Like the illusion of Wall Street, with its vast and powerful investment banks, now shuttered, China too is an illusion perpetuated by the Globalists that gave us the 15,000 mile Caesar salad, poisoned cat food and lead based paint on babies' pacifiers. Like the illusion that money would come from thin air to always push housing prices higher, China has spent a generation pursuing its illusion. Pursuing an unattainable dream to be like the West, while 6000 years of its carefully shepherded top soil blows into the sea.
Who handles the "emotionally" difficult to do tasks at your place?
Wife/female partner
20%
[ 4 ]
Husband/male partner
35%
[ 7 ]
Him/her together - or taking turns
40%
[ 8 ]
Other family/household member (please post to specify who)
0%
[ 0 ]
We hire someone to do this kind of stuff - or OTHER (please post to thread if you choose this one)
5%
[ 1 ]
Total Votes : 20
Author
Message
Lumpy Heavy Crude
Joined: Nov 16, 2007 Posts: 307 Location: Rural Western Idaho
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 6:29 pm Post subject: Difficult tasks/lessons learned on the road to independence
DIFFICULT THING NUMBER ONE FOR TODAY:
Today we castrated a pig - our first time ever, although we raised two females to slaughter weight last year.
Castrating a pig does not "read" as that difficult in the books. And actually it is not. Except that the first time you do, if you have never seen it done before, you end up making a longer, more onerous (for both you and pig) task of it. At least we did.
First tip --
Even though the reading says you can use a single-edged razor blade, don't go there. It does not give you a wide or deep enough incision, and you end up have to do more cutting. The best tools turned out to be the combination of the blade on a Gerber all-purpose tool (like a Leatherman), and a pair of small fingernail scissors.
Second tip --
Expect more blood than the books lead you to believe -- although it is capillary blood, if you do it right. (If you get spurting blood, you have hit an artery, and best plan on having roast pig for dinner.)
Third tip --
Make SURE you have some stypic (blood stopping) wound powder on hand. Works as antiseptic, too.
Fourth tip --
Even on an 8 week old piglet, it's best to have one person hold the head and front legs, one hold the back legs, and one do the surgery.
By the way, about 20 minutes after surgery, he was up running around, eating. So I guess we did ok. We will watch him closely for infection, etc -- but we think it's going to be all right. So we are feeling good about the $60.00 we saved if we had taken to the vet for castration.
HARD THING NUMBER TWO FOR TODAY:
Today we starting culling kittens. In the past we have only done this with sickly ones. But two of our "regular" female producers birthed four kittens each in the past couple of days.
We had no sense when we moved to our place in 2005 - and took any and all cats that people wanted to give away, thinking we would need them all for mousers/barn cats. Well, even with attrition from owls, coyotes, etc, we became overrun by cats -- and started feeding them dry cat food by the bag full. MISTAKE.
When we finally had to stop that practice, some of them went feral, and starting killing our chickens. We lost about 2/3 of our laying hens this spring ... and it took us a while to figure out it was our own cats gone predatory that were doing the killing.
Anyway, today we picked the strongest looking kitten from each of the two litters, left that one for the Momma to nurse (to keep her from going into heat again, as part of the reason -- and also to make sure that we do have a strong bunch of cats around -- which we will keep feeding.) The other three we put down humanely -- no we did NOT drown them.
But that was hard to do. Sweet little kittens we had to kill.
We have learned, however, that we must be pragmatic. And the ones we keep alive will be well fed and sheltered, and provide a service to the farm.
Lumpy _________________ "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." Thomas Jefferson
Joined: Dec 27, 2004 Posts: 13191 Location: naive idiot fantasy world
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 6:32 pm Post subject: Re: Difficult tasks/lessons learned on the road to independe
I (wife) slaughter the poultry.
We got the vet to castrate our rams, but I will probably do it in the future.
In the future, my husband will shoot deer and squirrels and I will butcher them. _________________ "...powerdown so soft and fluffy you'll think you're living in a pillow." - jboogy
Joined: Aug 14, 2005 Posts: 398 Location: Mississippi Delta
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 7:27 pm Post subject: Re: Difficult tasks/lessons learned on the road to independe
Get your damn cats fixed. There is no shortage of homeless cats if you find yourself short at some point. _________________ Sarah Palin: Because what we really need right now is another inexperienced, inarticulate, personable, fundamentalist governor of an oil-dependent state for president.
Joined: Nov 16, 2007 Posts: 307 Location: Rural Western Idaho
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 9:55 pm Post subject: Re: Difficult tasks/lessons learned on the road to independe
green_achers wrote:
Get your damn cats fixed. There is no shortage of homeless cats if you find yourself short at some point.
I don't think you quite get the priority system if one is trying to establish a self-sustaining, independent life.
