GOAT MEAT PRODUCTION AND CUTTING TRIAL

 Reprinted from the April 1997 AKGA Update Newsletter

        Two cutting trials were conducted in November 1994 and February 1995. The aim of the trials was to determine the carcass characteristics of certain breeds and crossbreeds of goat, to measure the yield f rom liveweight to carcass weight and from carcass weight to net meat weight in order to determine the relative production characteristics of each trial group. Since, in New Zealand, returns for goat meat are significantly lower than those for sheep and there are only relatively minor premiums

attaching to desirable cuts, no analysis was made of the comparative weights of cuts occurring but rather the emphasis was on gross meat weights.

                The trials were conducted on animals slaughtered at the Auckland Municipal Abattoir and cut and boned under the supervision of Marshall Meats, Waitakere, Auckland, for whom the final figures were collated and prepared.

                All animals had been raised under standard New Zealand pasture conditions — that is, they had been naturally conceived, born and raised by their natural dams who had been subject to no unusual management regimes.

                The kids had been weaned onto pasture at around 100 days of age, had not been subjected to feed supplementation and had undergone comprehensive drench and vaccination regimes in common with nearly all New Zealand goats of their age. The animals slaughtered had not been the subject of special selection but were considered to be fair averages for their breed and age.

        • GROUP A: 22 purebred Boer bucks, slaughtered November 1994, average age 14.0 months.

        • GROUP B: 19 purebred Kiko bucks, slaughtered November 1994, average age 13.5 months.

        • GROUP C: 26 Boer/Kiko crossbred wethers, slaughtered February 1995, average age 5.5 months

        • GROUP D: 24 New Zealand feral goat wethers, slaughtered February 1995, average age 6 months.

 
Methodology

                All goats were yarded and allowed to empty for 12 hours prior to trucking to slaughter.

                Carcass weight is defined as cold, head off, skin off, eviscerated carcass subjected to not less than 12 hours chilling at 3 degrees Celsius (37 degrees Fahrenheit). Carcasses were individually weighed upon reception at the cutting facility.

                Meat weight is defined as total kilograms of recoverable edible meat derived from each of the trial groups after the removal of all bone, fat, sinew and gristle.

Analysis of trial figures

                When recoverable meat values are expressed as a percentage of live weight, then ranked, the following outcome is observed:

        1.         Kiko — 53.49%.

        2.         Boer/Kiko — 52.54%.

        3.        Boer — 52.44%.

        4.        Feral — 50.07%.

        From the point of the view of the commercial meat processor conducting the trial, pureblood Kiko goats were considered to be the most desirable slaughter animal followed by Boer/Kiko crosses. This effect is enhanced when the average grams of meat produced per day is taken into consideration, since both these groups of animals were significantly younger than the other trial groups.

                Further, since in New Zealand producers are paid on carcass weight, the pureblood Kiko carcasses in Group B, in delivering a significantly higher level of meat per carcass Kiko, represented an elevated degree of processor profit, which has resulted in a premium now being offered to producers of the target type of livestock.

                It should be noted that there are considerable age differences between Trial Groups A and B, and Trial Groups C and D. Since the costs of slaughter are the same for all classes of animal, it is imperative that the maximum amount of meat be realized from each animal slaughtered and that younger animals do not simply afford the processor smaller carcasses. One way of assessing production is to calculate a production factor by dividing the average meat weight per animal by its average age. Such a calculation reveals the following pattern:

        • Group A — 1.07.

        • Group B — 1.257.

        • Group C — 2.187.

        • Group D — 1.162.

        On that basis, Group C is the most desirable target animal in terms of production.

        Although the numbers of animals in the trials were limited, general experience by the processor has confirmed the trends indicated by those trials.