I am trying to determine how I'm going to go about raising my meat kids this summer and I have a few questions that I think will have a wide variety of answers so here goes. First, how old are your goat kids when you butcher them, and why do you choose that age/size? Have you found any difference in taste between castrated and intact males at that age? Does anyone butcher both sexes, or do you just butcher males? If you do both, what are the differences (I realize females will be smaller, but how do they compare other than that)? I guess I'll stop there for now, but I'll be back with more questions later, I'm sure!!!

-- Sheryl in Me (radams@sacoriver.net), January 26, 2002

Answers

There is no difference in meat between males, females, intact or non when young. We butcher right at 12 weeks or weaning, because then they start eating grain and costing money. Honestly the only does we have ate of ours are elderly. We castrate simply because I don't want to sell them as breeding bucks, also don't want them breeding doe kids, and if sold (most of our customers buther here) and they go home with someone, I don't want them growing up in Houston as a pet intact, or resold for a breeding buck since he is "purebred papered (even though they don't have the papers) billy goat" :) Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 26, 2002.