# Anyone here actually butcher their Nigerian Dwarf goats?



## Koda (Jun 10, 2014)

I am not here to debate about their size or about other breed's viability as a meat breed. I am just having a hard time finding information about the yield of meat people get from their Nigerian Dwarf goats. I know a lot of them are pets or dairy animals but people typically eat their dairy wethers. I have read plenty of people talk about butchering them but never at what weight they butcher and how many pounds of meat they get.

So far the only thing I saw was one person say they butchered out a 50 pound buck live weight and got 25-30 pounds hanging weight. Since there is so little information, I figured people on here must have some they eat that can give numbers?

Thank you in advance for your time!


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## Wonderland (May 26, 2009)

I haven't eaten any of mine *yet*, but plan to butcher any males this year that don't sell right away.

I've researched the yield, and what I've read is that you can expect 25% of live weight to be your final butchered weight (not hanging weight).


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## Janis R (Jun 27, 2013)

Will be butchering my ND/lamancha wether on Saturday, I will let you know.


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## Koda (Jun 10, 2014)

Thank you both for the responses, please do post your yields when convenient!


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## punchiepal (Oct 11, 2008)

We butcher our nd's - 1/4 live weight, deboned, is about right.


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## punchiepal (Oct 11, 2008)

There is also a thread a few months ago about butchering nd's if you search for it.


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

I think it's pretty close for most breeds - 50% live weight, 25% hanging weight is meat. Difference is in growth rate and size, really.


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## Koda (Jun 10, 2014)

So with the 25% of live weight being meat... that means the most amount of meat you could possibly get would be about 18.75 pounds out of a 75 pound buck? Does this sound accurate?


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## BohemianWaxwing (Sep 13, 2014)

I think you can round that up to 20... Don't forget that most organs are good eating too. And the bones make broth. We haven't butchered any of our NDGs yet but I'm working on getting the DW's approval for our resident wether.


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## Cygnet (Sep 13, 2004)

Side note: I used to sell a lot of half-grown male kids for meat. Never butchered any myself (never had the heart, and I don't like goat meat). 

Most of the buyers were cooking them in deep pits or on a spit for parties. They liked the smaller goats for smaller parties.


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## Jay27 (Jan 11, 2010)

You might not get lots of meat, 25-30lbs, but it's good meat and raised by you! And you can do stuff with more than just the meat... tan the hides, save the bones for bone broth or the dog, save the skull (looks neat fleshed-out if your wethers still have horns), render the fat for soap or lard. I even kept some feet to show people how to properly trim hooves... Sounds gross but had hubby saw them in half so you can see where bones are.There is nothing wrong with butchering ND wethers. They don't get as large as meat breeds or other full size dairy wethers, but who cares!


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## Koda (Jun 10, 2014)

@jay27: So you have gotten 25-30 pounds of meat off of your wethers?

Thank you for sharing as well as the picture. Do you personally use the hides decoratively, sell them, turn them into things?

It seems like there's a lot of weight differences. From what I've read Nigerian Dwarf goats are supposed to max out around 75 pounds for bucks, does are supposed to be around 40 pounds max. So are your wethers heavier than that since you are getting over 25% meat? Or do your goats have a better dress out percentage?


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## Wonderland (May 26, 2009)

Koda said:


> @jay27: From what I've read Nigerian Dwarf goats are supposed to max out around 75 pounds for bucks, does are supposed to be around 40 pounds max.


Does should be 40lbs MINIMUM. My adult does are around 60lbs on average.


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## Cygnet (Sep 13, 2004)

Re: weights -- I think it's like potbelly pigs -- people like to claim their Nigies are smaller than they are. Plus goat weighs fluctuate a lot based on how full their bellies are, so if someone wants to claim a goat weighs 75 pounds, they can withhold feed for a day or two and get away with it, when the goat might normally weigh 95. 

Also, they LOOK smaller than they are, because they're short. 

My bucks usually weighed around 100 pounds with a full rumen, but if you asked people to guess, they'd guess 50-60. They were the same height as my 50 pound heeler-x dog, but -- particularly with full bellies -- they were a lot bigger. I took my buck into the vet one time to get a rabies shot, and the vet tried to put down 65. We put him on the scale and he weighed 105. He was NOT a large goat.

I actually like my goats a little larger than the breed standard calls for -- they're easier to milk and handle if they're a little taller -- but I'm suspicious of the sizes and weights a lot of breeders claim. 

On the flip side, people would often guess my french alpine pack wethers weighed over 350 -- I heard guesses as high as 400. They weighed 275 and 240 per the vet's scales. (The one who weighed 275 always had a huge rumen -- I suspect with empty rumens, they would have weighed about the same, as they were twins, and built similarly.) They were all legs, however. They could literally stand with all four feet on the ground and grab my glasses off my face, and I'm 5'6". Those long, long, legs and long necks gave them the illusion of more size than they actually had.


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## Koda (Jun 10, 2014)

I had a strong feeling that the max weights I was seeing were mainly from people trying to boast about how "itty bitty" their Nigerians are. Okay so then a much more realistic average for Nigerian Dwarfs (that are being raised for some sort of production not as tiny collectables) would be:
Does: 40-65 pounds? 50-75 pounds?
Bucks: 75-105 pounds?

