Butchering?

[Haven]

Since we will be getting in to raising goats for meat, I was wondering what you all do to get them butchered? Hub and I have no experience butchering animals so it's not something we want to start doing right away.

How much do most processors charge? My brother said the man who butchers his deer charges 75.00 which seems kind of expensive, but I forgot to ask him if that included the processing of his sausage, etc.

I was hoping I could get my amish neighbor to do it since they are skilled at it, but i havent asked him yet.

Do any of you use deer processors, other people, and how much do they charge?

Thanks in advance!

[pygmybabies]

i called 2 places last week around kc mo area. One was $40 butchering and $40 processing= so $80 total and over a 110 ( ithink) it was extra. The other place charged $46.50 for everything.
a friends neighbors sister( or brother, not sure) will come pick up and deliver meat for $60.

But we are just starting to get into it also, so that is the extent of what I know except the I have a 100% reg boer doeling and 100% registered boer buckling. So it will still be a while before I get some meat.

[QoTL]

I called a couple of years ago, and here I was quoted $35 to butcher a buck. I'm assuming that includes all processing, but didn't ask. I will warn you that they told me I need to call in the spring for fall butchering because there is a huge waiting list (only place in the area that does it)

We do process our own chickens, and although it isn't easy, exactly, it isn't really hard either. Plus I KNOW that they were humanely treated until their very last breath. We work hard to avoid as much fear as we possibly can, and that's important to me.

[Haven]

Thanks for the info. 35 ish sounds pretty reasonable.

Qo, I used to help my dad butcher chickens when I was little and he used 2 nails driven into a stump, with an axe. Not sure how most ppl do it nowadays.

[motdaugrnds]

We had the shop down the street do ours for awhile. He would come to our place, kill the animals, cart them back to his place, clean and process all the meat. We would then go pick it up the next day. (He made sausage too if we wanted it.) For all this he charged $60, which we considered quite reasonable.

We have been doing our own now for several years. It is a yearly task that is well worth the doing; and once you understand what you're doing, it is not that difficult. (I really prefer our doing it anyway.)

As for chickens, David just catches them at night when they are roosting and all our other animals are locked in and chops their heads off with a sharp harchet and a piece of hard wood we keep for that purpose.

[Jcran]

I do my own butchering now; it is easier and cheaper than paying someone else. There are a bazillion youtube videos on goats/sheep that explain and show how to do it. Right now it is around .75/lb to process here, and that's after paying a mobile butcher a kill fee. My friend comes over and shoots the goat, we hang it on my daughter's swing set, and it only takes about an hour to skin and gut. Then it takes another couple hours to cut into various cuts, etc. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

[mylala]

I paid $38 for a goat this summer. I usually do it myself, but it was too hot out, and I didn't want to wait till fall to do it. This was wrapped in butcher paper.

[farmmom]

There's an excellent sticky thread on this with great pics! I do mine myself. It doesn't take real long and saves just a bit over having them done professionally.

[Feral Nature]

I do it myself, occasionally my husband helps me if he is not at work. It is not much different than doing a chicken, just bigger. Once the head is off, it is just a piece of meat. We prefer not to take them off the farm to a butcher shop for 2 reasons, one being that it is so expensive and two because it is so stressful for the animal who has otherwise had a very nice life. Here, out of sight of the herd, I put down a nice pan of the favorite feed and while the goat is scarfing it down and wagging it's tail, the animal is met with a well placed bullet. The end. No stress or fear. One of the butchering threads on here is mine and one is Emily's. Her's is quite nice and very thorough, mine is about precessing a small kid.

I know that this is not the answer asked for but it is what we do and once you process your first goat, it is easy. Start with a small one. Also, some people find it easier to trade goats with someone else and each of you put that goat in the freezer so as not to kill and eat a goat you know. Either way there is pride and a sense of accomplishment and empowerment when you process your own meat.

[Backfourty,MI.]

Our Butcher does our deer & charges $40.00, sausage included. He's also the same guy we buy our Beef & pork from. He's a hard working guy, raises his own beef & no hormone's, antibiotics, etc.
He has done a few goats for us over the years even though we don't make a proactice of butchering too many, I think we've only ever had 3 or 4 done & he charges us $20.00 per goat, including sausage.

$75.00 for deer sounds exspensive to me but most other places around here charge about that price & even higer down state.

[Jcran]

Holy buckets! Some of you get GREAT deals compared to us folks out west here. IF I call out the mobile slaughter, its $60/head plus gas. Then the butcher shops around here charge 65-cents per pound and THEN there's a charge if you want smoked meat, etc. We did our own pig for the first time, and saved A LOT of money (not thrilled with my bacon but it was a first time; next one will hopefully be better)

[Haven]

What does the mobile slaughter drive - like a butcher shop on wheels? I thought they had to be butchered in an approved facility unless you do it yourself at home.