Raising Your Own Meat??

[AllieMackie]

Teach me? Pleeease?

It's pretty easy, just labour instensive! Especially the cleaning/carding. Especially the carding... as I only have hand carders, though if I went full-scale I would get a drum carder.

Spinning is so therapeutic and zen. Unfortunately, I don't have my own wheel yet, but I've been spinning on a drop spindle for a few years now, and I've spun on a number of different types of wheels.

I have a huge box of 8lbs worth of alpaca seconds in my storage that smells like barn. I've cleaned it once, it needs to be done again. I don't want to handcard 8lbs of fibre. *cry*

 

[Romy]

I have a huge box of 8lbs worth of alpaca seconds in my storage that smells like barn. I've cleaned it once, it needs to be done again. I don't want to handcard 8lbs of fibre. *cry*

Send it to meeee! lol. Drop spindles are awesome. I never got the hang of spinning wheels. My thread always turns out weird with alternating thick and thin sections.

Alpaca is so soft. I've got a bit of baby alpaca for doll hair. There's a place around here that you can buy show quality bred females for $8k-16k each, but I can't fathom spending that much on a fiber animal. Especially when goats and rabbits are so affordable.

 

[MyHorseMyRules]

I have a huge box of 8lbs worth of alpaca seconds in my storage that smells like barn. I've cleaned it once, it needs to be done again. I don't want to handcard 8lbs of fibre. *cry*

Sounds like a deal. You teach me, and I'll do it!

 

[Romy]

Oh Allie! Have you ever tried spinning chinchilla? You'd probably have to blend it with something, merino or whatever since it's so slick. The Chincha indians used to catch chins in sacks, shake the sacks real good to make them fear shed, then release them. They'd take the fiber home and spin it.

I tried collecting enough to spin once, but people kept finding my stashes and throwing them out.

 

[AllieMackie]

Send it to meeee! lol. Drop spindles are awesome. I never got the hang of spinning wheels. My thread always turns out weird with alternating thick and thin sections.

Alpaca is so soft. I've got a bit of baby alpaca for doll hair. There's a place around here that you can buy show quality bred females for $8k-16k each, but I can't fathom spending that much on a fiber animal. Especially when goats and rabbits are so affordable.

MY ALPACA. NO TOUCHY.

I love spinning wheels but I suuuuuck at wheel spinning so far. Granted, my only experience is spinning on my sister's Ashford Traditional and Kromski Sonata on my weekend visits to VA, and trying out a few Ashfords at the spinning shop (the one with the angora rabbits). I keep telling myself I'll join the local weavers and spinners guild and start some lessons and apprenticing.

I heart alpaca fibre, and the animals themselves can actually be very sweet if raised right, but I agree with you about the price tag, which is why they're a massive "maybe" after I get all my other fibrey animals. :rofl1:

Getting ahead of myself? Me? No way. I have goals in mind!

 

[Romy]

Another meat animal I've been interested in are deer. We'll probably get hoofed stock some day, and frankly I'm a bit torn between cattle and fiber animals, vs. deer.

Reindeer don't jump fences and are domestic. I've never eaten one, but am willing to try. lol. The nice thing with deer is you get annual shed antlers, and you can have their pelts tanned if you're going to eat them.

Fallow deer are another I've been checking into. They've been bred in captivity for a long while now, with a bunch of color mutations selected for. They need higher fencing than reindeer but could definitely be worth it. I've seen yearling does advertised for around $200-500, which isn't too outrageous. A really nice saanen will cost $200, boer meat goats more than that.

 

[Saeleofu]

You should totally try to spin something out of collie hair...I'd imagine roughs would work best :lol-sign: Heck, for that matter, the borzois might even work :rofl1:

Seriously, I know someone who wants to spin GSD undercoat, but the hairs are so short.

 

[GipsyQueen]

MY ALPACA. NO TOUCHY.

I love spinning wheels but I suuuuuck at wheel spinning so far. Granted, my only experience is spinning on my sister's Ashford Traditional and Kromski Sonata on my weekend visits to VA, and trying out a few Ashfords at the spinning shop (the one with the angora rabbits). I keep telling myself I'll join the local weavers and spinners guild and start some lessons and apprenticing.

I heart alpaca fibre, and the animals themselves can actually be very sweet if raised right, but I agree with you about the price tag, which is why they're a massive "maybe" after I get all my other fibrey animals. :rofl1:

Getting ahead of myself? Me? No way. I have goals in mind!

Oh God, spinning is SUCH a PITA. :lol-sign: We had spinning class in school one year ( I went to weird school, I know) and I was not very good at it. At the end I did end up getting a whole ball of yarn though and I didnt even get to take it home.

 

[Renee750il]

I would have trouble with a cow to be honest. Cows are such nice critters. What about turkeys? or did the chicken incident ruin it for all fowls? Pigs are tasty and easy to raise. Though they become very friendly if you be friend them. (I still like cows better)

If you'd been around some of the cows I have -- especially those bedamned Herefords -- you wouldn't like them so well, lol. The Angus were a different story. They're nice cattle, take good care of their calves, don't do stupid sh1t like leave new calves asleep in the sun and wander off and forget where they left them, tear down barns, try to run over you and generally be bovine douchecanoes. It's a lot easier to put one in the freezer after it's tried to run you down or you've had to chase it back into the pasture after it's broken down the fence for the umpteenth time.

And yah, never, ever name the food.

 

[KenyiGirl]

Another meat animal I've been interested in are deer. We'll probably get hoofed stock some day, and frankly I'm a bit torn between cattle and fiber animals, vs. deer.

Reindeer don't jump fences and are domestic. I've never eaten one, but am willing to try. lol. The nice thing with deer is you get annual shed antlers, and you can have their pelts tanned if you're going to eat them.

Fallow deer are another I've been checking into. They've been bred in captivity for a long while now, with a bunch of color mutations selected for. They need higher fencing than reindeer but could definitely be worth it. I've seen yearling does advertised for around $200-500, which isn't too outrageous. A really nice saanen will cost $200, boer meat goats more than that.

lol I was telling hubby the other day all the different kinds of livestock I want to keep and he said "Boy, next you'll be wanting to keep deer!"

 

[Fran101]

To rethink it, I would probably do cows.

We raise cows here on campus, they are so happy and spoiled and I do work with them for class sometimes, and I don't feel bad eating beef. it does feel good to know these animals lived a good life

Just wanted to further prove how spoiled the cows at this school are...
One of my options for extra credit is to go to the dairy/cow barn and MASSAGE SOME COWS.
they have a video of students doing it and these cows are LOVIN IT lol spoiled things!

 

[joce]

There is no mobile butcher here. You have to transport them yourself unless you have a very large scale farm and hire out a semi. The plant reeks! Very unpleasant place to go in the summer and you will not want to eat the meat for a while after going There used to be a small butcher that lived just around the corner from us but now the only one left is the huge plant the next county over who does anything large scale(like whole cow).

I want chickens but the bf has issues from seeing his grandma kill one when he was little and I don't like actually doing the killing so we'll see

I have never actually eaten goat. I have lots of friends with boar goats and they are selling like crazy at the amish auctions out here right now.

I have helped care for pigs that were down right rabid-they tried to eat us. Had no problem taking them to get processed! Could have done it myself!

If I ever go back to part time I do want to do all the animals and get the cows and pigs. I know I will get attached and cry but that will just be part of it I guess

I hate having to buy grocery store meat We are lucky to get it from neighbors and the bfs sisters exs family has a big farm in Michigan we get some from.