I was around Nigerians a lot when I was younger but you don't really pay attention to the weights of everyone at that time of your life! Wish I had!


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

I've not butchered a Nigie, but we have done Pygmies. 

Good meat, easy to package and (as Jay27 showed) the furs can turn out quite nicely.


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## Wonderland (May 26, 2009)

I agree about people estimating small. I know some people also intentionally breed as small as possible, which I am not a fan of at all! A tiny doe can't be as productive and is more likely to have kidding trouble. 

I think 50-70 lbs would be about average. My lightest doe, who is very dairy and refined, is probably about 50lbs. I'd guess my largest doe, who is actually 12.5% Lamancha, around 75-80lbs or so. The last doe I weighed on a scale was 63lbs, and she was about the average size.


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## Koda (Jun 10, 2014)

I know this is an old post of mine, and I'm sure many people have gone on about it since my post. But I was wondering if anyone had any actual numbers to report about butchering their nigerian dwarf goats? I always hear about people who have them and eat them but for whatever reason it seems like people don't ever have actual weights of harvest amounts. Maybe it's because people don't take note of it... I understand they aren't a meat breed, I also understand that there are some who would only consider them a novelty breed and not worth it to dairy... but surely there's some people out there that harvest them with an actual weight amount.

I guess all I can conclude is that since the NDGA states "_Ideal weight is suggested to be about 75 +- lbs. Animals are disqualified from the show ring for being over-sized and/or for other faults_"... that would mean you probably don't want a buck much more than 100 lbs or so. And since the yield is about 25% then at most you can hope to get is around 25 lbs of meat. I highly doubt people are waiting for their NGD's to reach 100 lbs before butchering... Seeing as they aren't meat goats and are even smaller than standard dairy, that means it isn't long before they reach an age where they don't gain as efficiently. After everything I've read and all the lack of information of actual pounds of meat at a realistic harvest age... it just leads me to conclude that the amount from a buckling let alone a doe is very small. As in you're lucky to even receive 20 lbs of meat. Let's be honest, most people aren't eating offal. I also am not counting mixes... obviously you get more meat from a mix than a NGD, so that's not a fair comparison.


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## dfr1973 (Apr 19, 2012)

I'll probably have numbers in about 7-8 months. Have two full ND nannies, two Nubian/Nigerian nannies, and one Oberhasli, all being bred by full ND billy. My NDs are solid little chunks, but only one is "too tall" for the show ring - my gain.


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## Agriculture (Jun 8, 2015)

How many tons of material can you move with a wheelbarrow?
How many gallons of liquid can you measure with a shot glass?
How many blades of hay in a bale?

I'm afraid that the problem is in the question, not whether it can be done or not, and seems to be yet another case of Nigerian promoters reaching for the stars, dreaming the impossible dream, trying to find a use for something that is useless or trying to justify the unjustifiable. Now we have people promoting them for all kinds of other uses that normal goats have done, with greater efficiency, just like the milking thing. I'm starting to raise mice. Great for meat, hides, bones for toothpicks, making soap too. Haven't figured out the milking thing yet, but give me time, and influence from the Nigerian breeder mentality, and I'll come up with a claim soon for that too. 

Having said that, way too few people slaughter Nigerians.


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

rmiller, perhaps a LIVESTOCK forum where we discuss utility of animals is not in your best interest to participate in. While we welcome people who have goats for pets, we also have a lot of people who use goats for meat and milk. Many of us refuse to sell to pet homes for the well being of the animals - too many times I have dealt with pet homes who passively abuse their animals due to ignorance on how to properly care for them. I would much rather slaughter humanely then send to homes who claim to love them but do not properly care for them. This is and has never claimed to be anything but a livestock forum. If you don't like the idea of discussing slaughter, then feel free to ignore those threads.


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## Missi (1 mo ago)

Koda said:


> @jay27: So you have gotten 25-30 pounds of meat off of your wethers?
> 
> Thank you for sharing as well as the picture. Do you personally use the hides decoratively, sell them, turn them into things?
> 
> It seems like there's a lot of weight differences. From what I've read Nigerian Dwarf goats are supposed to max out around 75 pounds for bucks, does are supposed to be around 40 pounds max. So are your wethers heavier than that since you are getting over 25% meat? Or do your goats have a better dress out percentage?


We just did our first ND wether today. He was 1 1/2 years old. Live weight was about 65lbs. Ended up with about 10 lbs meat (not including bones) but also including liver. That's 4lbs goatburger (mostly from front legs) and 6lbs between back strap, tenderloin, and meat from back legs. We will be using bones for broth.


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## JRHill02 (Jun 20, 2020)

Missi said:


> We just did our first ND wether today. He was 1 1/2 years old. Live weight was about 65lbs. Ended up with about 10 lbs meat (not including bones) but also including liver. That's 4lbs goatburger (mostly from front legs) and 6lbs between back strap, tenderloin, and meat from back legs. We will be using bones for broth.


