I wanted to share some of the questions I've had, about Goat Meat, and what we do on the farm.
Q. What kind of grain do we use with alfalfa?
A. We don't grain them, just feed them really great hay, and I have given the Mama Goats whole barley sometimes to get them to follow me when moving between pasturesš, or to get them to eat their mineral mix.Ā
Q. How hard is it to raise goats?
A. With the Kiko breed, it's fairly simple, they are a hardy goat and don't really ask for much even shelter, they prefer to be outside unless it's wet or blowing. and for feed they aren't too picky, i think i'm more picky about what they eat then they areš but fencing is a different story, it has to be goodš
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Q. How do you ship to other states like Arizona?
A. We use Periship, and dry ice to keep it frozen.
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Q. Do you have samples?
A. We will soon, they haven't been butchered yet.
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Q. Recipes for Organ Meat?
A. So far all I use it for is Pet Nutrition.
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Q. Do you sell baby goat meat....Cabrito?
A. I don't have them butchered until at least 60-70 pounds.
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Q. Are there Small Packages for single People?
A. Yes, 1/4 of a goat is 6 pounds of meat.
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Q. What interested us in raising goats?
A. My love for animals, and looking for a better way to utilize our land. ( I really wanted to get away from using Chemicals on weeds toošš»)
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Q.Ā Other than pitting a goat whole what other ways do you cook them. I have only had them cooked whole in a pit would like to try other ways to cook them
A. I cubed the meat and made kabobs with it. we grilled them on the Traeger, it was sooo goodš¤¤
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Q. Do you have goat meat recipes?
A. Yes, I'm still working on perfecting them before I send them out to youš
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Q. How long have you been selling goat meat?
A. We started Our herd 2 years ago and this is Our first harvest so farš
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Q. How long have you been farming?
A. My husband has been a farmer all his life, me about 12 years....
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Q. Do you raise the Goats only for Meat? or do you Milk them?
A. I have milked them, they are meat goats, so the didn't appreciate it very much....so I'm raising one of last years doelings to be a milk Goat! I'm excited to try it's milk.Ā
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Q. What do you think of Kinder Goats?
A. I have never owned one, but they look like the perfect goat for a homstead where the goat can be used for both Milk, Meat, and not to hard to keep contained.š
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Q. If a customer lives close enough can they schedule a pick up for an order?
A. Yes! We can definitely do thatš
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Q. Can you really make goat meat burgers?
A. Yes, however I feel like they taste better mixed with some beef or bacon in the patties
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Q. Can you send me some bacon wraped Goat Burgers?
A. š I'll see what I can do!
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Q. Best why to cook Goat?
A. Roasted, smoked or Grilled
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Q. What does Goat Meat taste like?
A. Like a mix between Venison and Beef.
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Q. Do you respect the land Spiritually?
A. Yes, I believe the the best way to care for the land is to give it companionship, in the form of animals and water, I think if it as giving the land the opportunity to serve its divine purpose. I actually feel bad for patches of dirt I see that lay open and wasted. Like someone wise once said" You have to realize that weeds are just the earth trying to cover its self, if you pull out all the weeds with out giving to something in return to be grown in its place, the weeds will come back".
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Q. What adjustments need to be made to recipes to use goat meat instead?
A. I added some olive oil to help with tenderness, just because it was so lean.
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Q. Why did you choose to raise goats when so many people don't like it?
A. BecauseĀ I like goats, and they have so much to offer, Milk, Meat, Soap Weed eaters, fun( kidding season is the bestš„°), they're animals my children can safely be around.
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Q. Do you ship to Texas?
A. Yes we doš
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Q. Is Goat Meat a Lean Meat?
A. Yes
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Q. What are the best uses of Goat Meat?
A. The best use of goat meat is to Put it in almost anything you would put beef in!
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Q. What got you into farming?
A. I've always loved animals. And my Husband grows hay and other crops.
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Q. Favorite Breed?
A. My favorite Meat goats are the New Zealand Kikos, and my Favorite Dairy Goat is the Lamancha/Nubian.
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Q. The Landscape of our area?
A. Our area is mostly flat land, our goats love trimming trees and are excellent weed whackers!
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Q. Favorite recipes with goat meat?
A. My favorite so far is grilled on kabob sticks with veggies
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Q. What is your sex ratio of new kids this year?
A. We goat about 2:1 Boys to Girls
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Q. Do your goats also participate, or are they available for goat yoga?
A. I've never tried real goat yoga, but when the baby goats were tiny, anytime I'd bend over, they'd come jump on my backš it was funny till they got about 50 lbs
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Q. Overall Benefits?
A. I believe the overall benefit of This goat meat is that these animals are from a clean herd, Grass-Fed, disease-free, vaccine free, and they've never been exposed to anything in an auction barn.
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Q. Do you have dairy goats and make cheese?
A. Not yet, but eventually I'd like to build a barn and start making goat dairy products.
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Q. Do they get names? Numbers?
A. I let my children name last year's baby goats, but we also gave them numbers
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Q. What age are the goats when harvested?
A. I prefer to let them get to 1 year, or at least 100 lbs. But there are lots of people who prefer Chevon, meaning they're about 9 months and weigh about 50 to 60 lbs, or Cabrito, meaning they're about 2 months old and weigh 15 to 25 lbs
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Q. How many goats do you have?
A. I've got 38 goats right now, I'll have about 80 come May!
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Q. Is it difficult for you to butcher them after you watch them grow?
A. Yes, I had to do a lot of thinking to make sure I was doing the right thing, raising goats. I believe this is their purpose and it would be wrong of me to deny them the opportunity to serve their divine purpose. I could never be the one to do the butchering though, even if I didn't raise them.
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Q. What is the best hay for caprine?
A. I use mostly high-quality orchard grass, but in the winter we have high-quality alfalfa, for extra energy to stay warm.
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Q. Where do the goats come from?
A. The breed originated in New Zealand, I purchased my starter herd from a farm in Wyoming
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Q. Do we ship?
A. Yes we do!! Anywhere in the lower 48 statesš
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Q. Has the High Cost of feed affected you?
A. Not too much, mostly because my Husband grows Hay commercially to sell and we just save out what we will need for the year.
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Q. Is Goat and Sheep butchering similar?
A. Yes, It's a lot alike.
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Q. What is the best way to cook goat meat so that it tastes like the cabrito in Mexican restaurants?
A. I'm not sure if this is the answer you're looking for, but I had a goat that was about 2 years old when we harvested it, and I just marinated the meat in olive oil with the herbs, and it turned out super tender and delicious! The oil helps to breakdown some of the tissues so that it can be more tender.
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Q. Can you Make Butter and Cheese?
A. I do Know how to make butter and Cheese, also Goat milk soap, Lotions and Jerky,Ā but we don't sell these products.....yet š.
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Q. Do you homeschool?
A. We do a school Co-op with several other like minded families.