Meat Goat Blog

Goat Minerals Follow-Up Question

Post suggestion by Allan

I recently got an e-mail from a long-time viewer of the blog with some follow-up questions regarding a post I wrote a few years ago about avoiding Coccidiosis. Here's how the conversation went:

Matt,

I have several questions but first a little background. My wife and I bought a ranch as I retired ten years ago. It is in south Texas and adjoins her parents’ ranch. We have also taken over my father-in-law’s cattle operations.

However eight months ago, at age 89, he decided he would start a goat business. He knows little about goats so I have been trying to learn as much as I can from websites like your blog ever since. That said, I am very interested in learning better ways to do it both for helping today and to prepare me for tomorrow.

Your blog has me interested in Rumensin minerals. Would you be willing to give me some advice as to how you feed this product to your goats?

What period of the year do you use the SweetLix with Rumensin?

Do you control which goats have access to it?

How do you make certain all the goats you feel should have it actually get it? Our goats have a pecking order around the feed and I’m sure some don’t get any at all.

Do you have to get the doelings/bucklings you wish to sell off of the medicated feed for a defined period before they can be sold?

My father-in-law still has good forage available (50% south Texas brush, 50% pasture with mixed grasses/ weeds). The only supplemental food he puts out is corn. Initially it was to train the herd to come in every night. But as soon as we get a freeze things will change more.

Thanks,

Allan

------------

Allan,

Welcome to the goat business! I hope you enjoy it as much as we have.

I'm happy to tell you about what has worked for us; I'm not a vet, though.

We don't mix our minerals with anything. We just leave them out for the goats to eat whenever their bodies need them. We offer free-choice minerals year-round but mainly worry about Rumensin minerals from about a month before kidding until the kids are weaned. We offer minerals to every goat on the ranch but NOT TO HORSES. I've been told that goat minerals have too much copper for a horse and can kill them. I'm not sure if this is true for cattle. We give our goats Sweetlix 16:8 Meat Maker with Rumensin. I found an online store that carries it here.

Since the minerals are always available, the goats usually don't fight over them too much. Any goat that wants the minerals can walk over and get them. We have had to stop providing minerals for a few months occasionally; when we put them out again, the goats will sometimes eat a whole bag in about 48 hours. After a couple weeks, they slow down again. 200 goats will eat a 25lb bag about every 2 weeks. But, the rate varies wildly depending on the season.

I believe Rumensin is safe to feed to animals before slaughter. I found this FDA article that says it can be used to increase weight gain in slaughter cattle (among other uses).

We use a swivel feeder that we got from a friend to give the minerals to the goats. At the time, we never would have paid this much money for a glorified feed bowl. However, I would definitely pay for one today. We've been using ours for over 10 years and it still gets the job done. The fin on the top of the feeder turns the opening away from the wind when it's raining. This keeps the minerals dry. The swivel also prevents the goats from knocking it over. It doesn't take very many bags of ruined minerals to pay for the feeder. Here's a link to a similar Sydell product.

If we do give feed (separate from the minerals), we usually use 20% protein cattle cubes. The main reason they need feed is to supplement a lack of good weeds to eat when the property gets eaten down too much. Protein is the most important thing in bagged feed.

I hope this helps! Keep questions like these coming. I'll probably start turning them into posts that might help other people who have the same questions!

-- Matt

 

How to Cook Goat Meat

Guest post

Goat meat is quickly on the rise and the demand for it is ever-growing both in the United Stated and the UK.  It is a leaner meat than most and is almost 50% less fatty than beef.  It is lower in fat, cholesterol, and calories making it the healthier option of meat to consume, lowering your chances of developing health problems.  The meat itself is very versatile and easy enough to cook. Due to its low fat content the meat does need to be cooked slower and at lower temperatures but done correctly the meat tastes great and is as juicy and moist as any other meat. Below are a number of ways in which you can cook your goat meat. 

Goat Burgers:

Everybody loves a good burger and goat meat is as good as any to make a decent one.  Due to the goat’s low levels of fat the burgers should be grilled slowly. They are an extremely healthy option and can be served medium rare if desired. 

