baymule
Sustainability Master
Either way, that ham will be good. Your own home grown pork! 
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Piggie is hanging in the cooler. I didn't get any pictures sadly. My husband was running late and my daughter and I had a dinner date so he and his friend did most of it without us. But he and I are going to do all the processing after the fact.
It's weird for me because I've never seen it from the beginning like that, I've only seen the meat cutting part. It makes me appreciate it more. My daughter said she feels kind of bad for the pig and she said sorry to her but also that she is excited to have pork to eat. So I told her instead of saying sorry, say thank you. Because that pig is going to help our family eat well and stay strong and healthy all winter. And even though it can be sad she had a good life. She got to play in the mud and eat grass, she ate lots of veggies from our garden and heck, she got to drink a beer or two.
Life and death on a farm can be joyful, sad, hard and thankful. I'm feeling a little of all of that tonight. I think the average person in this country, well in the developed world, needs to think about the animals that went into that Big Mac they're eating.
So yeah I'm a little sad. And thankful. I hope I always feel that when it's butchering time though, otherwise what's the point.
I'm also incredibly grateful to my husband, who has to do all the dirty work. He doesn't expect me to have to kill animals. He hopes I never have to do it (he's gone a lot though so chances are I will). He stresses about doing it the right way. He loves our animals and is the rock in this journey that fixes all the catastrophes that arise. And there have been plenty.
Anyway... I need to stop blabbering. How annoying. Pork later this week, will try to get pictures.
It's weird for me because I've never seen it from the beginning like that, I've only seen the meat cutting part. It makes me appreciate it more. My daughter said she feels kind of bad for the pig and she said sorry to her but also that she is excited to have pork to eat. So I told her instead of saying sorry, say thank you. Because that pig is going to help our family eat well and stay strong and healthy all winter. And even though it can be sad she had a good life. She got to play in the mud and eat grass, she ate lots of veggies from our garden and heck, she got to drink a beer or two.
Life and death on a farm can be joyful, sad, hard and thankful. I'm feeling a little of all of that tonight. I think the average person in this country, well in the developed world, needs to think about the animals that went into that Big Mac they're eating.
So yeah I'm a little sad. And thankful. I hope I always feel that when it's butchering time though, otherwise what's the point.
I'm also incredibly grateful to my husband, who has to do all the dirty work. He doesn't expect me to have to kill animals. He hopes I never have to do it (he's gone a lot though so chances are I will). He stresses about doing it the right way. He loves our animals and is the rock in this journey that fixes all the catastrophes that arise. And there have been plenty.
Anyway... I need to stop blabbering. How annoying. Pork later this week, will try to get pictures.
lcertuche
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How much meat do you estimate. Small hogs are so much easier to process. I've watched how to cut up hogs into chops, steaks, etc. on YouTube. They made it look easy. I'm sure it's easier if you know what you are doing, lol. I think if I decide to process pork in the future I will have my laptop opened up to watch how its done as I do it. The biggest thing I have butchered is deer and that was a big job. My husband, brother, dad, and brother in law all got a deer one year. My brother and brother in law got two. Anyway my yard was like a deer camp. Daddy and me worked all weekend. I ended up with most the meat. I froze most of it and canned a few jars. We had a year's worth of meat. Now I only occasionally get a mess of venison from friends.
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I have no idea. We didn't measure her beforehand to get a guess either. I'll definitely post the total once we have the final product!
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My wrist hurts even more and now it's popping... That can't be good...
Moving the little pigs in the pouring rain today... Thank goodness my husband is home today!
Moving the little pigs in the pouring rain today... Thank goodness my husband is home today!
frustratedearthmother
Sustainability Master
Congrats on the butchering, but 'oh no' on the wrist! Did you do anything that you remember to hurt it? My recommendation, based on experience - ugh - is ice, ice, ice!
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Umm all I remember is trying to open the grain bin yesterday and my glove kind of slipped and I twisted it weirdly. Which seems ridiculous.. We buy grain in bulk in 55 gallon olive containers. Do you know what I'm talking about, the tops spin off?
frustratedearthmother
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I do know what you're talking about....maybe you just twisted it wrong. Hope that's all it is, but I'd sure get some ice on it if you can. Hope it gets better - it's hard to be hurt when you've got a little one around.
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Oh I'm sure I'll survive, lol. It's not a "real' injury like your poor foot/ankle injury!
So tomorrow the meat birds, the 3 evil cockerels and a turkey are to be processed. The turkey has had a bad foot her whole life and now that they're all getting big they're picking on her. So I asked my husband to process her early so we don't lose her. That will leave 5 turkeys and another cockerel for the weekend before Thanksgiving, which will be the last of the butchering unless my husband gets a deer.
I think the plan is to go cut off the front shoulders of our pig, bring them home and grind them tonight. Get that in the freezer and go back for the next section.
Today is my boring grocery shopping/house cleaning day.
My husband wants to do a photo tutorial of the pig butchering process in the spring with our next pig.
So tomorrow the meat birds, the 3 evil cockerels and a turkey are to be processed. The turkey has had a bad foot her whole life and now that they're all getting big they're picking on her. So I asked my husband to process her early so we don't lose her. That will leave 5 turkeys and another cockerel for the weekend before Thanksgiving, which will be the last of the butchering unless my husband gets a deer.
I think the plan is to go cut off the front shoulders of our pig, bring them home and grind them tonight. Get that in the freezer and go back for the next section.
Today is my boring grocery shopping/house cleaning day.
My husband wants to do a photo tutorial of the pig butchering process in the spring with our next pig.
lcertuche
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I remember twisting my ankle one time when I was putting my shoe on. Should've seen the look on my Doctors face when I told her how it happened. The older I get the easier I hurt myself. If doesn't help that I have two left feet, lol.
