Any other farmers/homesteaders out there

[houston]

Originally Posted by TJJJ

Joker!!!!

C rides the short bus, C is special!



Lord Bless

BWAHAHA! I'm not denying that!

[Titus2woman]

Originally Posted by Jay

My family also grinds our own meat so that we avoid the added fat. I do help with that part of things. It is unfortunate that we are reliant on government permits for hunting, as well as the 'good graces' of certain farmers who think that hunters are just horrible (I know that not all farmers feel this way and that not all hunters are honorable, but I have heard the stories of farmers who heard the game onto their properties and will not allow hunters on during the hunting season).

Yep... there are weirdos everywhere...

[Margies3]

Originally Posted by AreYouReady?

Heh heh heh. We had chickens for a few years. They all had different personalities too, so I know what you mean by not being able to kill them for meat. We had a few chickens that really got on our nerves. The roosters grew up and would "challenge" us. One rooster in particular bumped against my legs and followed me to the front of the house. My husband told me it was "challenging" me to a fight. So...I took my leg and kicked it as hard as I could. I knew *I* was the one who was in trouble when the rooster did not even budge a fraction of an inch with my kick. I thought to myself "it was survival time". I did not want to get spurred to death. So I looked around and saw a cut off 2X4 and I ran and picked it up and waved it at that rooster. It finally ran off screaming. That is the first time I was ever scared of any animal.

So...we thought we'd try to cull a few of the most annoying chickens and put them in our freezer. Even hubby, who grew up on a farm didn't have the guts to chop their heads off. So...we went to the local flea market and sold them there.

But I surely enjoyed fresh yard eggs everyday. Been thinking about getting another new crop of chickens just for the yard eggs.

I am mainly interested in veggie gardens though. I would love to plant our 8 acres in blueberries, peach, pecan, apple trees and grapevines but I don't have the energy or muscle strength to maintain it.

One evening my dad was butchering a handful of chickens in our backyard. We lived in town (a small town, but still within the city limits so we really weren't supposed to be raising farm animals in our backyard. oh welll......) Anyhow, it was just getting dark outside. We were all playing around the yard while he was doing this - along with our dog and a couple of the neighbor dogs as well. When he got to the last chicken, he held it up, chopped of the head and when he went to grab the chicken after he had given it time to quit jumping around (we loved that part), the chicken was nowhere to be found!! I am quite sure that one of the dogs grabbed it and ran off with it. But Dad, joking around, told my little brother that now there was a headless chicken running around on the street behind us. My brother was about 4 years old at the time. For years after that he kept his eyes peeled for that chicken whenever he rode his bike over on Mettabrook. LOL

Originally Posted by Titus2woman

Jay, one of the biggest reasons that we raise our food animals is to be assured that animal cruelty is not involved in feeding us. Please take the time to watch 'Food Inc.' (available on Netflix) or any one of the other recent exposé films on the commercial food production industry for a better idea of where your food really comes from and what really goes into it. I will not have animals tortured to feed me.

My livestock live very peaceful lives. They get great care and love and when it is time to die they are offered a humane death. I know what they were fed and what I am eating and feeding my family. I never enjoy killing my food and have been sad for days over certain animals but I am not ready for the kind of denial that comes with picking all my meat from a freezer case in shrink wrapped packages.

If one can not farm themselves, they can at least support local farmers and buy quality home-raised food either directly or through farmers markets thereby knowing where and how their food is raised and grown.

I buy all of our meat from the meatmarket in the little town near us because they sell only animals that have no "extras" given to them (anti-biotics) and are free-range. There is a HUGE difference in the taste of their meats than in the garbage we can get at Kroger or anywhere else. (Kroger is the only grocery store in our town)

[houston]

I <3 Kroger.

[RandyWayne]

I'm a wus.

I LOVE all manner of meat, from streak to chicken to fish.... but I have also kept all of the above as pets!

I suppose I would kill an animal in order to actually eat and thus, survive, but I would be bawling like a baby the whole time.

[Digging4Truth]

Originally Posted by Titus2woman

You are exactly right... game meat is the best thing going. Most deer populations are seriously overstocked, the meat is free and even grass raised beef is not quite as healthful as venison, nor pastured domestic hog as healthful as wild hog.

Now here's my dilemma...

1. I've raised and butchered a Jersey steer and I have loved every piece of meat. I'm excited about doing that again soon.

2. I have raised several hogs and even if they all tasted like filet mignon (which would be wierd) I wouldn't raise them again. Hogs are the spawn of hell. Man... you talk about trouble. They were trouble. But... I was able to eat the pork chops... I never cared for the hams... I never cared for the sausage... the ham hocks do GREAT in beans. So most of the hogs we slaughtered didn't taste good to me. I wonder if we did something wrong or what. But it doesn't really matter because I am finished with pigs.

3. I have had up to 50 chickens. My pigs kept eating them... cars have hit them... the nieghbors dogs kept killing them... now I have 10 of which only 5 are from the original flock of 50. The thing is... Man... I can't bring myself to process one of my chickens. If I thought I would actually process them I'd probably buy about 50 meat breed chickens... males only (their cheaper) and raise them for 12-16 weeks and then fill my freezer up.

