Calf drowned, how long after death is meat safe to eat?

[darcelina4]

Had a very healthy registered jersey bull calf we were raising for a herd bull. 4.5 months old about 300 pounds. Fee grain at 5pm. Came home at 8pm and found him wedged with his head and all four feet under him in his water tub. It is a 55 gallon plastic barrel cut in half. He was stuck in there and drowned in 3 inches of water. He was starting to bloat but I think he had been dead a short time. I posted an ad and a man came to get him right away to butcher him. How long after death would the meat be good? It was 20f degrees.

 

[callmefence]

I would think the meat would be fresh enough, but probably not very good.
Like a deer hung in the fence. Animals that die a prolonged stressful death usually will have a off flavor.
You can mask it by using it just in Chile, stew and such.

 

[slick4591]

I would think the meat would be fresh enough, but probably not very good.
Like a deer hung in the fence. Animals that die a prolonged stressful death usually will have a off flavor.
You can mask it by using it just in Chile, stew and such.

That's what I've always heard, too. Seems like it's caused by a build up of lactic acid.

 

[darcelina4]

I do not believe it was a slow death. It looked like he went to get a drink and tipped forward into the tub the ended up with all 4 feet in the tub that had a couple inches of water and ice. I think the just couldn't get his footing to get his head up. I bet the whole thing was less than 5 minutes. The bedding around the tub wasn't disturbed. I still cannot believe how this happened with such a small tub. He was a big jersey and 300 pounds and only the top half of his body was above the tub. The tub is about 18 inches tall. I hope the meat was good. I hated the thought of him going to waste but I couldn't butcher him as I was attached to him and I did not want my dogs eating a calf when my heifers are due to start calving next month.

 

[Silver]

I don't believe it would be unsafe to eat, but I doubt it would be good to eat. He wasn't bled out, he would have been stressed if even for a couple of minutes (I agree with Slick on this), and as far as my preferences go a calf is never what I would call a good eating experience.
But is it dangerous to eat? No.