Slaughter houses are making a killing.

[Nao57]

We just got half a beef.... it was at the meat processor for over 4 weeks. Then they didn't follow our cutting instructions... a bit frustrating but the freezer is full.
During college worked in a meat department and cut meat. He hopes to have a butchering barn and do everything from our rabbits to beef. Rabbits are super simple and I am expanding our meat rabbits this year. But am a bit intimatedated about a beef. We'll see. I think the processor industry is only get worse.

:O

I can see why people would consider beef to be super intimidating. I like the idea of starting with rabbits for practice and then going up. Maybe people could try doing sheep next before beef?

You know I wonder why those horsehoeing and tack guys don't do this? These guys seem to always be worrying about money.

In our town there was a guy that was one of my dad's friends who shoed horses for a living. He didn't really make much and when when he died his wife lost their house.

This leads me to believe that guys like that would and probably could use the money to do this kind of stuff on the side if they had half a mind to learn it. (Although I get that many of them wouldn't know about this kind of stuff off the bat.)

And what about huntsmen?

Sometimes dad would tell me some times huntsmen would go out to hunt critters like coons and stuff on peoples properties just so they didn't have go buy meat and let their dogs have stuff to practice on during certain times of the year. I wonder how many of them can do butchery work, since they are involved with it anyway? And a lot of people with lots of hunting experience have practice with some butchery skill, though I can't say if they do it well or the same way as your grocery stores.

 

[misfitmorgan]

We butcher everything so far. I've never done beef but DH has as he used to work at IBP in Iowa.
I would say easiest 100% is rabbits, DH breaks neck, skins and guts, I cut off feet and head then chuck in a feezer bag, done. Literally takes about 2 minutes start to finish.
To be fair I can't/have not killed anything other then fish and poultry, at least not as of yet. So DH kills the lambs, goats, pigs, rabbits, etc. Once the critter is dead though I have no problems.

My List for easiest for cleaning/processing:
rabbit
fish
quail
turkey
chicken
duck
lamb/goat/deer...pretty much exactly the same
pig
Then I imagine beef is the hardest DIY for most, to be fair we will likely have our beef done at our friends butcher house, by DH and I.

Basically in the past 7yrs I've learned if you can get it dead and know how to cook from scratch, you will recognize the parts and figure out the cuts. We have processed in all types of setups, from a tree, on wood pallets, on a tarp on the ground, on snow on the ground, on the back of a truck, etc. You will figure it out pretty quick.

If I am worried or want a refresher I watch some videos on youtube. Justin Rhodes has some good videos on all types of slaughter, and Scott Rea of The Scott Rea Project is a butcher in the UK who shows entire break down of many many critters and recipes, ways to dress roasts, different sausages etc. Highly recommend either of them, Scott is good for just different ideas as well if you are out of meal ideas or want to try new sausages recipes.

Until I got with DH 7yrs ago I had never killed or cleaned anything other then a few fish.

 

[Mini Horses]

@farmerjan listed everything I can think of for issues in my general part of the world! From regulations, age, location, equipment, opinions and all.

Add to that my own living within a city where most farmers are crop people, with the bedroom communities in far more abundance than farms. Now, there are some home farms who butcher and do it well! Hard to find and often wary of people who "ask" about it, to do, buy, help, etc....some asking just want to bring trouble

By accident, I found the neighbor behind me not only knows how to do it all, has a pro set up but is great at it!! Yeah, I am looking to see if we can get together for some goat and pig. He took a goat from live to ready to cut carcass in short, amazing time for me! I need a cooler.

 

[misfitmorgan]

@farmerjan listed everything I can think of for issues in my general part of the world! From regulations, age, location, equipment, opinions and all.

Add to that my own living within a city where most farmers are crop people, with the bedroom communities in far more abundance than farms. Now, there are some home farms who butcher and do it well! Hard to find and often wary of people who "ask" about it, to do, buy, help, etc....some asking just want to bring trouble

By accident, I found the neighbor behind me not only knows how to do it all, has a pro set up but is great at it!! Yeah, I am looking to see if we can get together for some goat and pig. He took a goat from live to ready to cut carcass in short, amazing time for me! I need a cooler.