First, money is not spent on having barn cats neutered. And one does not spend money at the animal shelter to buy new barn cats.
These are not pets, although we have about five that are very friendly, and are fed regularly. But like everything else, these animals have their place and purpose. (Mousing, primarily.)
And rather than let their population grow to the point that we cannot afford to feed them, and therefore they either starve (inhumane) or eat our chickens (not pragmatic), it is far more sensible to let them reproduce, cull out the weakest of them, and put the others down humanely.
That is the way it works.
We cull out weak chickens, too.
This is a return to the way things were ... before the luxury of having vets spay/neuter cats. You DO understand, I presume, that this whole PO business means that we have to get used to living in that older way of doing things.
Lumpy
PS - We don't take in homeless cats from town anymore. Our population of cats is healthy - and there is no distemper, etc out here. We want to keep it that way - so we don't bring in outsiders. Obviously we are not going to spend money on vaccinations for the cats, either. _________________ "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." Thomas Jefferson
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 3:22 am Post subject: Re: Difficult tasks/lessons learned on the road to independe
When it comes to butchering animals, which is probably the most emotionally difficult thing we do here, Carlin is the one who does the deed. I'll eviscerate, skin, cut up, wrap up, and cook the meat, but I can't do the killing. I am, however, the one who decides who stays and who goes. I just point them out, and he takes care of it, and brings me the carcass for cleaning.
We have not had to castrate any animals yet. I don't know how that will be handled.
My buck goat has a scur that's going to be cut off, though, and I'm taking him to the vet for that. I don't feel qualified and Carlin isn't either. I don't want him to bleed to death because of a stupid mistake on my part. I have too much money tied up in him, and emotionally I don't want to make him suffer. The scur is growing around and back toward his head - if we don't take it off, it will grow INTO his head, so it has to be done. Once I see the vet do it once, I may be able to handle future situations, but for now, we're paying to have this one done.
That's likely the way we will handle most things of the sort (medical), actually. Once I see it done by somene else and feel confident in doing it, then we'll take it from there.
Joined: May 10, 2007 Posts: 3358 Location: Resiliency Farm
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 4:11 am Post subject: Re: Difficult tasks/lessons learned on the road to independe
At this point I do everything with the animals... soon the wife will have to help some.
The hardest lesson I learned was how to break a rabbits neck quickly and cleanly. If you mess up they make an awful screaming noise that you will not forget. I only messed up 1-2 times, but not anymore (knocks on wood). _________________ “It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.”
J.R.R. Tolkien
"The time has come for men to act like men; and for women, well, to act a lot more like men."
-Ma Cur
Joined: Nov 16, 2007 Posts: 307 Location: Rural Western Idaho
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 8:23 am Post subject: Re: Difficult tasks/lessons learned on the road to independe
CarlinsDarlin wrote:
When it comes to butchering animals, which is probably the most emotionally difficult thing we do here, Carlin is the one who does the deed. I'll eviscerate, skin, cut up, wrap up, and cook the meat, but I can't do the killing. I am, however, the one who decides who stays and who goes. I just point them out, and he takes care of it, and brings me the carcass for cleaning.
That's likely the way we will handle most things of the sort (medical), actually. Once I see it done by somene else and feel confident in doing it, then we'll take it from there.
I wish that I could have seen a vet castrate a pig first. But it LOOKED so easy and SOUNDED so easy in the books. And to have the vet come out is prohibitively expensive. Those visits have to be only for the horses. (Because we don't have a horse trailer yet to take them in to the vet.) The other problem is I am only able to go in to the vet on Fridays, as I work away from the farm M-Th ... so it is not always easy to arrange an appointment on short notice.
We got the pigs ... they had to be castrated before they got any older ... so it had to be done.
We will check out the guy we "fixed" yesterday -- if he continues to do okay through today and tonight we will castrate his brother tomorrow. Unfortunately, there will only be two of us to do it tomorrow ... but I have to go to the offices M-W, then will be gone to a medical conference, then on to take care of a daughter who is having surgery. So by the time I got back and there would be that 3rd pair of hands around to help, it would be getting pretty late (and he'd be getting pretty big - they do grow fast!)
I think you have really mastered some important skills in that you are able to dress out your own animals. How did you learn to do that? Did you take a class, have someone else teach you .... ????
Lumpy _________________ "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." Thomas Jefferson
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 8:40 am Post subject: Re: Difficult tasks/lessons learned on the road to independe
Well, I've grown up around hunting my entire life. Lots of deer skinned and gutted on our place when I was a kid. We also butchered many chickens. Probably deer (and one lamb) are the largest animals I've ever dressed. I've also watched pigs be butchered, but not participated - I was too young then, to help. Just watching others do it, and then trial and error. It's not too hard once you get past the "ick" factor.
