UGH! ***picture warning

[cowgirl8]

We had one of the biggest steers accidentally die, a dead tree fell on him and he didnt suffer. As we stood over his freshly dead body i said, "Well, we'll eat him".....
SO all *^%&%* day yesterday, i butchered this calf on my kitchen table. We are going to grind him into burger. Daughter has a industrial grinder so that part shouldnt take long. But cutting all the meat off the bones did. I reserved the tenderloin and ribeye.
If you wonder if your calves are meaty, this isnt the way to find out..lol...but, in saying that i can say yes our calves are meaty.
Its times like this you know you're a redneck...lol......ugh

 

[inyati13]

Hate to see that. I have trees that line the "hollers" as they are called here. Many are big oaks, basswood, sycamore, locust, walnut, white ash. They are old and have dead limbs as big around as I am. When there is a storm, the cattle move into the hollers. I worry about this kind of event. I have cut down big trees that were decayed to lower the risk.

I wonder how that beef will taste under the circumstances.

 

[branguscowgirl]

Sad deal cowgirl.
My horses and cows have learned to avoid the Oaks in bad weather. They will stand out in the rain instead. However they get dry and fall in the summer more often than the winter months.

 

[bigbull338]

dont you just hate to lose them to freak things happening to them.but if you got cattle your going to lose some to crazy deaths.

 

[Jogeephus]

I'd eat it too.

 

[FlyingLSimmentals]

Sorry for your loss and I hope the beef is good and tasty. Reminds me of November working all day cutting up deer. I hate freak accidents it always happens to a good one not a cull. Been worried about the same problem, have got many dead and dying trees. They seem to die quicker than we can cut them. The ice storm and droughts we've had has really hurt the landscape here in WKY. I personally just enjoy taking a ride down in TN or east through central KY just to see some nice healthy trees, woods, and forest.

 

[I luv herfrds]

Looks good. Stinky deal losing the steer though. Too bad you didn't have a band saw could have cut some nice steaks off of him.

 

[Nesikep]

I got lucky once when a 150 foot tall pine fell right where cattle like to lay down.. branches on that thing were 1 ft diameter at 80 feet up, at 60 ft up a 24" chain saw bar couldn't get through it.. it would have been a really ugly sight had the cow been there.

I was cutting a dead pine down once and one of my pets came over to 'inspect'.. I was most of the way through cutting when it cracked and started to lean.. she took off like mad.. seems she knew trees weren't supposed to do that!

Always sucks to lose one..

 

[Kingfisher]

Great excuse to purchase a meat saw and a really good vacuum packer! I like your new skid steer! How are those Kubota priced compared to a Melroe-Bobcat?

 

[cowgirl8]

My oldest daughter has a saw, but no blade. And she has a huge grinder and we've been wrestling with that dam thing all friggen day. I think we've decided the meat needs to be colder. So i'm taking a short break, i'll clean everything up and get the remanding meat cut smaller and in the freezer. I'll let it get icy, then get this *^$(# cut up. I've had it, 5 hours cutting the meat off the bones yesterday, today have been working on getting this grinder to work since 11:00, so 4 hours and just a little over half ground...I've had it, i'm done....my house is a wreck, i have garden produce that needs processed... :help: ......Without the proper facilities for doing meat, its a chore, a big chore..and i never want to eat meat again..lol...well, its going to be days before i'll want a burger.
The most amazing thing about all this is i've only cut myself 2 times..lol...people who know me cringe when they see me with a knife. I'm haphazard..

 

[cowgirl8]

Sorry for your loss and I hope the beef is good and tasty. Reminds me of November working all day cutting up deer. I hate freak accidents it always happens to a good one not a cull. Been worried about the same problem, have got many dead and dying trees. They seem to die quicker than we can cut them. The ice storm and droughts we've had has really hurt the landscape here in WKY. I personally just enjoy taking a ride down in TN or east through central KY just to see some nice healthy trees, woods, and forest.

Yes, when he called and said, "Bring me a gun quick to the old herd." all i could think was please be Surprise cows dink, please be her dink...lol....i feel bad now that i hoped she was dead so i'll probably keep her out of guilt..lol..
The droughts we've had has killed many very large red oaks. Once dead they get to a point they become dangerous if you use a chainsaw, they call them widow makers out here. Husband has all the large equipment, but we have over a thousand acres of trees. He does what he can, but its either too wet to get in, or he's busy doing something else. But when he gets the time he does take care of them one at a time. Its never ending.

 

[cowgirl8]

Great excuse to purchase a meat saw and a really good vacuum packer! I like your new skid steer! How are those Kubota priced compared to a Melroe-Bobcat?

I have no idea, he only tested a JD and the Kabota..It was a lot cheaper than the deere. He liked the door on the kabota, you can run it with it open or closed. He didnt like that if something happened and the loader wasnt down, you cant get out the door in the deere. The deere had a radio, the kabota doesnt. This is his first skidsteer with a cab so we will see how long the glass last..lol Bees are a big problem and they wanted the cab. Our son was clearing some land and a wasp nest fell out of a tree onto his lap..lol...Luckily, he survived the 20 or so face stings..but was left with flashbacks.

