What an ʿaqīqah costs

1The short answer

Through a US charity that does the ʿaqīqah abroad, expect about $160 to $190 an animal on the pages we checked: one animal for a girl, two for a boy if you follow the majority^1,2,3.

Locally, there is no single price. The few US halal sellers that publish prices list whole goat or lamb at around $10 to $11 a pound of meat, so one animal usually comes to a few hundred dollars depending on its size^4,5. Many farms quote only by phone, or price by weight after slaughter.

2Through a charity abroad

On 9 October 2026, Penny Appeal USA listed $190 per goat, “subject to change based on market rates”². Human Appeal USA listed $320 for a boy and $160 for a girl¹.

Check the timing. Human Appeal USA says its teams “aim to perform your sacrifice within 2 to 3 weeks” and send a report of when and where it was done⁶. Penny Appeal USA chooses the country itself and says the seventh day is best, otherwise the 14th or 21st⁷. If the seventh day matters to you, ask before you pay; in the Mālikī school the slaughter should also be by day⁸.

The meat goes to families in need, which is a beautiful use of it. What you give up is the part the books also describe: eating some yourselves and sharing it with neighbours and friends⁹.

3Locally, through a halal farm or butcher

Published local prices are rare. Two examples from 9 October 2026: Zabiha Depot in Illinois listed whole goat at $10.99 a pound and whole lamb at $9.99, with a 20-pound minimum⁴; One Stop Halal listed a cut and boxed “full goat” of about 28 pounds of meat for $399.99⁵. At $10.99 a pound, 30 pounds of goat meat would be about $330. A larger animal costs more.

One important point: an ʿaqīqah is an animal slaughtered for your child. The Prophet ﷺ said, “shed blood on his behalf” (Bukhārī 5472)¹⁰, and the ʿaqīqah follows the rules of the Eid sacrifice¹¹. A box of meat already cut from stock is good food, but it is not an ʿaqīqah. Ask the seller to slaughter a particular animal for your child, on the day you want, and to tell you when it is done.

Many farms price an ʿaqīqah only after the meat is weighed, so the final bill depends on the animal’s weight. Ask for an estimate for the size you want before you book.

4What the price usually includes

A local price usually covers the animal, the halal slaughter, skinning and cleaning, and cutting. Ask whether it is priced by the head, by live weight, or by the weight of the meat, since these give very different totals. Packaging, delivery and cooking are often extra.

Some families ask for the meat in large joints without breaking the bones, which some schools recommend; the seventh-day guide explains this, and a butcher can usually do it if asked before cutting (The seventh day).

A charity price usually covers the animal, the slaughter, distribution to families, and a short confirmation or report⁶.

5What to ask the butcher or farm

1. Is it slaughtered as an ʿaqīqah for my child?

   A specific animal, slaughtered with the name of Allah for your baby, not meat from stock. Give them your baby’s name.^10,11

2. Which day, and what time?

   Can they do it on the seventh day? If you follow the Mālikī school, ask for it by day. (Seventh-day dates)⁸

3. How old is the animal?

   It must meet the age and soundness conditions of the Eid sacrifice. A “baby goat” sold for meat may be too young; the seventh-day guide gives the schools’ conditions (The seventh day).¹²

4. How is it priced?

   Per head, per pound live weight, or per pound of meat? What is the total for the size you want, and what is extra?

5. How will it be cut?

   Ask for large joints, unbroken bones if you wish, and the meat split into bags for your family, gifts and charity.⁹

6. Can someone from the family be there?

   Some families like to be present, or to say the words of the ʿaqīqah at the slaughter.¹³

7. Pickup or delivery?

   When, where, and whether they can deliver part of it straight to a food pantry or family in need.

6If money is tight

The ʿaqīqah is a sunnah, not an obligation, in all four schools, and Allah does not burden a soul beyond its means (al-Baqarah 2:286)^14,12. The seventh-day guide explains how the schools treat one animal, a later day, and borrowing (The seventh day).

A charity abroad is usually the cheapest way. Whatever you choose, it is a sacrifice of thanks for your child, and a small one offered with love is not lesser.

