[Kevin67]

I am insanely jealous - I would love a small-holding. I wish you well.

[Kate and her Ducks]

The boys tasted amazing!

We have been really lucky in that one of our neighbours is a butcher and makes sausages and bacon etc. Everything we have had has been fabulous. It was really hard taking them to the abattoir but will definitely be doing it again!

[Kevin67]

I'm not surprised!

Although I'm not a celebrity-fan, I had to agree with Hugh F-W when he said, animals properly cared for give the best quality meat. Having reared them yourself also means each mouthful means so much more.

I hope I get to keep pigs and goats some day soon. I'd hate to get old and think back "I wish I had...".

Well done for your very hard work.

(Did you have the boys neutered? Apparently this affects the taste of the meat?)

[Kate and her Ducks]

Couldn't agree more with the fact that well cared for animals taste the best. For us there is no doubt some emotional overlay but so many people have raved about the meat and we have sold it 3 times over without a moments hesitation so think it is really good.
Ours weren't neutered this year. It was a very deliberate decision as intact males are a bit of a nightmare to keep so the best to start with as not likely to end up deciding to keep them (and yes, if there had been a way to get out of killing them might have taken it!). No noticeable taint on the meat.  Next year we are having gilts  and we are going to keep a couple for breeding

I never thought I would say it but I love my goats more than any of my other animals. They are brilliant! They are more fun and joy than any animal I have kept before. I have only kept dairy goats this year and although I am really looking forward to my first kidding in May (fingers crossed) am dreading it a bit too as not sure I can send even smelly, grumpy billies to slaughter! Then again, it is really hard not to have a close relationship with an animal you milk on a daily basis. They are so funny, silly affectionate and wise. I swear they sometimes put their thoughts in my head when they are telling me off for doing (or trying to get them to do) something stupid! If the OH would let me they would live in the house!

[tosca100]

We have been toying with getting goats next year too, but they look as if they are not cost effective unless you eat the kids, and we can't have anything that actually cost us money as there is nothing coming in. We don't need much land as they would be taken out by the shepherd to browse. Shame really, but though we would need two for company, we could only really have one in milk as we don't need masses. So it looks as if we will do without.

OH went to the (2) pig killing next door last week, which was quite traumatic. I didn't want him to go into too much detail but he said that it could have been more humane. (It's still done on the holdings here, so here is no travel, but December is awful for this veggie, surround sound pig screaming as all the villagers take their turn) I said that I wouldn't mind him having pigs as we have a lot of veg waste if he would look after them solely, but he couldn't cope with what they did happening to his own. They also use a blow torch on the skin so ruin it and there is no crackling. The fat is taken off the meat too and kept for special occasions, sliced thin and savoured...unless they give us some and it's cut up, frozen and used to cover joints so they don't dry out. All so different to the UK.

[Kevin67]

The abattoirs here in the UK also use a blow torch - for burning off the hair that is left. The skin can still be used for crackling. Is the guy using the blow torch too heavily? The coarse hairs are boiled/shaved off first and the missed/finer hair torched off.

Sad to hear about the culling. Hopefully the person will have learned what not to do for the next one. Could your partner not do this, help or manage the process in some extra way? As you know, the final piece of the jigsaw is a quality end.

Could you not make some money by making goats cheese?  You may also be able to sell some milk for local lactose-intolerant babies? Would that make two milking goats viable?
(link: http://www.parenting.com/article/ask-dr-sears-advantages-of-goats-milk )

Just a thought...

[tosca100]

Kevin, have PM'd you.

[Kevin67]

Thank you for a wonderful reply, Tosca. I will also reply but later tonight when the children are in bed.

To complete the circle for other readers of this post, the pm is to do with small holding practice's which would not be suitable for our younger readers, in keeping with our forum policies here.

[Kate and her Ducks]

I think most abattoirs here actually scald the carcass rather than use a blowtorch. Ours certainly does. I have used a blowtorch on our duck caracasses in the past, to get the fine left over feathers. If you are careful it doesn't damage the skin too much but it does leave a fine layer of soot so imagine that would be terrible if all the hairs on a pig.

Goats can actually be very thrifty if you have the browsing for them, i.e. lots of hedgerows and roughage. They will not produce as much milk as if they are supplemented and to make it cost efficient you would probably have to sell the kid one way or the other. The problem with any livestock is that even if you are making a profit from them that can all end in a heartbeat if they need the vet out!
There is stuff like making cheese that you can do to increase the value of what you get from the goats either to sell or replace what you would buy. I am really enjoying getting the hang of cheese making but as with anything there is always a bit of investment in kit at the beginning. Unfortunately you can't sell goats milk as lactose free as it does contain lactose too. Some people who are lactose intolerant can tolerate it better than cows milk though.