Who's Up For A BBQ... In About A Month!

Well we did it. We made up our minds. We're slaughtering Big Willy. I'm not sad anymore about it though. I come to realization that this was what we intended him to be, and it must be done. Raising animals is hard work, but letting them go is harder. I must say we love him very much and will miss him. But, for us, this was the only choice we had. So wipe away my tears and be happy he was one of the lucky ones. He led a great fun life and will always be remembered.

Now on to my topic... Hubby and I decided to find a butcher but, that ended up being no easy task. I called every meat place listed in the phone book. There is no such thing as butcher in our yellow pages. Our only option was to have a guy, that lives down the road a ways, come and shoot him and teach us to cut it up for like $100. But it being Big Willy we didn't really want to. So my mission was to find someone to do it for us.

I got a hold of this carniceria, which is meat market in Spanish, and they only spoke well Spanish. But, the guy did say to call him the next morning and he would set it up. I called, he wasn't there. I called another and the woman said to try the University of AZ Ag Dept. I thought that's weird, but maybe they knew of a place. So I left a message.

Today I got a call back!! Turns out they butcher there. Who knew! Obviously not me! She explained to me the prices, I think are fair. Those that are more familiar let me know!

$.69/lb table weight
$45. kill fee (puts them to sleep, LOVE that, painless)
$10 curing
breakfast sausages incl.
Specialty sausage extra

$100 flat for my goat

Plus, she vacuum seals it, not just freezer paper like at the butchers!
So our appointment is on the 8th, and it takes 6wks to get everything back. We're taking in Big Willy, another pig and a goat.
I was sold, so was Hubby! I love that Big Willy will be put down humanly, not possibly tortured with a bullet not hitting the right area. I'll leave that up to the skilled professionals! I'm not hunter.

Some people may find this horrible, that I could think of such things when dealing with a family "friend". But keep in mind this was no easy choice, I'm learning as I go. I wasn't raised around animals besides dogs. So I just thought of them as "food". No feelings. Now that I've raised them from babyhood to butcher time, I give a lot of props to those who do this for a living. You almost have to distance your heart from them a little. I give them the best home I can, we all give them TONS of attention, and when it does come time for them, believe me I don't think it will get easier, but what must be done will be.