Butchering Weekend: Pictures of a Slaughtered Animal *****


 
J

Jeff Brown (KY)

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Chris - if you think anyone might find any part of this post offensive feel free to delete it.

We butchered the yearly steer this past weekend.

A steer raised by my father ready for slaughter. The big guy came in at around 1800#s. This is the biggest one we have done. That's my dad in the photo.

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This is my little brother getting a little to far ahead of the game.

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This is what the big guy looked like right before he was quartered and hung in the cooler. He age three weeks before butchering. That is me standing behind him and I'm 6'2".

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I forgot my camera this weekend :mad:, I was wanting to take some photos while we butchered. My dad breaks down the primal cuts, I trim the meat and my wife and mother package. My mother does jump in and
do some of the trimming when I start to fall behind my dad.

My wife and I take a side (yes I do pay them for it) and my parents keep a side. Needless to say I'm set on beef for the next year.
 
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This brings back memories...When I turned 18 my godfather had a farm and for my birthday they butchered a steer for me. It was an all day party. My father had a waterbed manufacture business and in his back warehouse we had music, gambling and all sorts of fun. We gave away most off the food to our workers. Everything was cooked over red oak.
 
Jeff Brown (KY) said:
Chris - if you think anyone might find any part of this post offensive feel free to delete it.
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I think the post title is sufficiently clear to those who may want to avoid the topic. Personally, I think it's good to see where meat really comes from.

Now, your little brother is a completely different story...I'm worried about him... ;)
 
Jeff, thanks for posting. Mind me asking your basic thought on grass fed vs. grain fed and the importance of what to feed or for how long, before slaughter?
 
Great post. Too any people in society today distance themselves from the reality of where meat comes from.
 
Now, your little brother is a completely different story...I'm worried about him... ;)
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We worry about him sometimes too.

Jeff, thanks for posting. Mind me asking your basic thought on grass fed vs. grain fed and the importance of what to feed or for how long, before slaughter?
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Our cows are raised grass fed. At around 3yrs old they are pinned up about thee months before slaughter and fed mostly alfalfa hay and a small amount of ground corn to help fatten up. They are given NO steroids, processed feeds or hormones. Some might disagree with the corn but it is for a short period and is natural. All I know is supermarket beef can't compare to ours. The best part other than better healthier beef is the cost. It cost me about .95 a pound for a side of beef!
 
When I was in High School I remember we went to the local butcher shop of a field trip for or Animal Husbandry class and the butcher showed us how he slaughtered the hogs.
 
Way to keep it real Jeff!
I grew up in the Stockyards of Chicago back in the sixties and we use to ride our bikes thru the slaughter houses.
95 cents a lb is a great deal nowadays, 8 yrs ago I paid $1.25 for similar raised Black Angus from a friend.
I hope you saved the Ox-Tails from that beast..:)

Tim
 
Gary S said:
Great post. Too any people in society today distance themselves from the reality of where meat comes from.
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Gary, you are exactly right, and I am one of those "people in society". I love eating meat, but if I had to slaughter it myself, I would be a vegetarian. I admire the fact that Jeff has access to pure beef, and I would absolutely be willing to split a pig or steer with someone raising animals like this. I just don't have the balls to do it myself... am I a hypocrite? If I raised this animal myself, I would consider it a pet, and then I'd be screwed!

Thanks for posting this Jeff!
 
Pretty cool, Jeff. So, in that first pic, is the cow still alive? I'm just curious how they handle being head first upside down like that. Looks like it is well secured, but I imagine they get a little uneasy at that point, to say the least.
 
Great post...I always wondered where those meaty Jim Lampe ribs came from...think I found the spot..boy 1800 pounds..steak every nite!
 
timothy said:
8 yrs ago I paid $1.25 for similar raised Black Angus from a friend.
I hope you saved the Ox-Tails from that beast..:)
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$1.25 for Angus was a good price even back then. They fetch a premium. We raised an Angus one year but they are to aggressive. We keep the oxtail and the tongue.

Mike Willis said:
If I raised this animal myself, I would consider it a pet, and then I'd be screwed!
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My mother is the same way, they are kind of a pet to her too. She doesn't come out until we have put it down and have it hanging. She is OK with it at that point.

JimK said:
Pretty cool, Jeff. So, in that first pic, is the cow still alive? I'm just curious how they handle being head first upside down like that. Looks like it is well secured, but I imagine they get a little uneasy at that point, to say the least.
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The cow is dead at this point. We put it down with a .30-.30 in the forehead in the coral then slit it's throat to bleed out. It goes straight down and there is no suffering. We have a contraption my father made to hang it on the back of a tractor to move to it the building to skin, gut and quarter. He is hanging buy 2 one ton chain hoist.
 
Morgan C. said:
Great post...I always wondered where those meaty Jim Lampe ribs came from...think I found the spot..boy 1800 pounds..steak every nite!
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Your right. the ribs we keep off of these cows are crazy meaty. Most butchers trim the meaty side down and sell it separately, charge twice for the same cut.
 
Brings back memories of helping my grandfather slaughter/butcher pigs he raised each year. Chickens too and a full garden to go along with it.
Man, would I love to have those days back again with the appreciation I have now...
 
This is a picture I found with the hide close to removed
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This a picture my dad sent me after it had been hanging in the cooler for a couple of weeks.
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We must be barbarians where I live. It's quite normal for my local school to take field trips during autumn, to see how moose is slaughtered after it has been shot. This applies only to the oldest pupils, the twelve year olds.
I think it is a lesson all should have.
I remember reading on Facebook a time ago where someone wrote something like this; "I do not understand why they have to kill all those cuddly and sweet animals, just on order to eat them. Like, why can't they just buy their meat in the supermarket like the rest of us?"
I'm nut sure if it was a joke or not.

I would love to have access to a cow like that. It is great to work with your food on such an early stage, and to make cuts on your own.
 
Jeff Brown (KY) said:
We worry about him sometimes too.

Our cows are raised grass fed. At around 3yrs old they are pinned up about thee months before slaughter and fed mostly alfalfa hay and a small amount of ground corn to help fatten up. They are given NO steroids, processed feeds or hormones. Some might disagree with the corn but it is for a short period and is natural. All I know is supermarket beef can't compare to ours. The best part other than better healthier beef is the cost. It cost me about .95 a pound for a side of beef!
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Thanks, man. We were at a high end burger place in Nashville a while back that our daughter suggested, since they're beef is supposedly local and grass fed. Anyhow, their burgers were some kind of fantastic, and you confirm what I know and somehow knew even then was the case. I told her that yes, I'm sure the beef was grass fed....until their days were numbered, and then for some time til slaughter it was grain or corn....something other than grass.

Regards,
Dave
 
I've killed, skinned, gutted and processed enough deer in my life that your pics don't bother me at all. In fact, I think they're cool. That animal is large! What breed is it? When I first looked I thought it was Holstein but I'm a bit color blind so those dark spots may have been brown. :) And for those of you who think "egads, eating a dairy steer" it's the most tender meat I've ever eaten.
 
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