butchering a cow?

[cookfor4]

My husband is working on a dairy farm part time and they are offering him a cow for meat. The cow has a broken leg, so my husband would need to somehow field dress it? Does anyone have any idea how we would go about doing this? Should we say no thank you?

[bookwormom]

I know of three places in my area who do butchering for folks. (they are really busy during hunting season). ask around who does butchering. You'll have to haul your free cow there, they charge a fee for butchering and so much per pound, we get ours back wrapped in white freezer paper and frozen. good luck in finding a place

[bigriks300]

Oh sweetie; dont say no to fresh free meat. It's really not hard to find someone to butcher for you; bookwormom has it right. Just grab a phone and make a call or two you might even find that you can barter a trade for the butchering right now.

[BooniesBound]

if I was closer to you I would give him a hand , I'm in CT though

[Joe]

Hi cookfor4

I never butcher a large animal like a cow, but I do butcher pigs, boar, venison and lamb on regular basis, I use a reciprocating saw with a 12 inch pruning blade, It goes trought bone like butter, it is very quick.

This is how I would proceed for a large animal:

Cut the carcass in half along the spine first, then separate the front end and the back end from each half, basically cut into 6 large pieces. Find a cool place to hang the meat (aged), then finish processing to desire freezer portion size

Hope this help

[danville]

A dairy cow with a broken leg does not sound like very good meat to me. First, how long has the leg been broken? Is she down? It could be infected by now plus the stress on the animal will make the meat tough. Also if it is an old in production cow it will already be tough. Has it been given any meds for pain or infection? Most meds have at least a 30 day slaughter window with many having a 90 day window. I don't think I would eat this wounded cow. Dog food at best if you ask me.