How do I cope with Butchering..???

[paulandashia]

We are getting a New Cow, a Milk-Cow for the Family in a few weeks.

I am looking forward to having her VERY very much, and to learning more and more as each day goes by.
I am aware that she will be bred in late-July / Early August, and I know we are going to have a Calf in the Spring.
I also know the future fate of this little calf if we dont keep it and raise it ourselves.
We can not afford keeping it forever, and feeding it forever ourselves.

Sooooooo.....
Instead of selling it for dirt cheap and getting nothing out of it, and KNOWING that he/she will probably end up in the slaughterhouse anyhow, I would like to have it butchered :cry2: by a friend who I KNOW will make it quick and painless.

I would like to know how to TEACH myself to COPE and to face the fact that the adorable, cure, sweet, tiny, BEAUTIFUL little creature that's going to grow in front of our eyes, will end up in our freezer.

I am having a VERY difficult time adjusting to the idea.
I seriously need Help..!!! Please..!!! :cry2:

 

[smallrancher]

Time to grow up and realize you are at the top of the food chain. This is how it works, while we love our animals, and treat them humanely, they are not people, they are animals. Now if you want to have cattle, DEAL WITH IT.

 

[paulandashia]

Yeah, very Supportive, thank you so much for the GRACIOUS insight.!!!

 

[hillsdown]

It still bothers me ,so I can't take them in myself, I refuse to. I load them up and say goodbye to them and have over two weeks to get used to having them in my freezer.
You will have a long time before you have to worry about this as the calf isn't even conceived yet and that is your number one concern that she gets back in calf, or you won't have meat or milk.

The other thing is that you will know exactly what your beef ate from day one and that is a good thing. So before you get your cow you better be doing some research on what is acceptable and legal to feed your animals and absolutely NO animal protein should be fed to them ever.
:tiphat:

 

[iowafarmer]

I'm sorry you feel that way but it is what the cattle business is. Cattle were created for meat and to produce for us. YOu should not treat a cow as a pet since cattle are not pets and will not be like a cat or dog. Cattle that are pets can be dangerouse as they are not scared of humans and do not realize their strength and can use it to getwhat they want which could result in bodily injury to you or your family. This does not mean that you should not take good care of them. You should not unesiarily pamper them and baby them. They can survive just fine in the wild and even better when you take care of them. Ok wake up call its life get over it. There isn't a nice way to put it. Sorry i tired its just one of those things that is life. Hope you can relaize this and if not i suggest that you don't raise cattle. Sorry again about being harsh but thats the way it is.

 

[paulandashia]

Oh, we are going to feed Hay, Alfalfa, Grain, Barley, and Pellets.
We are buying about $1,000.00 worth of feed when we get her, to be nicely stocked up.
I am planning to only buy feed twice a year for her, spring and fall, so that way we dont have to drive back and forth to the Feed stores.

I wont be able to do it either, I think I am going to say good bye, and have Hubby take it over to our friends house, since he wont be able to do it either.

I guess I will have to somehow get used to the idea.

But I'm not happy about it.

 

[angie1]

Sweets ~ that calf isn't going to be here for a long time, and it won't be ready for butcher until long after that. You have a long time to be thinking about this.

It is hard ~ butchering day. It will be hard on your people. Let the cow raise the calf, thats what I do. Avoid giving it a name and handling it more than necessary to vaccinate, treat, casterate. Treat it like supper the minute it sets foot on the ground. It does help to distance yourself as much as possible.

When the day comes, it will still be sad. Thats the way it goes ~ lots of cool fun stuff, some stuff that sucks.

 

[bgm]

My grandmother lived her whole life on a farm and never ate one piece of beef they grew on their place. Nothing says you have to if you don't want. Trade the cow for someone else's and eat that one. Kind of the old "it's no one you know" thing.

Regardless of how you approach it, it's a cow. Not a pet, not your freind. It's being raised for meat. Don't get attached, don't talk about how cute it is. Pour it food and if you want to talk to it while your doing it, don't say here baby, here's your breakfast, say here eat up, your going to taste great.

It's about attitude. My grandmother never got past it, don't think my wife will either. You just have to try to, or not. It's up to you. :tiphat:

 

[paulandashia]

Thank you so much.
I am glad to know I am not the only one who doesnt feel sad about that.
I thought I was the only one.
I'm glad to see I am not.

I think if someone has no feelings of sadness about butchering something, there is something wrong with them emotionally. But that's just me.

You're right. I am going to have to distance myself, maybe let Hubby take care of the babe.

Question though;
Can I let the cow take care of the calf and still Mlik her twice daily?
Someone told me that the Calf will suckle her dry! LOL
I AM planning to leave him/her with momma for the first week though.

 

[bigbull338]

heres the way to look at it.you are growing an providing meat for your family.an you are raising it.so you know what kind of life itll have.an how its been raised.an youll also know how the calf has been fed.

