brookcove
Posted : 1/29/2009 10:40:08 PM
You might think about going in with a friend to divide that half-beef. Even after it's processed it's still going to be about 125 - 150 pounds of meat, assuming a) an 1100 pound steer (small) b) 45% "hang weight", ie, what's left when initial processing is complete and c) 50% in the packages.
I don't want to discourage you (for sure! you know I'm the "Buy Local" Queen!), just trying to make sure you are prepared!
A goat will fit in a medium sized cooler, including the bones (excluding the head though). If you bought it and had it done, and then found out it wasn't going to work, you can always put it on Craigslist. Raw feeders constantly trawl CL looking for stuff like that. Plus the raw feeders' groups, of course. Heck, I know a couple people in ATL who raw feed.
I'm very excited - my friend with the cattle farm has gone over to freezer beef (at least, she's giving it a whirl). It's awesome for two reasons, one, she's now got cattle I can work sometimes (before the cattle she got on contract didn't stay long enough to get used to dogs enough for my young dog to work safely).
The second reason is that since she owns the cattle now herself, she can do what she wants with them - like the two very young small ones she has for sale because they came with messed up legs that won't heal right. Yum, pasture raised "veal"! I'm not sure where on earth I'm going to put 50 pounds of meat and another 25 pounds of bones, but I'll figure out something.
And then later we're getting like a sixth of a calf, to put in the freezer for pretty much the year's worth of beef. I can't wait.