Saturday, January 15, 2011

Butchering Sheep

***NOT FOR THE WEAK STOMACH***

Turn back now...




Pictures ahead...





Last Chance...





OK one more chance...

It's really not bad by my standards but some might think so.

This is the girl we butchered (by "we" I mean Rob)

This is the one of the knives Rob used, he will definitely be buying more.

Getting the pulley set up.

Putting the legs in the spreader.

Finally hung up and ready to cut into.

First cutting.

As the internal organs started to fall out it got more difficult, but he figured it out.

Jacob and Jordan holding back the wool so none would get in the meat.

Starting to skin it.

J&J holding back the wool once again.

Almost done skinning.

internal organs on the ground.

cutting off the hoof area.

Lungs inside the cavity.

Cutting off the front leg.

Cutting off hoof area.

First leg done.

Rest of the carcass.

I didn't take anymore pictures after this, we were running around getting bowls and rinsing.
The table is a door off of an old refrigerator.
The older kids helped the whole time, asking great questions. We talked about the difference between our meat and store bought meat, and how it was so important to know this skill. Jaelyn came out once and took some picture, but Jocelyn was no where to be found;)




10 comments:

Dalyn said...

inside with the shutters closed huh? Good job. Looks like your lambs were fat!

Dalyn said...

Inside with the shutters closed huh? Good job. Looks like you guys did a great job. Your woolies ere fat!

Michelle said...

I cannot believe you did this. I said I would save its life. I have a sheep over here that needs a friend. Poor, poor baby. :(

Tonia said...

My girls have been there through butchering Rabbits, chickens,sheep goats and pigs.. Ever since they are little. They find it very interesting.. Once the animal is dead I dont have a hard time with it...
Great job!

OurCrazyFarm said...

Eeewwee {sorry, I couldn't resist:)} I looked!

Butchering our own large animals is something that we haven't attempted on our farm. The boys and I learned how to butcher our own chickens, but Rob doesn't even care to do that. I know we could save hundreds of dollars a year by processing them ourselves, but it is something I don't mind paying for.

Teresa said...

Truthfully Terri I would rather pay someone else to do the dirty work;)It was a long day. We have already decided to have the pigs butchered by someone else. Rob is not a butcher. The only reason he did this is because we were going to grind all the meat. Sheep butchering take 2 on Saturday.

Kids and Canning Jars said...

It will go faster next time. We did it the same way growing up. I just got half of an Angus baby cattle. But we had it butchered. I had to sort all the meats and freeze it thougt. I is still curing in my fridge before freezing it. Oh you brought back memories. Did you by chance weigh any of it and figure out how many pounds you ended up with? And are you saving the wool skin?
Thanks for the pics. Melissa

Teresa said...

Melissa, it did go faster the second time around.. and after all that work we only got 40lbs of ground meat, the ribs and we ate the back strap of the second one the night we ground up the meat. I am sure we would've gotten more if we had grained them out but the pigs er I mean goats would have eaten it all anyway;) We did save the wool skin of the second one also. It is under a lot of salt in our garage. we will see if it works out, having never done it before. Thanks for visiting!

Unknown said...

Yeah! That's what I like to see! Someone else who isn't afraid to post a good butchering ;D

She *was* a beautiful animal.

PrairieMom said...

Hey buddie, way to go!
Our family is used to processing tons of venison AFTER it's been butchered. I'm thinking later this year we will invite the kids to see the process from start to finish.
Thanks for sharing this!
Smiles ☼