K
Joined: Dec 27, 2004 Posts: 13191 Location: naive idiot fantasy world
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 9:20 am Post subject: Re: Difficult tasks/lessons learned on the road to independe
We're fortunate to have a mobile vet who charges $15 for a farm visit (plus charges for work and medications ). He has even come to help us when we had the old horse and not charged us anything. _________________ "...powerdown so soft and fluffy you'll think you're living in a pillow." - jboogy
Joined: Jun 13, 2007 Posts: 3909 Location: Minniesotuh
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 9:29 am Post subject: Re: Difficult tasks/lessons learned on the road to independe
CarlinsDarlin wrote:
I'll eviscerate, skin, cut up, wrap up, and cook the meat, but I can't do the killing.
Just out of high school, I worked for a vet for several years until I went into the AF.
I often assisted in surgery (holding the animals, etc). Nothing about it bothered me (messing about with the tissue, blood, etc), except-that initial cut, that intentional wounding. That was very difficult to see. _________________ "RRrrruuuunnnn!!!" ~Apocalypto
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 10:55 am Post subject: Re: Difficult tasks/lessons learned on the road to independe
I've never had to (and probably never will have to) do the types of tasks all of you have described so far. My husband cleans the fish we catch, and I'm sure if we hunt in the future he will do the carcass cleaning.
We have a 16-year-old German Shepherd who, if she does not pass away naturally, will have to be put down in the not too distant future, as she is quite blind, deaf, has a bit of trouble with incontinence, arthritis, but she still has some quality of life. I know it will be my decision as to when she has to see the vet for injection.
Children require a lot of emotional investment, and one learns many lessons as a parent. Because my husband works in an industry that has taken him out of town a fair bit over the last 10 years, I've had to deal with the emotional issues that have come up with our kids, who are now 14, 17 and 21. There are also emotional issues that come with being the parent who is dealing with the kids most of the time and also with being the one who is away a lot.
Other than that, I'd say being responsible with money and controlling debt are big lessons I've learned towards independence.
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 10:59 am Post subject: Re: Difficult tasks/lessons learned on the road to independe
Quote:
...that intentional wounding. That was very difficult to see.
That's it, exactly, Ferretlover.
Ludi,
A farm visit for $15? Wow. You ARE fortunate. The only vet around here who does farm calls, and who ALSO knows about goats - which is what I would need a vet for - charges $4 per mile, with a 40 mile minimum. $160 just to get him out here, plus meds and whatever he does. Ridiculous. That's why I'm trying to find a way to transport Ringo to get his scurs removed. If I take him in, it's only a $50 charge.
A neighbor told me this morning, "Why are you taking him into the vet? Just get a pair of pliers and pop that thing off! I've done it lots of times." Yeah, right. Sounds easy enough, but my luck it would take 3 tries and I'd have one very angry 200 pound goat on my hands, and then, after chasing me all over the pen trying to kill me, his heart would be beating so fast that he'd bleed to death. Nope. This first time, I'm taking him in. Besides that, maybe the vet will actually give the poor guy some pain killers. The scurs will grow back, though, so I know I'll have another opportunity in the future.
Joined: Oct 04, 2004 Posts: 5715 Location: Body in OK, Heart in TX
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 9:48 pm Post subject: Re: Difficult tasks/lessons learned on the road to independe
Our buck's scurs were removed when he went to stay with friends and encountered their bucks, who had horns. The initial sparring removed his scurs at his scalp within a few minutes. He didn't seem to mind very much, according to my husband, but I wasn't there so can't speak first hand about it. His scurs were pretty thin and curly.
Otherwise I have done all the killing and butchering so far, but it hasn't been very much. I think my husband would be vegetarian if he had to kill most of his meat himself.
Cur, have you thought about shooting the rabbits in the head to kill them? Or have you become proficient enough at the neck breaking that it's not a problem anymore? _________________ "Every junkie's like a setting sun..." - Neil Young
Joined: Dec 27, 2004 Posts: 13191 Location: naive idiot fantasy world
Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:40 am Post subject: Re: Difficult tasks/lessons learned on the road to independe
I recoomend for killing poultry, the killing cone. You can either buy one readymade or make your own:
I consider this much safer than chopping the head off with a hatchet. The bird is placed head down, with the head sticking through the hole in the bottom of the cone. Grasp the head with one hand, stretch the neck a little and one slice with a sharp knife removes the head causing instant death. The cone restrains the body during muscle spasms. _________________ "...powerdown so soft and fluffy you'll think you're living in a pillow." - jboogy
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
News
Discussions
Resources
Members
Forum FAQ
Search
Usergroups
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
Nope. This first time, I'm taking him in. Besides that, maybe the vet will actually give the poor guy some pain killers. The scurs will grow back, though, so I know I'll have another opportunity in the future.