I tout myself a farmer from time to time but in the area of processing chickens I'm a big ol' wimp. I need to move past that. I'd love to have 40-50 fryers in the freezer. Or maybe even a dozen... to start out with.

*sigh* I REALLY need to get past it because I could sure put some fryers away if I wasn't such a wimp in this department.

[Digging4Truth]

Originally Posted by Titus2woman

The nicest thing about the Dexters is personality. My bull is 5 years old and is so mellow. He will not invade my space even if I am carrying a feed bucket but I can walk up to him and handle anywhere on his body. Almost all my cows will let me put a halter on them in the field and walk them anywhere. I handle their babies on day one without having to restrain the mamas.

We had a few Lowline Angus... crazy beasties!

One thing about Jersey males... they be crazy... Even though we cut our calf he was still one interesting rascal. They say a Jersey bull will kill you if you don't watch out. They are some of the meanest around... or so I've been told.

But... if we can get a few more we will... although I prefer the Jersey/Holstein cross or the Holstein.

One time I was walking him out to the grazing spot for the day and he butted me in the back of my knee. I hit the ground and turned around and grabbed him by the horns and flipped him off his feet planting both horns in the ground.

He didn't mess with me for a little while after that.

[Hoovie]

Originally Posted by Digging4Truth

Now here's my dilemma...

3. I have had up to 50 chickens. My pigs kept eating them... cars have hit them... the nieghbors dogs kept killing them... now I have 10 of which only 5 are from the original flock of 50. The thing is... Man... I can't bring myself to process one of my chickens. If I thought I would actually process them I'd probably buy about 50 meat breed chickens... males only (their cheaper) and raise them for 12-16 weeks and then fill my freezer up.

I tout myself a farmer from time to time but in the area of processing chickens I'm a big ol' wimp. I need to move past that. I'd love to have 40-50 fryers in the freezer. Or maybe even a dozen... to start out with.

*sigh* I REALLY need to get past it because I could sure put some fryers away if I wasn't such a wimp in this department.

It helps to have sort of an assembly line set up. I would highly recommend some "funnels" to allow for discrete killing and draining all blood. Then have a scathing bucket, followed by plucking and gutting.

[Titus2woman]

Originally Posted by Digging4Truth

Now here's my dilemma...

1. I've raised and butchered a Jersey steer and I have loved every piece of meat. I'm excited about doing that again soon.

2. I have raised several hogs and even if they all tasted like filet mignon (which would be wierd) I wouldn't raise them again. Hogs are the spawn of hell. Man... you talk about trouble. They were trouble. But... I was able to eat the pork chops... I never cared for the hams... I never cared for the sausage... the ham hocks do GREAT in beans. So most of the hogs we slaughtered didn't taste good to me. I wonder if we did something wrong or what. But it doesn't really matter because I am finished with pigs.

3. I have had up to 50 chickens. My pigs kept eating them... cars have hit them... the nieghbors dogs kept killing them... now I have 10 of which only 5 are from the original flock of 50. The thing is... Man... I can't bring myself to process one of my chickens. If I thought I would actually process them I'd probably buy about 50 meat breed chickens... males only (their cheaper) and raise them for 12-16 weeks and then fill my freezer up.

I tout myself a farmer from time to time but in the area of processing chickens I'm a big ol' wimp. I need to move past that. I'd love to have 40-50 fryers in the freezer. Or maybe even a dozen... to start out with.

*sigh* I REALLY need to get past it because I could sure put some fryers away if I wasn't such a wimp in this department.

About pigs. Breed is EVERYTHING. I raise Red Wattle pigs. They are like the porcine version of the Dexter personality wise but they are giant... which means that growing out a meatie from weaning to market weight takes about 4-5 months.

As far as raising. Castrate males, do not raise them in pens on their own scat (poo) but on pasture if you can or at least a big fenced yard. Do not feed them garbage... garbage fed hogs taste like garbage smells. Feed them really clean good grain (like barley) for the last month before butcher.... yummy...

Meat chickens... cornish cross are the fastest growers and you will butcher them because if you don't they will get huge and their legs will break and they will flip over dead of heart attacks. I raise a dual purpose bird but I am heartless about butchering poultry... Things with feathers just don't seem all that warm and fuzzy to me... Kinda like cleaning fish... gross but not sentimental.

[Titus2woman]

Originally Posted by Digging4Truth

One thing about Jersey males... they be crazy... Even though we cut our calf he was still one interesting rascal. They say a Jersey bull will kill you if you don't watch out. They are some of the meanest around... or so I've been told.

But... if we can get a few more we will... although I prefer the Jersey/Holstein cross or the Holstein.

One time I was walking him out to the grazing spot for the day and he butted me in the back of my knee. I hit the ground and turned around and grabbed him by the horns and flipped him off his feet planting both horns in the ground.

He didn't mess with me for a little while after that.

Getting them as day old's? Band and dehorn them. All dairy bulls are meaner than stink. Right now I get a Jersey bull every year, breed him to my Jersey cows and then send him to the freezer. I am never, ever alone on the pasture with them and usually carry a hot shot. No horns allowed.