Cheapest way to raise meat to eat

[aggieterpkatie]

I used to love fried chicken livers as a kid! Then when I was an adult and living on my own I decided to fry some up. Once I prepared them I couldn't eat them anymore.

 

[Niele da Kine]

Liver is yummy, although for some reason I like it sliced in a sandwich with loads of mustard. Or rolled in wheat germ and fried medium rare, again slathered in mustard. Liver is good stuff. Hey, thinking of livers and liver sausage and such, did you know the difference between braunscwiger (my spellchecker is clueless) and liverwurst is that one has "pig snouts" on the ingredient list and the other one doesn't?

For really cheap meat, we do a lot of "rooster returns". There are four Rhode Island Red hens in our backyard and one RIR roo. There's more eggs than the two of us can eat so we hatch some in one of those small tabletop incubators. I sell the chicks straight run with a "rooster return" policy. If it turns into a rooster and you didn't want any roosters, bring them back and I'll refund your money. So, the folks who buy the chicks from me not only let me use their money for six months, but they bring me nice young tender roosters - that I didn't have to pay to feed up to frying size. Sometimes they bring me extra roosters they don't want that I didn't sell them and just give them to me for free. We eat a lot of rooster! Chicken soup cures crowing - guaranteed!

The other cheap meat we get is feral pigs. My DH built me a nice big pig sized box trap. Pigs dig up my garden only once nowadays. After that they are bacon. Actually, if it's time to turn the garden over, it's kinda handy to have the pigs dig it all up and then eat them.

He doesn't help with critters unless there's some sort of machinery involved but I don't do much of the machinery repair so it all evens out. He did get me a mechanical chicken plucker. I'm still not sure what to do with it since generally there's only one or two roosters to do in at any particular time. He also welded up a nice gambrel for hanging pigs and got me a nice smoker, too. He's all into the equipment but not so good for the actually cutting up into pieces part of it.

 

[Denim Deb]

I like that idea! Just might have to try it if I ever get to where I can raise chicks!

 

[Farmfresh]

For really cheap meat, we do a lot of "rooster returns". There are four Rhode Island Red hens in our backyard and one RIR roo. There's more eggs than the two of us can eat so we hatch some in one of those small tabletop incubators. I sell the chicks straight run with a "rooster return" policy. If it turns into a rooster and you didn't want any roosters, bring them back and I'll refund your money. So, the folks who buy the chicks from me not only let me use their money for six months, but they bring me nice young tender roosters - that I didn't have to pay to feed up to frying size. Sometimes they bring me extra roosters they don't want that I didn't sell them and just give them to me for free. We eat a lot of rooster! Chicken soup cures crowing - guaranteed!

What a brilliant policy! That is certainly using your head!

I saw on Craigslist last year an ad to "rent" an Easter chick. It sort of falls into the same idea. The person offered a chick package: bedding, feeder, waterer, chick starter and your choice of chicks. If my memory serves, he priced the package to cover the costs of feeder etc plus I think it was $5.00 per chick plus a deposit amount. After Easter each chick could be returned and "if in a healthy condition" he would return the deposit.

 

[Beekissed]

Great idea, rooster return! I heard a similar thought once about potbellied pigs.....these folks would sell the babies as pets and inform the new owners they would take the pets back if for any reason they couldn't keep them.

They would get back fattened and much larger potbellied pigs...for free. Easy to butcher at home pigs.

 

[savingdogs]

Very smart ideas!

 

[Farmfresh]

I thought of another CHEAP to raise meat that we have been missing. If you are a dark meat lover the goose is about the cheapest meat on the planet.

They are easy to start and grow extremely fast only requiring grain during their youth and during the winter months. They require a deep water dish to drink from, so they can immerse their head and clean their eyes and nostrils, but don't need a swimming hole. Geese have few shelter requirements - just a secure pen with a lean to at night. As feathered out babies and adults over 80% of their diet can be grass. They make good "watch dogs". A flock of adult geese during the day is also pretty self sufficient and quite able to take care of itself in most situations. They provide a LOT of meat for one death as well.

Downsides? They are hard to process. Hard to sex and they can be a little on the loud side.

Any one else have more to add about geese?

 

[savingdogs]

I had thought about geese, but I've heard stories about them being mean. I have a pretty harmonious group of poultry at the moment, I was thinking that turkeys might fill that spot out nicely.
But we have decided to go with rabbit.

 

[BeccaOH]

I love my 4 geese. I raised 2 pair up from gosling stage. As goslings they are like puppies, following me around and tugging on my pant legs for attention. As adults they are less willing to be petted and can get a bit cantankerous during mating season. I don't usually have issue with mine being aggressive unless someone they are less familiar with comes into the yard. They can be loud, but around my place it has been a good thing to help scare off nosy strays and the like.

If I were overrun with geese, I may be able to butcher one, but right now they are a bit too much like pets.

Ask Bourbon Red, he raises and processes geese. I hear they are rather oily.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

Ask Bourbon Red, he raises and processes geese.

and he pawns them off on unsuspecting friends
;-)

geese are easy peasy to raise, are great parents, and are virtually no work (provided you have somewhere for them to graze).

we havent processed any - they just keep lookin' at us... its too unnerving.. yikes!