Post by elia on Feb 23, 2018 12:34:26 GMT -5
This is about our Dexter/Jersey/BS steer Sinclair. Considering home slaughter for him might sound weird, given my struggles with butchering him at all. There are reasons pro and con, of course, for going either way - here or at the knackers. The biggest reason for doing it at home would be to reduce stress on him. It's going to be a hard day for me either way, but if I could make it easier on him, it is something to at least consider.
I have a friend who is an experienced deer hunter who would be willing to help, if we could get it scheduled during suitable weather, and he is checking in with some of his friends to see who else might want to pitch in. I don't know what would be a fair exchange to them for helping with either stage... the slaughter or the processing. I know that he would want meat. How much? This would be new territory for me, so I haven't a clue how to calculate that.
So I am researching to see what it would actually take to do it at home, because I am not assuming yet that it is workable.
On the other side, the people at the slaughterhouse are actually really nice, so that helps if I decide to go that way. That would be easier on me, probably, if I could get him in there without him getting too freaked out. They have told me I could have all the trim and bone and fat, and they can cut the meat bone-in as much as I want, and I can have the hide... all good. Can't have the tripe, though (for dogs)... not allowed. The guy who does the killing is a pastor. Strange side-line for a pastor, but he could at least say a prayer for the poor beast.
They also agreed that if I brought Sinclair there early, he could go first. I could not have it any other way, as I have watched, in a kill room, when there were three cows already being disassembled, and the fourth came into the chute for his turn. I have seen the look in the eye, when reality dawns, and I can't bear the thought of it. Any animal I take in, has to be first, and go into a clean kill room.)
So back to home slaughter... One round of questions is to see what equipment it would take, realistically, both for slaughter and for processing at home. I have chains, and a tractor with a bucket (assuming the tractor starts), and a place near the driveway where we could bring him well away from the other animals. My hunter friend is a good shot, and I do not think he would hesitate (I couldn't do it. I would have to be starving.).
Writing this, I'm pretty sure y'all are going to tell me to just take him in... but I will persist with this research until the answer is really clear in my head and heart. Right now, I go back and forth. I am hoping the research will make the answer obvious.
The beef processing DVD from askthemeatman.com is good. All you need, besides knives and stuff, is a big old $1500 band saw. I haven't figured out an alternative to this. There are other little things that I would need to order, like a hand meatsaw and sharpening steel and the safety gloves, and we would have to figure out somewhere to put the beef while waiting to process it. I don't have a great place to hang it. We would probably start with laying it on a sheet in the trailer and covering it with ice.
Anyway... if anyone has done this and would have words of wisdom, either on the practical side or on any other side, I would appreciate it. I am too soft-hearted, I know it... but I also really appreciate the gift of grass-fed home-raised beef. My heart and my head don't always get along .
I have a friend who is an experienced deer hunter who would be willing to help, if we could get it scheduled during suitable weather, and he is checking in with some of his friends to see who else might want to pitch in. I don't know what would be a fair exchange to them for helping with either stage... the slaughter or the processing. I know that he would want meat. How much? This would be new territory for me, so I haven't a clue how to calculate that.
So I am researching to see what it would actually take to do it at home, because I am not assuming yet that it is workable.
On the other side, the people at the slaughterhouse are actually really nice, so that helps if I decide to go that way. That would be easier on me, probably, if I could get him in there without him getting too freaked out. They have told me I could have all the trim and bone and fat, and they can cut the meat bone-in as much as I want, and I can have the hide... all good. Can't have the tripe, though (for dogs)... not allowed. The guy who does the killing is a pastor. Strange side-line for a pastor, but he could at least say a prayer for the poor beast.
They also agreed that if I brought Sinclair there early, he could go first. I could not have it any other way, as I have watched, in a kill room, when there were three cows already being disassembled, and the fourth came into the chute for his turn. I have seen the look in the eye, when reality dawns, and I can't bear the thought of it. Any animal I take in, has to be first, and go into a clean kill room.)
So back to home slaughter... One round of questions is to see what equipment it would take, realistically, both for slaughter and for processing at home. I have chains, and a tractor with a bucket (assuming the tractor starts), and a place near the driveway where we could bring him well away from the other animals. My hunter friend is a good shot, and I do not think he would hesitate (I couldn't do it. I would have to be starving.).
Writing this, I'm pretty sure y'all are going to tell me to just take him in... but I will persist with this research until the answer is really clear in my head and heart. Right now, I go back and forth. I am hoping the research will make the answer obvious.
The beef processing DVD from askthemeatman.com is good. All you need, besides knives and stuff, is a big old $1500 band saw. I haven't figured out an alternative to this. There are other little things that I would need to order, like a hand meatsaw and sharpening steel and the safety gloves, and we would have to figure out somewhere to put the beef while waiting to process it. I don't have a great place to hang it. We would probably start with laying it on a sheet in the trailer and covering it with ice.
Anyway... if anyone has done this and would have words of wisdom, either on the practical side or on any other side, I would appreciate it. I am too soft-hearted, I know it... but I also really appreciate the gift of grass-fed home-raised beef. My heart and my head don't always get along .