Goat Sausages:

Goat sausages are a great alternative to pork or venison. They too are very healthy and will need to be grilled to ensure maximum taste. Goat sausages have a gamier flavour and work well with fry-ups, mash or in a sandwich. 

Goat Fillet:

This is the most succulent cut of the goat. It oozes flavour yet has a lot less fat in it than lamb does.  This cut of meat should be pan fried to ensure you get the best from it. 

Diced Goat:

Diced goat can come served on or off the bone. It works brilliantly for putting into curries and casseroles for a great tasting dish.  When using diced goat you should firstly marinate the meat so that it tenderises. The meat can then be cooked until golden brown in a pan with a little oil and then transferred into a pot with water and stock for up to 4 hours. This will ensure that the meat doesn’t dry out or become tough.  Ensure that you cook the meat slowly and at a low temperature. 

Goat Chops:

Chops are small but tasty cuts of meat and it’s no exception when it comes to goat meat. The best way to cook these is to marinade them in garlic and olive and choose from pan frying, grilling, barbecuing or oven cooking. The choice is yours.

Author Bio:

Emma is a keen writer with an interest in goat meat. She loves to write goat recipes and find out new ways of cooking the meat. 

The Benefits of Eating Goat Meat

Guest post

Goat meat is the world’s most popular meat with 75% of the world’s population consuming it. Here in the UK however the likes of beef, pork, lamb and chicken are most commonly eaten and goat is rarely thought of. Times are changing though and goat is on the rise both in the UK and in the United States. The health benefits of eating the meat are higher than those associated with eating others and therefore a demand for goat has risen quite dramatically.

The Health Benefits:

Goat meat is a lean meat that is extremely healthy to eat.  It is low in cholesterol, fat, saturated fat, and calories making it a great choice for those conscious about their health. It is in fact at least 50% lower in fat than beef and 40% lower in saturated fat than chicken. Despite this meat being lean and clean goat is in fact great tasting and full of flavour. 

Goat meat’s low levels of fat and high levels of unsaturated fat make it a very good meat for keeping the heart healthy.  It can in fact reduce your chances of getting cardiovascular disease and other chronic problems as less fat and cholesterol is consumed that can cause the bodies arteries to become blocked.  As well as being beneficial to the heart it helps benefit good blood cholesterol levels which can help to reduce and relieve inflammation problems.

Pregnant women can benefit quite significantly from eating goat meat. It can help to prevent women and their babies from becoming anaemic by increasing the amount of haemoglobin the mother gets and enhancing the blood supply to the baby. It is also rumoured that the meat can help to prevent birth defects and neural tube defects. 

Goat meat is filled with proteins that are important for helping the body to repair and replenish itself. The proteins found in goat meat are part of the eight amino acids that cannot be produced by the body itself. Eating goat is therefore extremely beneficial to the health of your body making sure that you get all you need to remain fit and healthy.  

Cooking Goat Meat:

Because goat meat has a much lower fat content than other meats it can be more difficult to cook.  Often the fat of a meat helps to cook it making sure that it remains juicy and moist.  To prevent goat meat from becoming dry and tough you will need to make sure that it is cooked slowly and at a low temperature.  For best results either braise or roast your meat. 

Author Bio:

Emma is a keen writer with an interest in goat meat. She often writes goat recipes giving information on how to cook the meat properly. 

Castrating Bucklings - A Good Idea?

For most goat ranchers, one of the yearly rituals at the end of kidding season is to round most or all of the bucklings up and take them to the sale barn. If you don't do something with them, they will breed their little sisters. But the sale isn't the only option. Some ranchers keep the bucklings in a separate pen for a couple months to let them grow. Then, when they take them to the sale, the prices can be much higher - meaning more profit. But what if there isn't enough room for an extra pen? Many people suggest castration.

The idea behind castration is that you can keep the bucklings with the rest of the herd during the 60 to 90 day growth period. This way they cannot breed their little sisters - but this way you don't need a separate pen. Since most of the bucklings sold at the sale are used for slaughter, it doesn't matter whether or not they are intact. But, for some people, this concept has a few flaws.