 

[I luv herfrds]

Holy Cow! I would want a cab too if a wasp nest fell in my lap!

Had wasp's building a nest in the ground feed bin. Old wooden bin. I opened the door and there they were right in the door frame! Never knew I could slam that door so fast and get in my truck!
Had real trouble with them last year. Found lot's of small nests that the cold weather killed.
No I have not checked that feed bin!

Not too sure hubby would let me use his band saw to cut up meat. Could be worse! Could have the old fashioned hand cranked meat grinder we do! Used that once and swore never again!

 

[cowgirl8]

Holy Cow! I would want a cab too if a wasp nest fell in my lap!

Had wasp's building a nest in the ground feed bin. Old wooden bin. I opened the door and there they were right in the door frame! Never knew I could slam that door so fast and get in my truck!
Had real trouble with them last year. Found lot's of small nests that the cold weather killed.
No I have not checked that feed bin!

Not too sure hubby would let me use his band saw to cut up meat. Could be worse! Could have the old fashioned hand cranked meat grinder we do! Used that once and swore never again!

I walked though a gate at our stables, like i did several times a day almost every day, and i thought someone was throwing rocks at me and hitting me in the head. I was like, Who the h3ll is throwing rocks at me!!!...then i realized i had bumble bees all over me. Got stung about 10 times on my head. They went for my black hair. They had built a hive somewhere at the entrance of our stable area....Husband pointed out to me that in the equipment lot there is a bumble bee hive somewhere around the shredders....... People die out here from being swarmed.

 

[cowgirl8]

Finally finished up the rest of the meat. I will never process a animal that big ever again. On the last 50 pounds of meat to grind, i learned that if you freeze it, it grinds 200% faster..lol...I spent around 12 hours cutting meat off bones and then cutting it into small chunks. I did can 8 jars of cubed meat for various things. The burger is excellent, very tasty..Wondered how it would taste fresh without hanging, but its really good. Now we have to address the fact that we have a really big heifer we planned on having processed. Sarah Palsy.. Now, i wonder if i could sell her to someone for meat. I wouldnt sell her as a herd cow. She's very healthy, weighs around 1200..grass fed, just has a funny gait from birth...May talk to the guy at the butcher shop, maybe someone has asked if he knows where they can buy organic beef for them to slaughter..

 

[M5farm]

Finally finished up the rest of the meat. I will never process a animal that big ever again. On the last 50 pounds of meat to grind, i learned that if you freeze it, it grinds 200% faster..lol...I spent around 12 hours cutting meat off bones and then cutting it into small chunks. I did can 8 jars of cubed meat for various things. The burger is excellent, very tasty..Wondered how it would taste fresh without hanging, but its really good. Now we have to address the fact that we have a really big heifer we planned on having processed. Sarah Palsy.. Now, i wonder if i could sell her to someone for meat. I wouldnt sell her as a herd cow. She's very healthy, weighs around 1200..grass fed, just has a funny gait from birth...May talk to the guy at the butcher shop, maybe someone has asked if he knows where they can buy organic beef for them to slaughter..

maybe you should have asked for some advise on this. an animal that size should have taken no more than 2 hours to debone even for a novice. If grinder was a commercial one the chunks don't have to be small. It only has to be small enough for the throat of the machine.

 

[cowgirl8]

The grinder is commercial. If the pieces were almost frozen it would have taken them no problem but i didnt know this. It would not take big pieces that were not almost frozen, the reason i cut smaller and then learned they needed to be frozen... It took me 5 hours to do the deboning but, i also cut into pieces as i did it. Took me the most time the second time i cut everything into smaller pieces.. I'm not set up for butchering so things like this hampered me, ie finding places to put everything and a knife sharpener :? Did everything on that small bar table..We got around 200 pounds out of this 4 month old calf...luckily my freezer was almost empty.

 

[M5farm]

The grinder is commercial. If the pieces were almost frozen it would have taken them no problem but i didnt know this. It would not take big pieces that were not almost frozen, the reason i cut smaller and then learned they needed to be frozen... It took me 5 hours to do the deboning but, i also cut into pieces as i did it. Took me the most time the second time i cut everything into smaller pieces.. I'm not set up for butchering so things like this hampered me, ie finding places to put everything and a knife sharpener :? Did everything on that small bar table..We got around 200 pounds out of this 4 month old calf...luckily my freezer was almost empty.

That's why I said you should have asked for advise...........There are quite a few on here that know how to cut and process meat, some of us have actually made a living doing it. and btw our shop is 12x12 and have processed up to 500 deer a year in the past.

 

[cowgirl8]

So what would you have told me? What should i have asked? I've butchered many deer in my kitchen. This one quarter was too much for me to even move, i had to cut sections out just so i could roll it over.

 

[branguscowgirl]

What a big job cowgirl! I sure wouldn't have taken it on. But I admire you for doing so! My girlfriend processes her own deer on a tarp on her kitchen floor. (Not quite as big as your calf though.)