Pictures of Miscellaneous Stuff & Things

[jmh58]

Lan.. That's FUNNY!!! John

[jerryd6818]

Someone in the neighborhood going free range or did those three find a weak spot in the fence?

[LanG]

Thanks, John. I'm happy they barely missed my water-meter box.

Jerry, I think (at least I hope!) a weak spot in a fence, which is a half-mile down the road they're headed.

I thought maybe they golf course across the street had "gone green" and chemical-free! Although I hear cow gas is one of the main reasons
for the hole in the ozone.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

Cattle are a thin covering of hide over 1000 lbs of gas...

[jerryd6818]

And good for you in spite of what the Vegans say.

[Paladin]

And good for you in spite of what the Vegans say.

Yummy, yummy! And Amen!

Ray

[espn77]

Cattle are a thin covering of hide over 1000 lbs of gas...

35,000 head and it hasn't affected me yet!!!!!

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

That's because you have the huge skies of Texas to dilute the gas...

Don't get me wrong - raising livestock is a noble & vital profession - you help to feed the world!

Both of my grandfathers were dairymen in Central California and I grew-up surrounded by dairies full of Holsteins just like those. Sorry - but I grew to hate cattle unless they were beef and medium rare on my plate. Cattle are big dumb, mean & nasty beasts. On the other hand, sheep were smaller dumber, faster, nasty beasts and horses were big smart, mean & nasty beasts. Swine are the wild card - they are smart, fast, vicious & devious...

[Quick Steel]

TFL. I'm just guessing you don't spend much time watching Animal Planet.

[doglegg]

espn77 I've noticed that cattle and crude both have offensive smells to non natives but to Texans they both smell of money.

[espn77]

espn77 I've noticed that cattle and crude both have offensive smells to non natives but to Texans they both smell of money.

Yes sir.
Guess I take a little offence to the flower child calling the cattle I feed and the horses I ride "Big dumb nasty beasts" I take a lot of pride in what i do and how I take care of the animals that are under my supervision.

[doglegg]

I have always like the quote "Other states were bred or born, Texas grew from hide and horn" But I am sure no offence was meant. Have to be like those animals you tend, eat the grass and spit out the cockle burs.

[Quick Steel]

Here are the tools used to slaughter the hogs shown earlier. The pistol is a .22 magnum. The knife is an old Ontario, True Edge. Our friend describes the technique used in the shooting.
"A 22 magnum and an old long skinny carbon steel paring/butcher knife .

You have to wait till the hog is still and shoot dead center about two inches below the eyes. You have to get eye level with your shot or it will go under the brain.

Now just to clarify, 'twas my good old dad who stuck that pig, lol! He's sending me a photo tonight, I'll send it along ."

[FRJ]

I think I'ma likin that pistol.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

Yes sir.
Guess I take a little offence to the flower child calling the cattle I feed and the horses I ride "Big dumb nasty beasts" I take a lot of pride in what i do and how I take care of the animals that are under my supervision.

Aww, now, I apologize - that's not what I meant at all. I spent the first 19 years of my life raising livestock. I've fed, watered, mucked stalls, birthed babies, docked tails of sheep, castrated young bulls & rams, butchered lambs and groomed & showed lambs, beef, dairy, swine & poultry. I've been to modern dairies and seen the amazing hard work, technology and automation that makes them possible. I've also been stepped-on, knocked down, rubbed into fence posts and licked, bit and sneezed on by many livestock animals, and I also firmly believe not all of those were "accidents"...

So - I absolutely respect all farmers and ranchers. If I had turned left instead of right, I would be a farmer myself.

But - I still don't trust or like cows and I'm very, very glad I don't have to work with them anymore.

...And I dearly love our 1 year-old yellow lab!

[treefarmer]

QS, just a few comment on dispatching squealers. For a short time back in the 60's, I worked for my father-in-law in his "custom-kill" meat business. Part of my job was "killin' the critters". We used an old single shot .22 rifle and we shot the hogs behind the ear with effective results.
In later years, state inspection required them to slaughter the critters with a fiber bullet that contained no lead. A hog head or cow head shot with a lead bullet, was condemned by the inspector and had to be destroyed. Lots of folks wanted the hog's head and the butcher usually got the cow head. Some folks would be surprised at the amount of "cheek meat" on a big cattle head. Later on they went to a pneumatic gun that drove a rod/plunger into the skull of the cow, I don't know what they did about the hogs.
Bleeding the hog was a learned skill, that long slim knife had to be inserted in the lower neck and worked between the shoulders with out damaging the meat. Grandpa had a scalding vat and a dehairing machine that took a lot of the work out of preparing a hog for the frying pan. As I recall the water temperature had to be exact or there were big problems getting the hair off of a hog. I remember a few hogs that were so big, the decided to skin them as they wouldn't fit in the gas fired vat. Hogs don't skin like a deer or a cow!
I could go on and on with some interesting tales about the times I spent working with my Father-in-law at his meat business. You had to be a cowboy, a hog wrangler, a carpenter, a refrigeration mechanic, the list go on. Lots of the tales might cause folks to get a little bit queasy so I'll shut it off.
Thanks for stirrin' up some old memories! By the way, Grandpa is still butchering beef and venison on a small scale, special customers only. If the Lord allows him to live through August the 24th, he'll be 95 years young!
Treefarmer

[jerryd6818]

Philip. Then you may or may not know what this is. I'm guessin' you do know.

[treefarmer]

Yes Sir, Jerry, I know what that is! With Grandpa's dehairing machine that wasn't needed. A final cleanup with a small knife usually finished the task.
Treefarmer

[mrwatch]

Hog scrapper, see them at farm auctions. My Brother in law produces over 5,000 hogs a year now. I think he has seven semis on the road hauling hogs to market for other producers.

[Quick Steel]

treefarmer, thanks for sharing your memories. Killing and butchering farm animals is a whole sector of reality I missed.

[Quick Steel]

Ice Ahead.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

One of the most interesting things I witnessed on our farm was when a group of Middle Easterners bought a lamb from us and asked if they could butcher it on our property because they lived in the local migrant farm worker camp and could not do it there. So, we said sure and showed them the sand pit where we did such things. It was fascinating to see the differences in how they did the procedure from how we did it. The biggest difference was that they took nearly EVERYTHING except the hooves. They cleaned-out and kept the stomach, intestines, heart, and other innards. They skinned and kept the head. When they were done, there were the four hooves and a small pile of organs they would not eat and they took everything else. They wrapped the head and the organs they were keeping in the hide, placed the carcass and the hide bundle in the trunk of their car and drove away.

[espn77]

Ice Ahead.


deer.jpg

Is that your picture? That's cool. You can see the "oh $#%@" on its face

[Quick Steel]

Not my photo. A copy.

[Eustace]

They cleaned-out and kept the stomach, intestines, heart, and other innards.

You can't even imagine how delicious these things are. We prepare from the lamb innards and rice special dish - drobsarma.
Here are some pictures from 5 years ago