Some 10,000 years ago a few stone age farmers decided to keep some wild goats. Their act of managing the goats started the domestication process of the second animal by humans. The first were dogs. But unlike dogs, goats were domesticated for the production of three products: meat, fiber and milk/cheese. So when you eat goat meat, wear goat cashmere/mohair clothing, or snack on goat cheese you are participating in a 10,000 year old tradition.
So why eat goat meat? First, it is a healthy red meat. It is similar nutritionally to chicken. Compared to chicken it has similar calories, but lower total fat, lower saturated fat, but as a red meat higher protein and iron. Even better, our forage-based young lamanchas taste great.
But wait, Lamanchas are dairy goats, why are you eating them? Well, with goats as with humans, you have an equal chance of males and females. Since, on average, our does have two goat kids, half of our kids are bucks, and bucks don’t make milk. For breeding, one buck can manage a lot of does. So…… we have a lot of buck kids. We don’t see them as a waste product to be dispatched, but, rather as a byproduct of our dairy. Extra males is a fact of all natural dairy systems. Those extra males are eaten as veal if they are beef, as lamb if they are sheep, and as chevon if they are goat. Of course, we don’t eat all the males. We do try to sell them as breeding bucks, or as wethers, if we castrate, for: pack goats, 4H, goatscaping and even then we can’t sell them all. We get them out foraging the hillsides and woods, and they live a great life.
Our males for meat are locally, humanely, USDA, halal processed. We know them for their whole lives. So though it is with sadness, we know they are producing for our community a local, safe, nutritious meat.
To learn more about goat meat, and some excellent ways to cook it, we highly recommend "Goat: Cooking and Eating," by James Whetlor.
So why eat goat meat? First, it is a healthy red meat. It is similar nutritionally to chicken. Compared to chicken it has similar calories, but lower total fat, lower saturated fat, but as a red meat higher protein and iron. Even better, our forage-based young lamanchas taste great.
But wait, Lamanchas are dairy goats, why are you eating them? Well, with goats as with humans, you have an equal chance of males and females. Since, on average, our does have two goat kids, half of our kids are bucks, and bucks don’t make milk. For breeding, one buck can manage a lot of does. So…… we have a lot of buck kids. We don’t see them as a waste product to be dispatched, but, rather as a byproduct of our dairy. Extra males is a fact of all natural dairy systems. Those extra males are eaten as veal if they are beef, as lamb if they are sheep, and as chevon if they are goat. Of course, we don’t eat all the males. We do try to sell them as breeding bucks, or as wethers, if we castrate, for: pack goats, 4H, goatscaping and even then we can’t sell them all. We get them out foraging the hillsides and woods, and they live a great life.
Our males for meat are locally, humanely, USDA, halal processed. We know them for their whole lives. So though it is with sadness, we know they are producing for our community a local, safe, nutritious meat.
To learn more about goat meat, and some excellent ways to cook it, we highly recommend "Goat: Cooking and Eating," by James Whetlor.
