Getting meat with out raising it?

Do you have any neighbors that farm or homestead? Maybe you could barter-they raise the meat and you raise the fruits/veggies. Or if they're not interested in fruits/veggies, you might be able to barter for work or other skills you have.

Cyngbaeld, I could try 20 CornishX broilers? Don't have the room for 50 but that sound like a some thing to try. What do you think about geese? I've heard they are mean and I probably wouldn't get attached to them.

KY Guest I know of a couple local farmers. I could ask doesn't hurt to ask and see what they are willing to trade for. I know my dad trades a local pig farmer pork for carpentry work. My dad's a contractor and I've had some of the pork from this farmer it is fabulous! I guess I just don't feel like I have any skills worth a good trade, but until I ask I will never know. Maybe he could use a dog trainer, or likes Thia food, maybe needs help cutting and wrapping. I will ask, thanks KY Guest.

I loved my geese, they'd follow me all over the yard. But I did work with them a lot because I didn't want mean geese. Mine were going to be breeders so I wanted them tame.

I agree about the Cornish Cross Chickens; I raised 119 of those things one year(last hatch & the hatchery gave me a great deal). They are the dumbest birds and I didn't think they had much personality. I took good care of them but never felt a desire to turn them into pets; not like I did my regular chickens.

I don't know if you have the right set up but another critter that is good meat but doesn't normally turn into as big of a pet is Hair Sheep. Katahdins or Blackbelly Barbado's would be the most aloof IMO.

I wish I lived closer; I'd work out a way to raise your meat if you could raise me some heirloom veggies.

I never looked into Hair Sheep, Katahdins or Blackbelly Barbado's. I will research that and see. I also wish you were closer I would like to meet friendly geese and I've read a few of your posts about goats. Would like to meet them as well, they sound like so much fun :baby04:

raise some rabbits. let them in the pens until they mature. then try to hold them lovingly. after they shred your forearms, you won't feel so guilty about eating them.

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"All that is gold does not glitter..."

I used to order 25 turkey poults. Never got too attached to them. I just go out and feed them once a day, check their water and take head counts. They were all white and basically eating machines that converted feed to meat. at beheading time, just be quick. The worst thing is an unsure kill which haunts some people away from raising birds to butcher. I also agree with the cornish idea to grow a batch and dispense with them for meat at 8 weeks.

I never wanted to raise sheep and such, so I would go to the farmer nearby and order one in spring for fall butchering. He used to tease me about picking out a lamb and name it. I said 'no thanks'.... just didn't want to get that friendly with my freezer meat. I paid him for the lamb from money basically I got from selling a few turkey.
Or, you can raise chickens for eggs. Sell the eggs to buy meat from a nearby farmer willing to sell that what you choose for meat. You don't HAVE to raise your own big domestic meat like beef or lamb. Leave that to someone that does better at it, while you do better at the small holding stock like a flock of chickens, free range with a chicken tractor, or the cornish x.
I don't hold much to the idea of having an animal because I think it's ugly, so that isn't a reason for me in enjoying to kill it. If you want ugly, get muskovy drakes which are good meat, but you might get attached to them as they can become very 'pet like'.

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Robin

We barter apples, cherries, vegetables, eggs, bread, jam, jelly, wild harvested berries and mushrooms, forestry services (dh is a licensed forester), chores, chicks, ducklings and poults, and meat on a regular basis. We're open to other things too. We'll still raise chickens, ducks, turkeys and rabbits

I have scars on my forearms and hands from meat rabbits. NZWs are like cornish cross chickens, they stop being cute about the time they're fryer size.

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Robin

I could kill birds all day long but I still have issues about mammals personally, which is one reason we barter and buy pork and beef from local farmers. But the one thing I know from my bird experiences is that it gets exponentially easier every time you kill something, especially knowing that you gave it a much better life--and death--than it would've had had it been raised in a commercial setting. So I suppose that would translate to mammals as well...

Sounds like you need to find someone who can do the butchering for you. Can BF do that? Maybe find someone who can't raise meat and make a deal with them to butcher yours in exchange for some of the meat? Then you can raise whatever you decide to raise. I usually take large animals to the butcher, but I do small ones myself. You can also cure the pelts of rabbits, tan goat skins, etc. for extra income or leather to barter.

I know how you feel. I grew up in a family that raised and butchered our own meat. I had watched dad kill them when I was a kid, and I did my share of the cleaning of them in the family "production line", but it was still hard for me to learn to do the killing myself. When it comes right down to the choice of kill a chicken or go hungry, believe me, that chicken is not such a good friend. It becomes dinner real quick.

