Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

If anyone is keeping a poll of this discussion of killing, gutting and preparing or preserving ones own food I can be counted among the 20% who, like Barbara, learned at age 8 to catch, scald, pluck, and prepare a young fryer for the dinner table.

From that time and earlier I had watched the killing and butchering of cattle and hogs for the family's meat supply.  In the early days it was then hung in an animal proof garage for the duration of the cold weather during which time I helped my mother cut steaks, chops, etc. for meals and preserve the balance of the carcass before the winter ended.

Ah, the good old days. . .  NOT!

Betty



On Fri 04/ 4/08 01:45:00 AM , "Barbara McCrary" bigcreekranch@xxxxxxxxxxxx sent:

I'm not sure just who wrote this part of the discussion, but I'm here to say that I was an expert at plucking, singeing and eviscerating chickens when I was 8 years old, and I can still do it to this day.  When our daughters raised chickens in 4-H and I helped with the processing...gutting was my specialty.  I have also butchered and gutted wild pigs that my husband shot on our ranch.  While I have never butchered a cow, I'm sure it can't be much different than a pig, other than it is much larger.  So count me in the less than 20% who has "gutted, butchered, cut and wrapped any animal other except fish."  As for the final sentence, if it were necessary, I would do all the labor and it wouldn't ban my consumption of the meat.  As it is nowadays, we buy our meat, simply because butchering one of our own cows yields more meat than we could eat in a couple of years.

I repeat an earlier message, most of us just aren't hungry enough to put the effort into killing our own food, but if we were, you'd bet I'd do it in a heartbeat.

 

Barbara

The non-squeamish rancher

----- Original Message -----

From: Sisu West Ranch

To: Terry Banister ; k s swigart ; Ridecamp

Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 4:20 PM

Subject: Re: [RC] The Old Way (was: Spanish Mustangs)

 

*I would be very  willing to bet that over 80% of Americans have never killed, gutted, butchered, cut and wrapped any animal except fish.  Most hunters who harvest large animals stop their processing when the animal is gutted, and hire a professional to do the rest.  When you choose one species of domestic animal and effectively force folk to do all of the labor involved in the preparation for cooking  you effectively ban its consumption.

 

 

Ed & Wendy Hauser
2994 Mittower Road
Victor, MT 59875

 

(406) 642-9640

 

ranch(at)sisuwest(dot)us