Our good neighbor is growing a meat cow. His daughter was given a little calf, so they built a pen and have been harvesting their grass with the lawn mower, and plan to butcher when the grass is gone and before the mud takes over. We discussed the advantages of having meat on the hoof, rather than in the freezer.
My goats are a dairy breed, known for their milk production, not for meaty frames.
Although Peaches nursed two big kids, she looks thin but strong. Young Noobi, with her first kids this year, looks too thin to me. I worry that she isn't in good condition, and that I should have let her grow bigger before she was allowed to breed, or I should have removed her weakest kid, the one that didn't survive anyway, so she didn't use up so much of her fat stores nursing.
To manage parasites, I give the goats cookies made with wormwood, garlic, and black walnut herbs, and for Noobi, Nibs, and Little Buck, the thinnest goats in the herd, I recently dosed them with a chemical wormer too. Some people say to routinely dose the whole herd with chemicals, but others say to only dose those goats that need it, so as not to create worms that are resistant to the chemicals. Our small pastures have been grazed pretty short, so the goats are surely being exposed to more worms than ever before.
It's easier to think of culling some of the herd when faced with the dangers of overgrazed pastures and parasite problems. Goats are fun to keep unless they are sick.
We've grown accustomed to caring for chickens that are destined for the freezer, but we're still wrapping our heads and hearts around harvesting goat meat. But, we are undeniably meat eaters, and we have surplus goats...
It's nearly time to take the plunge and learn this new skill.
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