People are weary everywhere honestly. There is a rather large group of people/ friends of friends we pretty regularly get called on to help butcher animals. At home butcher is 100% legal here as long as you are not selling the meat except poultry.

There are also many many "private" butcher shops you can get animals processed at. The only USDA inspected place close to me is 4hrs round trip and cost $137 to kill, hang and inspect then give it back. No cutting, grinding, wrapping or curing.

We use 2 local places for pork or pork sales the one is $127 which included ham, bacon, pork chops, tenderized cutlets, roasts, ribs and sausage everything in butcher/freezer paper. The other is $100 for pork chops, ribs, tenderized cutlets, roasts, breakfast sausage and Italian sausage with everything vacuum sealed. The second place is the one DH goes and helps sometime. Honestly having it all done and vacuum sealed is worth the $100 vs us doing it ourselves. Bonus the sausage at the second place is really really good.

If people are having a hard time finding a butcher/processor ask around. Worst case no one knows any, best case you find a great "private" butcher/processor. Usually if anyone asks us, we offer to help them butcher if they cant get in or want to learn DIY.

DH keeps talking about opening a butcher shop, it would be very costly.

 

[Beekissed]

This leads me to believe that guys like that would and probably could use the money to do this kind of stuff on the side if they had half a mind to learn it. (Although I get that many of them wouldn't know about this kind of stuff off the bat.)

The problem with a private individual doing butchering for money is that the liability of it all would be a deterrent. You'd have to worry about someone getting sick and blaming the meat/the processing for their illness. No matter that more people have died from USDA inspected meats in this country than you can shake a stick at, if just regular Joe had his own private butchering service going on and got sued over such an event, he would lose everything.

The only people that do that here abouts are the Amish. The Amish will do butchering for folks because they don't have to worry about being sued.

 

[Alasgun]

It looks like we’re coming around to a happy place on this thread now and that makes me happy! One last tidbit then i’ll be off chasing another butterfly.
I understand and respect the differing opinions and would agree butchering is not for everyone. Heck, if everyone was a butcher we’d not have a very complete society. I do take exception to the idea that we need greater control (governmental) over the process.

Our land was not built by a bunch of people sitting around a table wringing they’re hands and proclaiming “we can’t do that”.
Look around, the Hoover dam, the Erie canal, the Panama canal, the Suez canal, Rockets to the moon, the Trans Alaska Pipeline etc. and hundreds of other projects that affected out world in a positive way were completed by folks who “got er done”.
it sadden’s me to see how quickly the thought police have gained prominence here and abroad, it saddens’s me that my g.kids are getting stuck with all this. It also saddens me to see how quickly the country has devolved to it’s current state. In another thread somewhere i shared a cute little micro biology lesson which bears repeating here.

”microbes function by way of team mates with each one unlocking the others potential”.
Folks, if the one cell critters have this figured out wouldn’t you think there’s a lesson in that for us big boys?

 

[Beekissed]

Our land was not built by a bunch of people sitting around a table wringing they’re hands and proclaiming “we can’t do that”.

Agree! What I find mostly in society today are folks saying " I could never do that to one of my own animals!" but when you push the issue for the truth of the matter it's really " I WON'T do that" rather than "I couldn't do that". Most will say they would only do that if they were starving.

Truly, the time to learn a new skill is not when one is starving. Oh, sure, the animal will get dead and the animal will get eaten, but how much food will be ruined or how many people will be sickened by the fumbling around of inexperience? These skills have been passed down generationally since the world began for a good reason...experience matters. Doing things efficiently matters, especially when it comes to one's food supply.

As this current experience teaches us here in the states, do you really want to depend on someone else to procure your food for you?

 

[misfitmorgan]

The problem with a private individual doing butchering for money is that the liability of it all would be a deterrent. You'd have to worry about someone getting sick and blaming the meat/the processing for their illness. No matter that more people have died from USDA inspected meats in this country than you can shake a stick at, if just regular Joe had his own private butchering service going on and got sued over such an event, he would lose everything.

