Free For The Taking (tenants, living, delivery)

[dmyankee]

Baked Raccoon

1 small coon or hindquarter and loin of larger young coon 2 to 2 1/2 lbs.
3-4 cups cold water
1 tbsp. Salt
1/3 tsp black pepper
Salt
Sugar
1 onion
3 stalks celery
3 carrots, diced
2 cloves garlic
1 clove
1 tsp sage
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tsp dark brown sugar
Set oven to moderate hot (400 degrees) 10 minutes before baking. Dress coon carefully so as not to leave any clinging hair. Remove scent glands and kernels under legs.

Chill raccoon thoroughly or freeze for several hours. Trim off all but a thin layer of fat and any discolored spots. Wash well in lukewarm water.

Cut whole coon or hindquarters and loin into 4 pieces with cleaver or heavy butcher knife. Put into 6 qt. kettle, add water to cover, then vegetables, salt, sugar, seasonings, garlic and pepper. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to simmering, cover and cook until tender (1-2 hrs depending on age of animal). Puree vegetables to thicken sauce.
Bake sweet potatoes or winter squash to go with the dish. A tart vegetable such as sweet-sour red cabbage, or pickled beets are a good accompaniment.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by Maine Writer

... Since then I learned my lesson and avoid auction animals.
... We ended up giving all five piglets antibiotic shots twice a day for ten days. It took two of us. To get them to eat we had to soak their food in beer. Those pigs drank more beer in four days than we'd drink in a year, but it worked. I'll never buy livestock from that farmer again.

I did not treat the animals with anything, until it was too late.

I have been told, the first thing when you get home with an auction-yard animal is to drench once with nutrient solution and probiotics. Then hit once a day with broad spectrum antibiotic injections for a week. Then as soon as your done with that hit with a dewormer.

I was amazed at how many kids I saw that had not been weened yet and the annual auction is set before the last snow dumps for the year. You just know that you will be home with these babies and at least two more snow falls will hit.

None of this would have helped for the CAE, which has no treatment, no cure. But at least it might have limited how many we did end up losing.

Right now we have one Alpine buck, an Alpine/Nubian mix nanny, two Alpine doelings that we hope to breed this soon, and a smaller Alpine kid.

Our pig is doing great and growing more each day.

[starwalker]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

Bigger animals, you need to suspend from a tree while skinning, and cut it up, and boil each quarter or smaller pieces as will fit in your biggest stock pot. It takes a large part of a day to process any animal over 60 pounds.

Yep... whether you are rendering them for the dogs or butchering them out for your own consumption, with a stay in the freezer in the interim. I've done goats, helped with a hog, lots of rabbits and poultry of course. I ended up being responsible for most of the critters when we were raising them (except the kids 4H rabbits) not only doing the daily chores but the killing and butchering as well.

I am NOT my mother's daughter! LOL She couldn't even kill an anonymous chicken, or so the family story goes, and her landlord at the time -- a physician -- took pity on here and dispatched the fowl. I believe it, because even after naming our cooperative project steer "Sir Loin" and having only seen him once (at which time he escaped and chased her while she was carrying my first born, yet a baby) she could never eat any of the meat.

On the other hand, my first born takes after me. When she was 3, she adopted a hen and rooster from our flock as her pets. They followed her everywhere and she doted on them UNTIL one day when the rooster PECKED her. She insisted then and there that he be eaten and would not wait even until her dad got home, as I had wanted, so that he could watch the kids. We had a 1-yr-old by then as well. No, I had to kill Henry NOW... and she and her sister watched quite calmly from the little red wagon at least until the rooster started flopping off. She wasn't sure he was really dead, until I showed her the head and she poked and prodded... sticking her finger in the beak repeatedly! Later, at supper, BOY did she relish that drumstick.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by starwalker

... On the other hand, my first born takes after me. When she was 3, she adopted a hen and rooster from our flock as her pets. They followed her everywhere and she doted on them UNTIL one day when the rooster PECKED her. She insisted then and there that he be eaten and would not wait even until her dad got home, as I had wanted, so that he could watch the kids. We had a 1-yr-old by then as well. No, I had to kill Henry NOW... and she and her sister watched quite calmly from the little red wagon at least until the rooster started flopping off. She wasn't sure he was really dead, until I showed her the head and she poked and prodded... sticking her finger in the beak repeatedly! Later, at supper, BOY did she relish that drumstick.

That is funny

Our chickens are known to peck anyone who gets in their coop, or too close to their feeder.

[Maine Writer]

lol Your daughter's great!

When my youngest was around 8 a rooster attacked her. She picked up a tomato stake and chased him all over the goat pen until he was exhausted. She took a few swings at him but never connected. He left her alone for months. I was sure he was going to be ok. Then he snuck up on her and it was all over. She knows the rule - there are too many well tempered animals to keep something dangerous. I heard a screech and, "You're dead, you just don't know it yet!" She stomped off to find her dad and the rooster was dead soon after. I've got one to clunk over the weekend. He'll be soup stock because he's too old to be a fryer.

[starwalker]

Originally Posted by Maine Writer

lol Your daughter's great!

Thanks, I think she is too! She's the same kid that, a couple of years later, was standing in our "front yard" (basically an unirrigated field) while I was around the side of the house getting a load of laundry to hang. I heard the dog (actually an Australian shepherd pup) start barking and ran around the house to see what was up.

There, in the middle of the "yard" stood 'Trina, too far away for me to reach quickly, and just beyond her was Blue, the pup. And about 50 feet beyond them, bearing down at a slow walk, our neighbor's herd of of cattle, lead by a big bull. (He did not believe in castrating his meat cattle.)

I was unsure what to do, as the cattle were eyeing both Trina and Blue who was barking up a storm with all the gusto a still-fluffy pup could manage. I hollered at her "wave your arms and yell" while heading in her direction at what I hoped was a non-threatening pace.

'Trina stood her ground, and I swear she looked that lead bull square in the eye as she raised her arms over her head, flailed them about and yelled as loudly as a 5 yr old can "GO HOME big cows! GO HOME!"

And darned if the leader didn't turn and trot back out the gate, with the rest of the herd following him. The neighbors were not home and that was before cell phones so I quickly secured OUR gate and figured the herd would find their trouble somewhere else.

As if that wasn't enough of a tale, when her dad got home from work, 'Trina told him about chasing off the herd, ending her tale with "... and Daddy, I was ABSOLUTELY TERRICIED!"

That's life in the slow lane...

[mollysmiles]

LOL....great posts!!

[kawn1987]

what part of maine do you live in?? and also does he still have his spraying glands??? plz reply for the skunk that is??

[Maine Writer]

Skunks can't be kept in Maine. Sorry, it was a joke. He's long gone now.

[msina]

LOL!!! It's skunk season again, maybe you'll bump into another one.