It doesn't take long to move from the "oh, cute & sweet" thinking to the "if I raise it for food, it goes in the freezer" type of thinking. Just force yourself to help BF or someone else a few times and before long you'll be able to do it yourself. Don't worry, you won't become a cold hearted animal killer. I have family pets that I love and even if they needed to be put down, it would be very hard for me to do that. I cried when my cat died, and bawled like a baby when I lost a horse. But food raised for the freezer, no problem, knock em in the head and get the job done.

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I think you should do broilers....a few batches ---one for yourself and a few for barter....

Get a couple milk goats....milk and cheese are a good protien source....layer chickens for eggs (you can give away if you dont want to butcher)

Have the son raise up something for you or hunt and share with you

Turkeys strike me as rather dumb like broilers so maybe a few of them (broilers are probably easier)

Morning Owl, just start looking for some beef cows in a field and stop and ask the farmer if he'd sell you one at butchering time. If he does his own meat, all the better, or if he sends his own steer to the butcher yours could go along. He could make twice the money off of his steer by selling to you than he could if it went to market, and you'd still get a good deal. Win-win for everyone.

Doing your own meat is not for everyone. BUT everyone on here knows that if you HAD TO you could do your own meat. That's the most important thing. I'm a dairy farmer, have lots of cows in the barn plus a couple of steers, and almost always buy a black angus from my neighbor. Part of it is he takes care of all of the killing, trucking and even brings the meat back from the butcher for me. That's a lot of work, but he's doing it for several other people so taking an extra animal for me is not much more. No muss, no fuss. Part of it is his are traditional beef cows, and part of it I know they are raised with even less feed than I'd do it, so you can't get much healthier than that and still be eating beef. You might consider raising a few cows, selling them, and buying the one for your freezer from the farmer down the road.

Jennifer

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-Northern NYS

Killing chickens is far more distressing then killing rabbits. Crack a rabbit on the base of the skull with a 12" length of iron pipe, and the thing stops twitching within three or four seconds. I've had chickens still jumping around without a head for what seemed like three or four MINUTES.

Pete

You can do any number of broilers you want. The big thing about them is they are a terminal cross. If you don't butcher when they get big enough they will have heart attacks and get leg problems. To me, this means you have an incentive to go ahead and get the job done.

I have American Buff Geese. They are big and beautiful and gentle. I don't know if I could ever butcher one.

The broad breasted white turkey would also be an option. Just a couple would keep you in good meat for a long time. I do like a variety of meat tho. Right now I have pork, duck, turkey, goat, and chicken in the freezer (tho I'm busily canning a lot of it). Duck tastes a lot like beef, enough so that I don't miss having beef. Ducks are ready to butcher at 8 wks too. Duck fat is really wonderful for cooking.

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Cyngbaeld's Keep Heritage Farm, breeding a variety of historical birds and LaMancha goats. (It is pronounced King Bold.)

I have a friend that will kill what I raise for part of the meat. That's why I was thinking about raising some geese but maybe the cornish chickens wood be good too. I like the idea of getting a dexter and trading milk and cheese for meat. The problem is dexters are so darn expensive. I don't have room or time for a big cow and I'm not that fond of goat milk. Although I really do like fetta cheese :baby04: Another thing I thought about is getting a sow and trading out the babies for meat. I have a friend that gets 4 or 5 pigs every year raises them for slaughter. If I give her the pigs for free she would raise one for me for the freezer.
Thanks all for you help, I guess I have alot more options than I first thought.

Why not just do your own hunting? The game are not pets.

Don't know if this would work for you but it works great for me. I split the price of calves and piglets with my neighbor and he does the raising over on his place. He has the room, I don't. I also volunteer to feed if they have to be gone.

They do all of the butchering and I just get neatly wrapped packages of meat. NO attachments. Works for me!

LQ

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I have 25 cornish cross broilers at 3 weeks now. I already cant wait to kill them, lol. I am enjoying seeing them grow, but only because I love to EAT chicken. I will slaughter these ones and then make a decision about the next batch, which will be 50-75. I don't think I want to do large batches, but 25 isn't worth the trip to the butcher, which is 1 1/2 hours away. Way too much gas money for that.

MorningOwl, there are people who sell their critters to folks like you. Me, for example! Often times you can find them advertised under livestock in your local newspaper...or try calling the local extension office to get the names of a few 4-Hers who've got some animals they'd like to sell. People buy lamb from me, I take it to the butcher and the butcher calls them to let them know it's ready. You never have to meet the animal.

Tinknal, not to sound harsh, but your way isn't neccessarily the right way There's nothing wrong with purchasing your food from someone else and not raising it. It's what keeps people like me in business. Plus not everyone is cut out to raise or butcher their own. We don't kill a single thing ourselves, not even chickens. Think I'm halfway to the city, too?

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