The only people that do that here abouts are the Amish. The Amish will do butchering for folks because they don't have to worry about being sued.

The vast majority of butcher/processing places are private individuals doing butchering for money without USDA inspection.

In the entire US there are only 8,000 USDA inspectors, and 6,200 inspection locations, a USDA inspector must be present during killing hours and inspect every live animal then watch them be dispatched to ensure it is humane, then they have to watch the cutting/processing to ensure it is done properly.

In Michigan for instance there is a total of 30 USDA slaughter/processing locations, of those 30 only 11 accept animals from the customer for processing(4 of which are specialty, only venison, only beef, only poultry, only turkey) of those 11 places you could take your animal 1 is located in the upper peninsula, and 3 are located in the upper half of the lower peninsula. All other locations are wholesale meat packers who raise their own animals for slaughter, buy large lots only(auction) or buy direct from farmers in high numbers.

The only people who usually use USDA inspected are those wanting to sell cuts of meat, or cooked foods to the general public.

The next tier down and what most butcher shops here are, is MDARD inspected. You pay $187/yr and once a year they come inspect your set-up, that's it. By having an animal you own butchered and then consuming it the owner of the animal is accepting the risk of food borne illness. That is why when someone sells a half or a quarter the animal must be paid for before it is taken to slaughter.

Most any processor even if they are not inspected are not sued, I mean someone could attempt to sue them saying they gave them a food borne illness but proving it came from the processor vs the consumers home kitchen or the consumers own animal(salmonella) would be extremely difficult to do. I mean if a restaurant makes you ill, even go into the hospital can you legally prove without doubt it was the restaurant?

Also in Michigan I can raise, home butcher and sell up to 20,000 poultry per year with zero licensing.

I've never heard of a butcher/processor being sued for making someone sick(outside of covid craziness)

 

[Kusanar]

For anyone that is interested in the finer points of butchering a beef (once it's dead, skinned, and cold) check out this video and some of their other ones. They show step by step and explain everything.

 

[Beekissed]

The vast majority of butcher/processing places are private individuals doing butchering for money without USDA inspection.

In the entire US there are only 8,000 USDA inspectors, and 6,200 inspection locations, a USDA inspector must be present during killing hours and inspect every live animal then watch them be dispatched to ensure it is humane, then they have to watch the cutting/processing to ensure it is done properly.

In Michigan for instance there is a total of 30 USDA slaughter/processing locations, of those 30 only 11 accept animals from the customer for processing(4 of which are specialty, only venison, only beef, only poultry, only turkey) of those 11 places you could take your animal 1 is located in the upper peninsula, and 3 are located in the upper half of the lower peninsula. All other locations are wholesale meat packers who raise their own animals for slaughter, buy large lots only(auction) or buy direct from farmers in high numbers.

The only people who usually use USDA inspected are those wanting to sell cuts of meat, or cooked foods to the general public.

The next tier down and what most butcher shops here are, is MDARD inspected. You pay $187/yr and once a year they come inspect your set-up, that's it. By having an animal you own butchered and then consuming it the owner of the animal is accepting the risk of food borne illness. That is why when someone sells a half or a quarter the animal must be paid for before it is taken to slaughter.

Most any processor even if they are not inspected are not sued, I mean someone could attempt to sue them saying they gave them a food borne illness but proving it came from the processor vs the consumers home kitchen or the consumers own animal(salmonella) would be extremely difficult to do. I mean if a restaurant makes you ill, even go into the hospital can you legally prove without doubt it was the restaurant?

Also in Michigan I can raise, home butcher and sell up to 20,000 poultry per year with zero licensing.

I've never heard of a butcher/processor being sued for making someone sick(outside of covid craziness)

Makes you wonder why there are not more people butchering? Around here there are no private butchering operations of which I'm aware. People are pretty much bound to take it to a USDA abbatoir or to the Amish. I've seen a few guys on FB advertising to butcher for people on the farm, but they are very rare.

Here's a chart for our state as to what is allowed to be sold to the public and/or across state lines: