap off first right after skinning.  Make a cut following the spine and then falay off the rib.  Meat slices best when it is almost frozen but still pliable.  I like to lay it out flat so it will freeze faster and more uniform.  I do not like putting in a pan that allows the meat to sit in blood for any length of time. 

My way is not the only way but just what I do.
Hope you get something out of the above.
Good luck
gww

Offline The15thMember

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Re: Butchering Our First Goat
« Reply #2 on: October 02, 2021, 07:36:02 pm »
Thanks, gww, that's some good info. 

I learned something surprising the other day regarding this topic.  I was talking with my mom about this yesterday, and I found out that this statement of mine is actually untrue.
except my dad, who has done deer before, but not for a long, long time.         
So my dad has talked about eating venison before, he has a hunting vest in the back of his closet, and he used to go up to his friend's hunting cabin every once and a while, so I assumed that meant my dad had at some point shot a deer.  But I apparently have been putting two and two and two together incorrectly for my entire life!  Dad has never actually shot a deer.  He went deer hunting ONE TIME, and didn't get one, and evidently at the hunting cabin Dad never actually did any hunting, and most times none of his friends did either!  The only thing he has ever actually shot is geese.  Who knew?!  So not one of us has any hands on experience with this. 
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.
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Offline gww

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Re: Butchering Our First Goat
« Reply #3 on: October 02, 2021, 08:45:49 pm »
lots of vidios on you tube.
Cheers
gww

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Butchering Our First Goat
« Reply #4 on: October 02, 2021, 09:43:20 pm »
Member,
I never had anyone show me how to dress out an animal. I trapped a opossum at about age 8 and skinned it. Yeas later I dressed out rabbits and pheasants. When I got a deer, the the first time I tried to hang it be the head. It makes it much harder to do. If you have ever skinned an animal you will figure it out.
Jim Altmiller
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline Ben Framed

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Re: Butchering Our First Goat
« Reply #5 on: October 03, 2021, 04:19:15 am »
Member gww has good advise on the deer process. Also, you might want to take a look at the topic Topic: "Any wild hogs in your area?" for a refresher.  Meat prep was part of the discussion there. More good stuff....

Phillip




« Last Edit: October 03, 2021, 12:06:13 pm by Ben Framed »

Offline The15thMember

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Re: Butchering Our First Goat
« Reply #6 on: October 03, 2021, 01:56:16 pm »
lots of vidios on you tube.
Cheers
gww
I have been looking at YouTube as well.

Member,
I never had anyone show me how to dress out an animal. I trapped a opossum at about age 8 and skinned it. Yeas later I dressed out rabbits and pheasants. When I got a deer, the the first time I tried to hang it be the head. It makes it much harder to do. If you have ever skinned an animal you will figure it out.
Jim Altmiller
I'm not overly concerned about it.  As you say, anatomy is anatomy.  I was just trying to flatten the learning curve, if you will, by seeing what I could pick up from others' mistakes or experiences.  Hanging by the head is a good example of that.  I did see some people skinning like that on YouTube, and it looked much more cumbersome. 

Member gww has good advise on the deer process. Also, you might want to take a look at the topic Topic: "Any wild hogs in your area?" for a refresher.  Meat prep was part of the discussion there. More good stuff....

Phillip
Hey, you're right, there was some talk of meat processing on that thread, I'll go check that out.

Thanks, all!   
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.
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Offline The15thMember

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Re: Butchering Our First Goat
« Reply #7 on: October 08, 2021, 02:16:02 pm »
Along a similar vein, does anyone have any good recipes for goat meat?  Venison recipes would work too. 
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.
https://maranathahomestead.weebly.com/

Offline Ben Framed

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Re: Butchering Our First Goat
« Reply #8 on: October 08, 2021, 08:07:08 pm »
Member; Someone here is bound to have some good stuff for you. I am thinking Alen, (Coolbees).
 As Granny told John Wayne after the Indian attack had subsided on the Clampett Mansion; "Where were you John when we needed you?" 
 :shocked: :cheesy: :wink: lol

Offline The15thMember

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Re: Butchering Our First Goat
« Reply #9 on: October 08, 2021, 11:46:11 pm »
Member; Someone here is bound to have some good stuff for you. I am thinking Alen, (Coolbees).
 As Granny told John Wayne after the Indian attack had subsided on the Clampett Mansion; "Where were you John when we needed you?" 
 :shocked: :cheesy: :wink: lol
I know!  I was really hoping he would chime in.  It's shame this forum doesn't have the ability to hail people with their handles, like @coolbees.  Maybe if we yell loud enough. . . .
ALAN!!!!
 :cheesy:
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.
https://maranathahomestead.weebly.com/

Offline Ben Framed

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Re: Butchering Our First Goat
« Reply #10 on: October 08, 2021, 11:47:53 pm »
 
Member; Someone here is bound to have some good stuff for you. I am thinking Alen, (Coolbees).
 As Granny told John Wayne after the Indian attack had subsided on the Clampett Mansion; "Where were you John when we needed you?" 
 :shocked: :cheesy: :wink: lol
I know!  I was really hoping he would chime in.  It's shame this forum doesn't have the ability to hail people with their handles, like @coolbees.  Maybe if we yell loud enough. . . .
ALAN!!!!
 :cheesy:


:cheesy:
« Last Edit: October 11, 2021, 09:17:40 am by Ben Framed »

Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Butchering Our First Goat
« Reply #11 on: October 09, 2021, 07:55:05 am »
Member,
Just send Coolbees a PM. If he has his profile set to send him an email, he will see it.
Jim Altmiller
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline The15thMember

