First experience butchering - Goat Warning, possible high ick factor
I'm going to put this write up of the experience behind a cut, as a courtesy to all those on my friends list who may find it unpleasant or traumatic. I chose to help with this both for the culinary & survival experience and the feeling that, as a conscientious carnivore that I should experience this process on every level.
I was not feeling well when we left the event to head to K, my friend and fellow sergeantry member's small farm. Her boyfriend M is a very nice gentleman who is normally a city dweller. He is in great shape and was happy to help, but I think he felt abit out of his depth in this adventure, as did I to some degree. I think it helped his resolve that he had been physically attacked by the goat several times, and was more than happy to help turn him into dinner.
It was sprinkling and the first thing we did was build a frame and move a tent to cover the work area. A sturdy table was brought over as well, some gloves, rubber bands, several sharp knives and a bowl of hot soapy water. After the tent and hanging frame was in place, K asked him to go get Pence the extremely aggressive and sometimes violence male goat. After being fetched on a lead rope, K strattled him like she had done with the sheep she had previously helped slaughter, only to discover that with his extra height and much longer neck that this method doesn't work as well for goats as it does for sheep. Pence seemed to think it was play time and kept twisting his neck back to look at her, which put a damper on the plan of a quick, central shot to the head. I asked if it might work to offer him a carrot to keep him focused, relaxed and facing forward. K asked M to get a bowl of oats, and that was the trick- P was completely focused on the bowl of oats and didn't seem to be aware that anything out of the ordinary was going on, even as K carefully aimed the gun at the back of his head so it would be a clean, even shot. The shot just took a second, and P went down without even a single bleat- still, that was the part that really stuck with me. All of the cleaning, skinning, and butchering later was occationally a bit gross, but not as emotionally powerful as that moment when a living thing was made to stop living. To make it even more traumatic after about 10 seconds of silence (which felt much longer) the body started twitching, and even kicking a bit, which I found so disturbing it turned my stomach. K nicked his artery with a razor sharp blade she has kept handy just in case, then she checked on him and made sure he was completely gone before we moved him. We put him on a tarp and dragged him to the frame and hung him upside down. Unfortunately at this point it again became obvious goats are taller than expected as he was just a little too tall for the frame which made everything else harder.
K showed me how to cut the skin around the leg, just above the knee and start cutting the skin and fur away. We both worked on skinning the legs, back, and then started on the belly when I accidentially nicked the extremely thin skin of the abdominal cavity and opened it up before we had planned to. Unfortunately this changed our time frame quite a bit as now instead of completely finishing the skinning first we now had to deal with all of the offal before finishing up. K had researched the process and the first step in dealing with all the inner bits was to "secure the bung" so she skinned around the anus, removing the tail, then cut out the rectum, sealed it off with a glove and a rubber band then passed it through into the abdominal cavity. We then worked as quickly as possible to clear out all of the internal organs- which partially involved her being elbows deep inside his abdominal cavity to separate the connective tissue keeping things in place. It was smelly work, and for some strange reason struck me as looking like I imagine alien pods. Once that was cleared, we got him up on the table to finish skinning him at a better height, and once he was skinned, cutting more manageable parts.
All together, I believe it took about 3-4 hours. Initally, I said I had no interest in ever doing this again now that I've had the experience, but I have two friends (a married couple) who are planning on butchering some pigs and living for a month exclusively on foods they have grown, slaughtered or otherwise produced on their own, and I'm contemplating offering to help. I can't say I really "enjoyed" the experience, but I do absolutely value it.