That's a lot of work for 4#. We have a Nigerian Billy. He is a pet. A darn stinky one at that, in my opinion. But he has his place and the females are long gone. We only tried the whole thing for milk and cheese. Why would you raise a Nigerian for meat?


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## RJ2019 (Aug 27, 2019)

Missi said:


> We just did our first ND wether today. He was 1 1/2 years old. Live weight was about 65lbs. Ended up with about 10 lbs meat (not including bones) but also including liver. That's 4lbs goatburger (mostly from front legs) and 6lbs between back strap, tenderloin, and meat from back legs. We will be using bones for broth.


Congratulations! Did you keep the ribs? As you get more comfortable with butchering, you'll find that you can glean more meat off them in the future. It is a lot of work but gets easier after the first one. I've done 3 now...


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

JRHill02 said:


> That's a lot of work for 4#. We have a Nigerian Billy. He is a pet. A darn stinky one at that, in my opinion. But he has his place and the females are long gone. We only tried the whole thing for milk and cheese. Why would you raise a Nigerian for meat?


I doubt anyone is planning a large feast off a butchered Nigie, but what else are you going to do with the bucks that are born from your dairy breedings? 

Everyone wants to keep the does, but too many bucks cause a problem.

Wether the bucklings, unless you get one that is remarkable, or you need to trade it off to add a little chlorine to your gene pool. Then raise out the rest and butcher when they're ready.


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## Missi (1 mo ago)

JRHill02 said:


> That's a lot of work for 4#. We have a Nigerian Billy. He is a pet. A darn stinky one at that, in my opinion. But he has his place and the females are long gone. We only tried the whole thing for milk and cheese. Why would you raise a Nigerian for meat?


It does sound crazy, but we raise Nigerians for milk, so the meat is a by-product. They're a nice smaller breed that my young boys can handle and they're easier to keep fenced in (in my opinion) than larger breeds. This year we had a couple bucklings we couldn't sell so we raised them for meat. It cost us almost nothing extra to raise them as they were rotationally grazed, we did the banding and disbudding ourselves, and they were kept in the same housing and fencing as our bucks.
I did the butchering myself and it took about an hour and a half, including making the goatburger and packaging everything.
If we did 12 goats a year, we'd have enough for our family to eat goat meat 2x a week.


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## Missi (1 mo ago)

RJ2019 said:


> Congratulations! Did you keep the ribs? As you get more comfortable with butchering, you'll find that you can glean more meat off them in the future. It is a lot of work but gets easier after the first one. I've done 3 now...


I kept the ribs whole and we plan to smoke them. I kept the back strap whole also. It was so small I just cut off that section of meat and bone and will cook it all together and let the meat slide off.


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

Missi said:


> It does sound crazy, but we raise Nigerians for milk, so the meat is a by-product. They're a nice smaller breed that my young boys can handle and* they're easier to keep fenced in (in my opinion) than larger breeds.* This year we had a couple bucklings we couldn't sell so we raised them for meat. It cost us almost nothing extra to raise them as they were rotationally grazed, we did the banding and disbudding ourselves, and they were kept in the same housing and fencing as our bucks.
> I did the butchering myself and it took about an hour and a half, including making the goatburger and packaging everything.
> If we did 12 goats a year, we'd have enough for our family to eat goat meat 2x a week.


LOL!

We have had the opposite experience. While it is true that a full-grown Nubian buck can manage to clear a 4' fence when he is in rut (we have electric wire for that now), the mini breeds are Houdinis when it comes to finding their way out of the paddock.

Adorable as heck, easy to tend (just grab and flip to trim hooves!), and not impossible to milk, but ours must have come from a line heavy with escape artist goats.


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## JRHill02 (Jun 20, 2020)

Pony said:


> LOL!
> 
> We have had the opposite experience. While it is true that a full-grown Nubian buck can manage to clear a 4' fence when he is in rut (we have electric wire for that now), the mini breeds are Houdinis when it comes to finding their way out of the paddock.
> 
> Adorable as heck, easy to tend (just grab and flip to trim hooves!), and not impossible to milk, but ours must have come from a line heavy with escape artist goats.


Don't you love those hoof scratches all over your pickup?


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## RJ2019 (Aug 27, 2019)

JRHill02 said:


> Don't you love those hoof scratches all over your pickup?


I do not!!😆


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

JRHill02 said:


> Don't you love those hoof scratches all over your pickup?


Funny thing is, we have never had a goat get loose and climb onto one of our vehicles.

We do, however, have multitudinous cat paw prints all over the windshields of every. single. vehicle. LOL


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## RJ2019 (Aug 27, 2019)

I took this pic yesterday
Edited: not my vehicle, I know to park WELL away from the hay shed.


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## JRHill02 (Jun 20, 2020)

RJ2019 said:


> I took this pic yesterday
> Edited: not my vehicle, I know to park WELL away from the hay shed.


It happened once. Of course it was the young Billy and he was in the back of the pickup when we caught him. No problem at that point but a pen went up real fast. We had stuff we wanted him to tend to running loose but he had to show his true colors first.

Nigerians are just cute little things. They wouldn't do those big goat things....


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