Sources

1. Human Appeal USA, Aqiqa (price page, viewed 2026-10-09) Aqiqa (boy) $320; Aqiqa (girl) $160.
2. Penny Appeal USA, Aqiqah Program (price page, viewed 2026-10-09) “The sunnah is to sacrifice two goats for a boy and one goat for a girl. The current price of a goat is $190 but is subject to change.” The country is chosen by the charity.
3. Sunan Abī Dāwūd 2834 Umm Kurz: “For a boy, two matching sheep; for a girl, one.” Aḥmad explained “matching” as equal or close (in age). Grading: ṣaḥīḥ (al-Albānī, Ṣaḥīḥ Abī Dāwūd 2834).
4. Zabiha Depot, Illinois, home page price list (viewed 2026-10-09) Whole goat $10.99 per pound, whole lamb $9.99 per pound, minimum 20 pounds; delivery in Illinois, southern Wisconsin and northern Indiana.
5. One Stop Halal, “Zabiha Halal Full Goat” (viewed 2026-10-09) $399.99 for about 28 pounds of goat meat, cut (chops, shanks, bone-in stew, pulao meat), shipped.
6. Human Appeal USA, Aqiqa (page viewed 2026-10-09) “Once you donate, our local teams will aim to perform your sacrifice within 2 to 3 weeks.” Donors receive a report of when and where the sacrifice was done. Each animal provides about 2 kg of meat to 7 or 8 families.
7. Penny Appeal USA, Aqiqah Program (page viewed 2026-10-09) “In order to do your Aqiqah in a timely manner, we don’t offer country options.” The page says it is best done on the seventh day, otherwise the 14th or 21st.
8. al-Dardīr, al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr, with al-Dasūqī’s Ḥāshiyah (Mālikī) 2/126 Recommended for the father, from his own wealth: one animal valid as an uḍḥiyah, boy or girl alike, on the seventh day, by day. The day of birth is not counted if the baby was born after dawn. Its time lapses at sunset of the seventh (a weaker view allows the second and third weeks). Shave the head even of a girl, and give its weight in gold or silver. Breaking the bones is allowed. Making it a walīmah that people are invited to is disliked; it is cooked and eaten by the family and others in their own places. Smearing the baby with its blood is disliked.
9. Ibn al-Qayyim, Tuḥfat al-Mawdūd, ch. 6 §§12–13 and 17, pp. 75–80, 84–86 Cooking it is better than giving it raw: it spares the poor and the neighbours the work, and cooked food brings more joy. Not breaking the bones is a good omen for the child’s soundness (Aḥmad); Mālik and al-Zuhrī allowed breaking them. Eat, gift and give in charity, and send something to the midwife.
10. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 5472 Salmān ibn ʿĀmir: “With a child comes an ʿaqīqah, so shed blood on his behalf and remove the harm from him.” It also confirms that al-Ḥasan heard the ʿaqīqah ḥadīth from Samurah.
11. al-Nawawī, al-Majmūʿ (Shāfiʿī) 8/429–433 A confirmed sunnah: two sheep for a boy and one for a girl; one for a boy achieves the basic sunnah. Same conditions as the uḍḥiyah; a cow or camel may be shared by seven. Joints separated without breaking bones (if broken, it is against the better course, not disliked). Cooked, ideally sweet; sending it to the poor is better than inviting them, but both are allowed. The day of birth is counted among the seven; if born at night, the following day. It does not lapse, but should not be delayed past puberty; then the person may do it for himself. Smearing with blood is disliked; saffron is recommended. Shave on the seventh and give the hair’s weight in gold, else silver, boy and girl alike.
12. Ibn Qudāmah, al-Mughnī (Ḥanbalī) 9/459–463 A sunnah per most scholars; not obligatory. Better than giving its value in charity. Two matching sheep for a boy and one for a girl; one for a boy is valid. On the seventh day, then the fourteenth, then the twenty-first (from ʿĀʾishah); before or after is still valid. Shave the boy’s head and name him on the seventh; giving the hair’s weight in silver is good; naming before the seventh is allowed. Smearing with blood is disliked. Its meat is like the uḍḥiyah’s, cooked in pieces without breaking bones.
13. ʿĀʾishah, via Ibn al-Mundhir; quoted in Kashshāf al-Qināʿ 3/31 At the slaughter say: “In the name of Allah. O Allah, for You and to You: this is the ʿaqīqah of so-and-so.” (In Tuḥfat al-Mawdūd, Ibn al-Mundhir narrates it from ʿĀʾishah from the Prophet ﷺ: “Slaughter in his name and say…”) Grading: Ibn al-Mundhir: ḥasan. al-ʿIrāqī (Ṭarḥ al-Tathrīb 5/212): one chain has a weak narrator, and it was also narrated with a ḥasan chain.
14. Qurʾān, al-Baqarah 2:286 Allah does not burden a soul beyond what it can bear.

Read next

• The seventh dayThe ʿaqīqah, shaving your baby’s hair and giving its weight in silver, and how to count the seventh day, with each ruling from the four schools’ own books.
• The first seven days: a checklistA printable checklist of the Sunnah of your baby’s first seven days, from the adhān and taḥnīk to the ʿaqīqah, the hair and the name, with a link to the full guide for each.
• The first hoursThe adhān in your baby’s ear, taḥnīk with a date, the first duʿāʾ, and how to congratulate, with each ruling sourced in the four schools.