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Re: Butchering Our First Goat
« Reply #12 on: October 09, 2021, 05:58:48 pm »
Member,
Just send Coolbees a PM. If he has his profile set to send him an email, he will see it.
Jim Altmiller
I was actually already thinking about doing that.  I figured I give him a chance to respond on his own first.  :happy:
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.
https://maranathahomestead.weebly.com/

Offline Ben Framed

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Re: Butchering Our First Goat
« Reply #13 on: October 09, 2021, 10:50:56 pm »
Member; Someone here is bound to have some good stuff for you. I am thinking Alen, (Coolbees).
 As Granny told John Wayne after the Indian attack had subsided on the Clampett Mansion; "Where were you John when we needed you?" 
 :shocked: :cheesy: :wink: lol
I know!  I was really hoping he would chime in.  It's shame this forum doesn't have the ability to hail people with their handles, like @coolbees.  Maybe if we yell loud enough. . . .
ALAN!!!!
 :cheesy:

 :grin:

Offline The15thMember

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Re: Butchering Our First Goat
« Reply #14 on: October 11, 2021, 02:31:54 pm »
I sent Alan a PM.  Hopefully he'll respond.  Everyone keep up the yelling!!  :cheesy:
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.
https://maranathahomestead.weebly.com/

Offline CoolBees

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Re: Butchering Our First Goat
« Reply #15 on: October 12, 2021, 05:39:11 pm »
Member; Someone here is bound to have some good stuff for you. I am thinking Alen, (Coolbees).
 As Granny told John Wayne after the Indian attack had subsided on the Clampett Mansion; "Where were you John when we needed you?" 
 :shocked: :cheesy: :wink: lol
I know!  I was really hoping he would chime in.  It's shame this forum doesn't have the ability to hail people with their handles, like @coolbees.  Maybe if we yell loud enough. . . .
ALAN!!!!
 :cheesy:

Hahahahahaha!!!!!!!! You all are too funny!  :cheesy: :cheesy: :cheesy:

15th PM'd me yesterday - and I happened to log onto my computer yesterday (which I rarely do) - and saw her PM in my spam box (spam doesn't show up on my phone email). I might not have seen it for another 6 months. Some things are meant to be, I guess.  :grin: ... ... ok, I'm here.

I'll start a clean thread for this.
You cannot permanently help men by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves - Abraham Lincoln

Offline The15thMember

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Re: Butchering Our First Goat
« Reply #16 on: October 12, 2021, 07:40:41 pm »
Hahahahahaha!!!!!!!! You all are too funny!  :cheesy: :cheesy: :cheesy:

15th PM'd me yesterday - and I happened to log onto my computer yesterday (which I rarely do) - and saw her PM in my spam box (spam doesn't show up on my phone email). I might not have seen it for another 6 months. Some things are meant to be, I guess.  :grin: ... ... ok, I'm here.

I'll start a clean thread for this.
The idea that my PM would have languished in your spam for 6 months just shot a cold chill through me.  :shocked:   
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.
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Offline CoolBees

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Re: Butchering Our First Goat
« Reply #17 on: October 12, 2021, 08:12:39 pm »
Hahahahahaha!!!!!!!! You all are too funny!  :cheesy: :cheesy: :cheesy:

15th PM'd me yesterday - and I happened to log onto my computer yesterday (which I rarely do) - and saw her PM in my spam box (spam doesn't show up on my phone email). I might not have seen it for another 6 months. Some things are meant to be, I guess.  :grin: ... ... ok, I'm here.

I'll start a clean thread for this.
The idea that my PM would have languished in your spam for 6 months just shot a cold chill through me.  :shocked:   

 :cheesy: :cheesy: :cheesy:  :shocked: It's not my fault!! ... I've been chuckling all afternoon - after I read this thread. 
You cannot permanently help men by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves - Abraham Lincoln

Offline The15thMember

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Re: Butchering Our First Goat
« Reply #18 on: November 16, 2021, 10:16:59 pm »
So Sunday was the big day, and everything went really well for our first time.  The whole process took about 2 1/2 hours.  It took long and was a lot of work, but we feel really good about the whole thing.  We got 21 lbs of meat (some of those cuts are bone in) for our eating, 7.5 lbs of meaty bones, organ meat, and trimmings for our dogs and cats, and 2.5 lbs of tallow to make into soap.  All told, it was 30.75 lbs of usable material, and the goat was 70.2 lbs live, so I think that's pretty good. 

We did make a couple of mistakes and there is obviously room for improvement in the speed department, but it was a great first experience.  The biggest thing we need to be better at next time is not getting so much hair on the meat.  We spent a good portion of today's meat packaging picking all the individual hairs off the cuts.   

My mom cooked up the tenderloins the evening of butchering day, but they were way too tough to eat, so we fed it to the dogs.  It tasted great, but just impossible to chew!  :shocked:  My sister's goat forum says that was because we didn't let the meat rest, so we'll try it again in a couple of days. 

We got to try out our meat grinder for the first time today, and we got 2.75 lbs of goat burger which my mom can't wait to grill up and try.

So after selling two goats and butchering one, we're down to 2 bucks and 3 does, two of which are already pregnant again.  We're due for more babies in January, so hopefully we'll just rinse and repeat next year!  :happy: 

         
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.
https://maranathahomestead.weebly.com/

Offline gww

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Re: Butchering Our First Goat
« Reply #19 on: November 16, 2021, 11:24:14 pm »
The15th
Quote
2.5 lbs of tallow to make into soap.
Sound like more then I got off two deer over the last few days. Didn't weigh it but got about 1.5 quart baggies worth.
Cheers
gww

 

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