# What age do you butcher?



## KrisD (May 26, 2011)

I have some wethers I raising for meat. What age do you all butcher your wethers at?


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## andabigmac (Jan 10, 2011)

With us it depends on the goat and what we want to do with it. If they're doing really well and are meat goat crosses then they are weaned off of mom at about 4-5 months. The dairy boys are usually 7-8 months or the chops aren't really big enough to do anything with. I usually do the pure dairy goats as legs/ribs/burger. The meat crosses are just cut up normally. We usually do a few as straight burger too. After about 5-6 months their growth slows so its not really cost effective to keep feeding them. What breed are your boys?


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

We don't really go by the "age" of the goat, although it is a must for us they are weaned. The important part is to slaughter and process at a time when they have been "gaining" weight. That way, no matter what the age of the goat, the meat is tender. (If you slaughter while losing weight, they are usually tough; same with stationary weight over extended period of time.)

Our preference is to leave the kids on the dams until mid-late summer (saves on the extra feed kids require later); then lock them up a ways from the main barn. While in this new home they get a graduated form of feeding (slow grain once daily to quite a bit morning/evening) with plenty of "cool" water and quality hay. It isn't long before we can tell they have started to gain weight (about 4-6 weeks); then we let them continue to gain weight slaughtering in early-mid fall.


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

6-8 mos for my Boers.


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## houndlover (Feb 20, 2009)

lamancha and lamancha crosses, regardless of when they're born (between jan and may), everyone left gets butchered when temp drops enough that it's 40 degrees in our shop and we can hang carcasses, usually mid to late october.


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## chamoisee (May 15, 2005)

2-6 months, depending on whether the buck kid is a triplet (2 months) or say, a single buck kid on a yearling milker whose teats are still pretty small (6 months!!).


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## Goat Servant (Oct 26, 2007)

Interesting answers everyone!
It all depends on your operation & what you want to do. No laws set in stone.
Kris you do them in when *you* are ready. We've done as early as 3 mo and as late as 2yr buck.
The cuts on younger ones are perfect for your roasting pan...next time Im gonna have them done before leg roast is too big to fit.
Same with chops & steaks, under a year old perfect size.
The 2yr old was all ground & he was out of this world!
The 1 yr old bucks were made into Hot Italian Sausage & Brats.


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## ozark_jewels (Oct 7, 2005)

Depends on the wether(and the weather!). I like to do mine when they are 80-120 lbs. Usually for my dairy wethers(Nubians and Lamanchas), that is about 4-8 months of age. Regardless of size, when the weather gets cool and I start having to feed 100% hay, they get done. But most are butchered well before that. 
I may plan a week ahead of time, or I may wake up to an unexpectedly cool summer morning and decide to butcher that morning.
Will be doing a set of Lamancha twins this coming week if weather allows. They were put on the scales two weeks ago, and were 86 and 102 lbs. respectively. They have only had a handful of whole oats a day and all the milk their mother could produce. They are gonna be good eatin and are the perfect size for me!


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## houndlover (Feb 20, 2009)

I will second what OJ says about feed - when I have to start feeding them other than browse (here in the NW we have lush plentiful graze and browse late into the fall), they go in the freezer. I don't "feed" wethers.


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