04/17/07, 07:24 AM
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Green Woman
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Indiana - North Central
Posts: 1,955
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after about the 10th goat (and I do thank the creator for each of them prior to the kill), it gets easier. You CAN'T keep 'em all, it IS what you raised them for, you CAN'T sell a goat for $15 to the neighbor kid for a pet and watch it mistreated and then go out and buy feed-lot beef/pig.....
I don't like killing them anymore than anyone else.
My first kill? I made the mistake of shooting it like a horse or cow - in the FACE. If I hadn't had it tied up? It would have run into the woods/road/neighbors/etc. It was screaming and jumping and flipping around. Disgusting. Distasteful. Horrible for me AND the goat. AND THEN ONCE IT WAS DEAD (after several more shots and a slit throat)??? I realized that 60lbs. breathing is a LOT more lightweight than 60lbs. dead. I didn't even have a correct sized gambrel. I called my deer butchering friend, in tears, and begged for help. He came over, brought a gambrel and a winch, didn't fuss with me, showed me how to clean kill next time, helped me clean up the EXTRAORDINARY mess (I had fed the goat and didn't tie off the windpipe after slitting it's throat), and hugged me. He invited me to come over and watch deer being processed so I could learn more about the cuts and how to process. I'd helped do these things for MANY YEARS prior to living in town for 20 years? But it's different when you are doing it yourself.
For all you newbies out there? No. It's never easy and enjoyable to kill your pets/friends. But it's what is intended. It's clean meat. It's healthy meat. It's YOURS. It's shocking, sure. But what's even MORE shocking is how feedlot meat is handled and cared for. It's not meanness? It's just the way it is. Millions of pounds of meat don't get to the grocery store any other way... Good luck all, and thanks again, OzarkJ and FeralN. Nice to be in good company... (and all the rest of you good folks as well)
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