For starters, the only economical methods of castration are not as safe or effective as you might like. Most ranchers use the banding method. But it can have some major drawbacks. If both testicles are not completely trapped by the band, you can have a "wether" with just enough manhood to really mess things up. While this is not very likely, it only takes one. Infection is another issue that the banding method faces. It doesn't take very many dead goats to destroy your increased profit.

But these are not the only concerns. As many ranchers are aware, much of the meat goat market is driven by ethnic ceremonies. In these ceremonies, many groups prefer to have intact bucks - not wethers. By wethering the bucklings, the potential market for the animals decreases.

All this considered, castration is still not a bad idea. For many people the advantages outweigh the risks. Besides, many of these negatives are also region specific. Certain ethnic groups are more concentrated in various parts of the country; so depending on where you live, wethering may not be an issue. Infection is also much more likely in warmer climates.

But as I often mention, part of the fun in goat ranching is trying new strategies to see if they will work for you. So don't be afraid to experiment. You might even try wethering half of your bucklings and leaving the other half intact. Then by comparing the sale prices you can quickly tell whether or not you want to castrate again next year.

How Nutritious Is Goat Meat? Is Goat Meat Good For You?

The folks over at Beginning Farmers published an interesting USDA-ARS chart the other day that compares beef and goat meat. The chart shows that goat meat is very healthy for you! It has just about equal or better scores than beef on almost all the good things and way lower scores on the bad!

Most interesting to me is the comparison on fat - beef has almost 5.5 times more fat than goat meat!

Here's the chart - just goes to show that goat meat is good for you!

Comparison Goat/Beef(Ground)	Cooked
Servings	1
Servings Weight	100g

Content (units)	BEEF	GOAT
Water (g)	56.75	67.93
Energy (kcal)	257	142
Protein (g)	25.56	26.99
Fat, total (g)	16.42	3.02
Cholesterol (mg)	88	75
Saturated fatty acids, total (g)	6.317	0.926
Monounsaturated fatty acids, total (g)	7.305	1.354
Polyunsaturated fatty acids, total (g)	0.491	0.229
Copper (mg)	0.081	0.302
Iron (mg)	2.49	3.72
Magnesium (mg)	20	0
Phosphorus (mg)	193	200
Potassium (mg)	304	403
Selenium (mcg)	21.3	11.8
Sodium (mg)	401	248
Zinc (mg)	6.21	5.25
Vitamin B-6 (mg)	0.366	0
Choline, total (mg)	80.4	106
Vitamin B-12 (mcg)	2.69	1.18
Vitamin E, alpha tocopherol (mg)	0.45	0.34
Vitamin K (mcg)	1.6	1.2
Niacin (mg)	5.107	3.933
Riboflavin (mg)	0.176	0.607
Thiamin (mg)	0.047	0.09

How To Butcher A Goat

Somehow last year All Things Goat linked to a video on the butchering process. It's a good video if you are interested in how to carve up a carcass. The goat is already dead and skinned so the video starts in the butcher shop for those who might be a little reluctant to watch it.

We found it to be a nice overview of the process and  the various cuts of meat. Take a look http://allthingsgoat.com/2010/08/butchering-a-goat/.

Eat A Goat; I'd Rather Choke!

Funny some folks frown on eating goat. We like it. A favorite is sausage patties with scrambled eggs and biscuits for breakfast. Hard to beat!! But, we have friends who  start choking just at the suggestion of goat meat. Of course they haven't tried it either.

Grocery stores with shrink wrap sell "real" meat. You know the stuff on those little rectangle pieces of styrofoam covered with plastic. It's bound to be good for you cause' they sell it in the stores.

We like our goat meat because we know who raised it, who processed it, and it's not full of antibiotics and wormers. Just healthy, red lean meat with lots of protein! Hey, do you happen to know how they grow corn in those cans? I always wondered.

Goat Meat; It's Good For You!