 

[Jogeephus]

Like Angie said, Don't name it. Treat it well, treat it kind but don't make it a pet. If you make it a pet someone in your family may get seriously hurt or killed. Its soo easy to think it is a pet cause you will learn its personality but you can't count on them being loyal like a dog. (do a search on the board to see the many accidents and fatalities people have had due to Pets) Once you have gotten her to where you need her and she is put down and processed you can rest assured that you have provided your family with some of the healthiest best raised meat available and you know the animal was treated humanely - as most are. (And when they put one down they do not feel a thing if the processor knows what he is doing - and most do)

 

[Chris H]

How can you cope? If you are religious then look at raising the animal as your God given responsibility, and eating the beef is the sustenance for your body to do His will. Care for your animals humanely, but remember they are not human. Being a good steward of the land and animals means you will be producing animals whose purpose is to be food for humans.

Unless you are getting a beef cow, you will have more milk than the calf needs, but not necessarily more than the calf can eat. Some people will pen the cow & calf separately, milk the cow and feed the calf any excess over what you keep, as long as the calf gets 2 quarts 2/day minimum. For a high producing milk cow, that's probably best for the cow. An alternative is to separate the calf for 12 hours, take what milk you need, then turn the calf loose to nurse the rest.

 

[Calman]

I just look at them and think t-bone or ribeye or hamburger.

Cal

 

[angus9259]

never seen a bovine have any human attachment. they don't love you, they love that bucket of corn you're carrying.

 

[paulandashia]

You are all right. LOL
This is actually making me feel better. (Surprisingly)

I guess you are right, they don't "love" me, and they wouldn't are if anything happened to ME, as long as they got their food...
And I can make sure they are well cared for, and well fed, and warm while I have them.

Hmmm. That's a good way of looking at it.

I knew you'd help out!
Glad I found this place!

 

[angie1]

Your avatar? Is that you and your baby?

 

[paulandashia]

Yep, that's me and my Daughter when she was 3 months old.

Her name is Skylah Grace.

She's a year old now. She's just one of the reasons I am getting a Milk-Cow.

Her and her 4 year old Brother Kyland, go through a gallon and a half of Milk each DAY. LOL

What can I say! They LOVE their Milk! LOL


I think I have the ONLY 4 year old in the world, who when offered a Pepsi, or Juice, will turn away disgusted and BEG for Milk.!!! LOL
And it looks like Sissy is following in her Big-Bro's Footsteps.

So, I decided that instead of spending $6.75 on a gallon of whole "Crap" they call milk in the store, (totalling nearly $300.00 in "Crap" a MONTH), I would buy a Bigger house, where I can have a Milk-Cow, and spend $175-200.00 to feed her, and have a MUCH better Milk for my kiddos.

 

[Keren]

never seen a bovine have any human attachment. they don't love you, they love that bucket of corn you're carrying.

You havent been around enough animals then.

My first goat, Gizmo, was born a quadruplet and really struggled for the first month of life. I force fed him milk for another two weeks then he'd had enough. He never loved that bottle or the calf meal I forced into him either. But at the risk of sounding like a total whatever, the bond I have with that goat is unlike anything I have ever experienced with an animal. Its sappy, but if he was a human I'd marry him (and dont take that in the gutter sort of way lol). He's my animal soulmate. He lives in the backyard, he tries to sneak in the house as often as he can, during the night he sleeps outside my bedroom window (my bed is up against the window) and during the day he sleeps on the back step of the house (because its the closest he can get to people). He knows the noise my particular car makes and can hear it from a kilometer away. We have tested this out, and when I am a kilometer away from the house, you cant see the car at all, humans cant hear it, but the goat begins calling out to me and goes out the front of the house to wait. When I go away for more than a day, he frets. I mean, really frets - sulks in his shed and doesnt eat until I'm back.

Similarly, I know a couple who breed very good boer goats. Their top herdsire was on deaths door for about a year due to urolithiasis. He had numerous operations, travelled halfway round the country to different hospitals and was in their house for the worst six months or so when they thought he would die at any moment. He probably should be retired from the show ring, but whenever they go to a show with the goat trailer and leave him at home, he frets badly. That goat absolutely lives for coming to shows -- he is in his element, and he loves nothing better than to walk around the shows at night and talk to people. No food motivation necessary.

Paulandashia, yes its hard. But you said yourself the best thing for the animal is to live happily at your place for a year and a half before being slaughtered humanely. Even though you know from the outset it has a limited time, what you do with that time is what counts. You can ensure he is happy, healthy, well fed and well cared for until it is time to slaughter him. There are organisations that will come to your place, pick the animal up, take it away and two weeks later you pick up the meat from the butcher. Or, as someone else suggested, swap it with the neighbour. Make sure you dont name it, dont give it too many scratches, dont take photos of it.

 

[Howdyjabo]

Off topic-- I learned the hard way(again) that too much of a good thing is bad, including milk.
Wish I could go back in time and cut back my kids EXCESS milk consumption-- she has a health issue now that too much milk contributed to.

 

[paulandashia]

Oh!
That's scary!

I'd love to hear about it.

I always thought Fresh Milk was good for them, so I never denied them any.
But that scares me...

Would you eMail me with your story?