Meat Animals

[dayna]

I don't find butchering to be very messy if planned out in advance and done properly and cleanly.

Before I start I clean/bleach my utility sink area. I have a bucket for guts and if doing chickens put my large pot on to heat up water for feather softening. I dispatch the animal outside, then I do the entire butchering process in the utility sink. I use lots of cool water and chill the meat quickly. I then take my "gut bucket" and put it in the compost. After I'm all done I wash with soap and water and use a light bleaching to sanitize everything. No mess really.

Dayna

http://www.FarmingAloha.com
www.E-Z-Caps.com

[unknownjulie]

Dayna, you are a pro! I suppose it is only messy if you do it once in a great while, like in my lifetime. Ratlung is killed by cooking so I wouldnt worry about the snails for that. I prepare every food, as if it harbors the ratlung parasite. I quit eating raw veggies a while back and just cook everything. More peace of mind with my kids around etc.

[Carey]

Giant African Land Snails were introduced in Hawaii as an ornamental & a food crop (escargot farming) in 1936 but it was not s practical as they grew too tough here (they were raised in other, northern markets for food). They were introduced to Florida in 1966, after being a nuisance here...soo....

That said, the ones here now are 'free-range' and probably more tough than the farm raised, and some can be HUGE (bigger than a mans fist)

After the market failure here, they were introduced to Brazil & China. Brazil farming did not survive, but the GALS did, I think China is still active farming them...

They are a pet animal in the UK...

I am not an escargot fan (waste of a perfectly good garlic butter on rubbery things) so the thought of a tougher snail would not entice me to farming GALS...

There are ways to isolate produce from ratlung introduction, so a total avoidance of raw fruit & veggies is not the only answer, but many people prefer cooking to the potential exposure & is a great was to make sure that most pathogens are harmless, esp in any meat items.

[dayna]

UKJ, I am just very passionate about:

1. Raising animals as you would a pet. With love, nutrition and exercise for mind and body.
2. Killing in the most humane way available to me.
3. Processing quickly and cleanly to assure the highest quality food product for my family.
4. Wasting NOTHING. All parts of the animal are used, either consumed by us or the pets or composted.
5. Educating others about how to raise their own food and really get to know the process. Food doesn't come in a package.

Dayna

http://www.FarmingAloha.com
www.E-Z-Caps.com

[unknownjulie]

Yes, I've been meaning to buy some meat from you, but have been finding "organic reduced price free-range chickens" at KTA - so have been buying those instead. I agree that the animals need to be treated well- if we are to eat them!

[ri3ck]

I kind of have the mindset that stressing meat animals, such as in factory raising them, amps up their stress hormones. then we kill and consume them. we are eating their amped up stress hormones. not a good thing in my book. (I got enough stress hormones happening in my own life..)
I like the tagline of a free range organic turkey producer I know. "Our Turkeys Only Have One Bad Day"

[Hotzcatz]

Animals that are properly slaughtered and butchered are pretty clean and tidy. If you're harvesting road kill or getting kills from hunters it's messier. A LOT messier. You don't get as good of a carcass, either. We trap pigs instead of chase them all over. They are killed quickly and then immediately hung to bleed out (very important) and field dressed and we get a great carcass with no bruising or hemorrhage areas. When you are gonna eat a critter, be respectful and use as much as possible.

Rabbits are a good choice for meat production. They eat really low on the food chain and can be fed from weeds and yard waste. (Although you have to be careful about which weeds and make sure there's no herbicide on them.) You can butcher one rabbit and not have to worry about storage. They are tasty, too. They are quiet and won't annoy the neighbors, their manure can be put on the garden without burning the plants. Which then makes more plants to feed to the bunnies. They multiply like, well, rabbits. There's a lot to be said for rabbits as meat producers. My problem is they are so dang cute and fuzzy that it's hard to bop them on the head.

Frequently, which animal gets eaten (by humans, anyway) depends on gender more so than species. Rooster soup cures crowing, guaranteed!

If you wish to be compassionate with animals and yet still have an animal that helps pay for it's feed, you could look into fiber animals such as mohair goats. Pygora goats are mohair goats mixed with pygmy goats so you get small fiber critters. Angora rabbits produce fine fiber with no pain or anguish to the animal. (Although PETA did just produce some sort of video "proving" inhumane treatment to angora rabbits in China, but then, that's PETA so it's not a trusted source.) In any case, if it's your rabbit you'll know it was nicely treated and the more angora fiber produced in the US, the less imported from China. Wooly sheep and alpaca are also good fiber producing critters although they are much bigger than the others. But you'll have a pet you won't have to eat in order to still have it help pay it's way.

Actually, with rabbits, you can have meat and fiber so that might be an even more multi-purpose critter than just merely a meat critter. A lot of the market lamb folks shear their lambs before sending them off to market. We need a fiber mill on this island, though.

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"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson

[Mimosa]

We eat our own animals,we are also called in to kill the wild pig all over puna,especially bad in Orchid Land on 37th in the last week or so.We make smoke meat and give all away.Our family has never gone without.
We have chickens for eggs and meat,Roosters for fertilizing the hens and they especially enjoy those little noisy frogs that are called Coe Key.We also eat the roosters.
We butcher plenty,and at baby 1st luau all mostly what we raise.
We hunt and fish, we try to provide for the kids,cousins,grand babies and friends.
We teach our children and grand children how to survive should the barge stop.We keep most grains in large old defunct chest freezers ,away from the rats and mice.
When the tough times come and they will,our family and close friends will have aplenty.
We use every part of the animal and nothing ever goes to waste.
When folks buy meat in the store,they add to the landfill.Or cans of iron,good for the fruit tree's to help feed the animals and our ohana.Aunty Tutu sells at both Farmers market in Hilo and Maku'u market on sundays,and we do not sell meat,just fruit n veggy.
Even the pretty feathers go to make art,you may see feather art here and there,they may of come from our farm free range happy animals.We do not raise rabbits though,just do not enjoy the flavor,but many do and that is fine.
Compost is our own,feeds the veggy that others buy at the open air markets.We are all purpose and we enjoy life as best we can.
Never had any problems with sanitation or spoilage.
We raise bee's and have our own honey and make candles with the by product of wax.The wicks in the candles are plant fibers woven,grown this island along the coast.
Common sense.
Farm fresh.

[Hotzcatz]

Good work, Mimosa! Seems a pono way of life!

Oh, Dayna, to pluck ducks easier, squirt them with dish washing soap before putting them in the hot water. They have oil on them which keeps the hot water from getting to the skin and relaxing the feathers so they can be easily pulled out. If you use either soapy hot water or put soap on the duck then the hot water will penetrate and you'll be able to pluck them as easy as chickens.

Another method is to pluck them before the body heat dissipates, but that's a real short time frame.

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"I like yard sales," he said. "All true survivalists like yard sales."
Kurt Wilson

[VancouverIslander]

The shorter life span of Inuit and especially the dramatic increase in diabetes in recent years is entirely attributable to the introduction of Western food and especially high carb diets. Previously there was also the issue of high incidence of TB attributable to the Caribou. Processed foods are the real bane of a modern diet. While there is some benefit to be had in a vegan diet, there is also benefit to be had with a diet that includes lean non-processed meat. Increased incidence of cancer (especially stomach and colorectal) is attributable primarily to processed meats especially those including nitrates (store bought red meat is usually too red due to the addition of nitrates for 'aesthetic' reasons).