 

Goat Meat - is good for you according to the British Boer Goat Society. The group reports goat meat compared to beef, pork, lamb, and chicken has less fat. It is also high in protein. The chart was taken from their web page gives credit and references: "use of goat milk and goat meat as therapeutic aids in cardiovascular diseases" by Dr. John R. Addizzo, M.D., Staten Island Medical Centre, New York.

3oz Cooked(Roasted)	Calories	Fat (g)	Saturated fat (g)	Protein (g)	Iron(mg)
GOAT1	122	2.58	.79	23	3.2
BEEF2	245	16	6.8	23	2.9
PORK2	310	24	8.7	21	2.7
LAMB2	235	16	7.3	22	1.4
CHICKEN2	120	3.5	1.1	21	1.5
Sources
USDA Handbook #8, 1989 Nutritive value of foods, home and garden bulletin number 72, USDA, Washington, D.C., US Government Printing Office, 1981

This table contains both oz. and g. It has been taken in its entirety from the named reference

So eat up! It's good for you and tastes GREAT! For more information, see their web page. http://www.britishboergoatsociety.co.uk/bbgs%20meat.html

Goat Meat Straight Off The Farm

Fresh goat meat right off the farm! You know how it was fed and grown! Good to eat and great for you. So how is it done? Pretty much the same way from California to Oklahoma to the east coast. The Iowa Meat Goat Association webpage explains the process as,

"It's easy!

Step 1: Contact an IMGA member

Step 2: They will set up a time/day for processing at a butcher

Step 3: Contact their butcher to tell them your desired cuts

Step 4: Pay the farmer

Step 5: Pay the butcher and pick up the meat. Enjoy!

How much meat will I get?

If the live weight is the hanging weight will be the boneless meat will weight
100 pounds 50 pounds 25-30 pounds
120 pounds 50 pounds 30-35 pounds

How much will it cost?

If the farmer's price is multiply times live weight to get total to farmer
$1.50 per pound 100 pounds $150.00
$2.00 per pound 100 pounds $200.00

Then add the cost of butchering, which is around $50.00

This averages around $6.00 per pound for boneless goat meat.

Why should I buy my goat meat locally?

1. You know who the farmer is.

You can ask... what feed was used?
were growth promoters used?
were hormones used?
were antibiotics used?

2. Your meat is fresh.

3. You are helping the local economy by supporting

local farmer
local butcher
local feed mill

4. You decide how you want meat cut.

5. Farmer makes a premium with no middleman."

There's not much to it really, just find a local goat farm and put in your order. The goat is delivered to the processor for you! Goat meat, yeah!!
 

Goat Meat Doesn't Come From A Factory Farm

Goats don't take well to a factory style production model. As browsers, goats need to roam and meander through the brush to thrive.

There was a good article on factory foods, those meats, cheeses, and other products that come from mass production. Nicolette Hahn Niman, a former environmental lawyer, vegetarian, turned rancher did a real nice job in the article. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicolette-hahn-niman/avoiding-factory-farm-foo_b_353525.html  Niman writes for The Huffington Post, a publication we know absolutely nothing about. But her points on food production really cause you to stop and think. What really caught my attention is she is a vegetarian that owns and works a ranch with her husband. To be fair, she was a vegetarian before she was married.

The report didn't attack folks like me ( and probably you ) that like meat. We eat and enjoy it. She gave it up for her own reasons, but doesn't try to shove her own lifestyle upon others. She says,

 Goat: Goat is the most frequently consumed meat in the world but most Americans have never tried it. However, as the US population changes and as palates broaden, goat meat is gaining popularity here for the first time. One advantage to eating goat meat is that this is a non-industrialized part of the meat sector. There is no such thing as a goat factory farm. In fact, goat is probably the most environmentally friendly of all meats, because, when properly managed, goats do little damage to the landscape and consume naturally occurring undesirable vegetation, (like poison oak and coyote brush). Look for it at your local farmers market. The best goat meat is from animals raised specifically as meat goats, (rather than dairy goats), especially the Boer and Spanish breeds.

If you aren't familiar with what she calls a factory farm, you need to read her article. It is covers a broad spectrum and gives you some things to consider.