Euthanasia is always a hard topic to discuss, and a hard thing to experience. But as the old saying goes, if you have livestock, you have dead stock. So you will sooner or later have to go through this. If you have a vet euthanize your animal, he/she will use an injection of barbituates which is essentially an anaesthetic overdose. The drug is injected into the vein and the animal goes to sleep. However, in a farm setting many people have access to a gun, and shooting is the method chosen. It will also be your chosen method if you wish to slaughterur goats for meat at home.
The purpose of this short blog entry is to emphasise how to shoot a goat correctly. Goats should be shot from the back of the head, not in front on the forehead.
Many people are experienced in shooting sheep, cattle or pigs, but havent shot a goat before. It is extremely important to know that you cannot shoot most goats like you would another animal.
The common method of shooting an animal is to draw an imaginary line from ear to eye, forming an "X" on the animal's forehead, just above the eyes and shooting here. This method doesnt work very well in goats, and here is why.
WARNING: GRAPHIC PICTURE BELOW!!
The purpose of this short blog entry is to emphasise how to shoot a goat correctly. Goats should be shot from the back of the head, not in front on the forehead.
Many people are experienced in shooting sheep, cattle or pigs, but havent shot a goat before. It is extremely important to know that you cannot shoot most goats like you would another animal.
The common method of shooting an animal is to draw an imaginary line from ear to eye, forming an "X" on the animal's forehead, just above the eyes and shooting here. This method doesnt work very well in goats, and here is why.
WARNING: GRAPHIC PICTURE BELOW!!
This is the head of a 1 yr old horned saanen x toggenburg buck. Horns have been cut off in this picture and some of his ears. The big hole you see is where his brain is. Just below the brain cavity you can see the thick bony plate between his eyes. If you draw an imaginary line between his ears and his eyes, you will see that the "X" formed is very close to this bony plate.
All goats grow these bony plates down the front of their head, although they are more pronounced in horned animals, disbudded but scurred animals, and intact bucks, and of course the older the animal is, the bigger these plates are. This buck had about 2 inches of bony plate on top of what you see here (we had opened his head with the bandsaw to access the brains for brain tanning), and it extended up and over the brain cavity as well.
This is why goats should NOT be shot from the front of the head. It is not a reliable method as the bullet will not always penetrate the bony plates and instant unconsciousness does not always occur.
To shoot a goat correctly and humanely, place the gun at the back of the head pointing down towards the jaw. The bullet will easily penetrate the back of the skull into the brain cavity and the goat will collapse instantly. Very young kids, and polled goats, may not grow the bony plates on the forehead and these can still be shot from the front, but it is easier to simply get into the habit of shooting all goats from the back of the head. This is easily achieved with quiet animals, if you lead them to the area where the deed is to be done, place a bowl of feed on the ground. The goat will put its head down to eat, you stand beside or behind them and shoot, the goat will not even know what is happening.
All goats grow these bony plates down the front of their head, although they are more pronounced in horned animals, disbudded but scurred animals, and intact bucks, and of course the older the animal is, the bigger these plates are. This buck had about 2 inches of bony plate on top of what you see here (we had opened his head with the bandsaw to access the brains for brain tanning), and it extended up and over the brain cavity as well.
This is why goats should NOT be shot from the front of the head. It is not a reliable method as the bullet will not always penetrate the bony plates and instant unconsciousness does not always occur.
To shoot a goat correctly and humanely, place the gun at the back of the head pointing down towards the jaw. The bullet will easily penetrate the back of the skull into the brain cavity and the goat will collapse instantly. Very young kids, and polled goats, may not grow the bony plates on the forehead and these can still be shot from the front, but it is easier to simply get into the habit of shooting all goats from the back of the head. This is easily achieved with quiet animals, if you lead them to the area where the deed is to be done, place a bowl of feed on the ground. The goat will put its head down to eat, you stand beside or behind them and shoot, the goat will not even know what is happening.