Here's How We Wean, Fatten, and Butcher Goats on Rimfire Ranch

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

There's no substitute for a good, sharp knife when it comes to skinning a goat! Keep that in mind, and the whole job will go a lot easier.

Start by making a cut completely around the ankle of each hind leg and about two inches below the first joint (Fig. 3). Try to slice just deep enough to completely penetrate the skin, without cutting into the meat underneath. Then make a long cut down the inside of each leg (Fig. 4) until the two cuts meet at the crotch.

Again, try not to let your knife dig into the meat . . . but do slice completely through the skin. This can sometimes be done much easier-once a cut is started-by holding your blade so that its edge points out (toward the skin) and then pushing it along with a slight rotary motion of the wrist so that the knife's point runs neatly along and just above the fell-or protective membranewhich covers the meat immediately beneath the hide. This-and some of the steps which follow-may sound complicated, but they're really pretty easy once you start doing them.

When you've completed the "V" cut down the inside of the rear legs, start working the skin off those legs by gently pulling on the hide while using the tip of your knife to free it as you go.

Relax, take your time, think of the job as "peeling a banana" . . . and .you'll probably make better time than if you get all tensed up and take the task too seriously. So what if you do slice into the meat occasionally or nick the hide once or twice the first time you try to butcher? A little experience will polish your technique. The important thing right now is just to prove to yourself that you can do it.

OK. Once you get the hide off the hind legs, you'll be ready to work on the crotch. This is the hardest part and it's best (at least the first time you try it) to just cut the tail off at its base and get it out of the way. Then cut back from the point of the " V" you made down the inside of the hind legs . . . around the anus in back and down around the genitals in front.

If you'll now pull down hard on the loose hide from the legs, and use an occasional touch of the knife when necessary (Fig. 5), the skin will turn wrongside out and slip right off most of the body. Some people prefer to leave the torso hide uncut during this operation (to keep loose hairs off the body meat as it is increasingly exposed) . . . but we like to slit the hide right down the middle of the belly (Fig. 6) before we pull it off.

When we reach the forelegs with this cut, we make a slit down the inside of each leg (just as we did down the inside of the hind ones), and continue peeling the skin off in one piece. As the edge of the hide nears the ground, we slip a board or some old sacks under it to keep it out of the dirt. It's also a good idea to wash your hands in clean, warm water from time to time during this skinning process to keep loose hairs and stains off the carcass.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print