Farm Life

I well remember chasing chickens, wringing their necks, watching them run around, then lopping off the heads, and cleaning them for the pot. Along with that came raiding bee hives, milking cows, and picking blackberries and dewberries.
 
My Grandparents had a similar approach toward chickens. At one time in the 70's my Dad and Uncle had 8-9 beehives. They were used to pollinate fields of cotton, peas and the garden. We are considering a hive of bees for our honey consumption. The cost of honey has shot up recently because our U.S. hives are dying off. I could use one of Buck's thin filleting knives to decap the cells after harvesting the comb. On our farm we had a milk cow (so of course fresh butter & cheese) and canned lots of Blackberries. Thanks, Doc. DM
 
I think that Buck would work fine. The biggest problem with honey in the USA is that a whole lot of it is contaminated honey or mixed with other ingredients, all straight from China. One of the biggest honey dealers in the nation was busted a year or two ago for this very thing. What the Chinese do is to send their honey to some of their folk in Thailand, or to South America, then it is relabeled and shipped to yet another place, and relabeled again, then it is shipped into the US and to Europe and Southeast Asia, etc. All this to hide the fact that it is in reality banned contaminated or fake honey from China.
I know a lot of bee keepers have had their hives decimated by the fungus, but perhaps that is coming to an end? Anyway, if I could do it, I would keep bees.
 
I think my Empress Trio would work for decapping. We have recently relaxed our 'Imitation Honey Act'. Still, many states in the U.S. have laws against cutting honey. Some of the problems our bee keepers are faced with today is Africanized bees, sudden hive collapse, varroa mite and hive beetle. To name a few. Thus, bee hives are in huge demand in places like Calif. to pollinate their almond crop. When you see bee hives & bee keeping diminish realize Agriculture is in jeopardy. DM
 
Today we built a larger wood box with a lid that doubles as a processing table. DM
 
Here is a rooster that weighs 9 3/4 lbs.. We processed 2 this size this morning and the finished meat into the freezer was 6 1/2 lbs. for each. That's 66% into the freezer.
He is a few days over 10 weeks. A good converter of feed in a short amount of time. I used my Buck 103. DM
 
Haa, yep. I've wondered if secretly my wife has considered stuffing me in it should I not complete her requests in a timely manner. DM :)
 
David Martin said:
Haa, yep. I've wondered if secretly my wife has considered stuffing me in it should I not complete her requests in a timely manner. DM :)
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she did call for quotes on doing that.......
 
And you can put high quality meat in your freezer without a lot of tools. Just simply one favorite knife and some care and feeding. The Club 110 with D2.DM
 
David Martin said:
And you can put high quality meat in your freezer without a lot of tools. Just simply one favorite knife and some care and feeding. The Club 110 with D2.DM
Click to expand...

Good meat!

I always liked your knife in this picture too.

Pretty colors and a few other posters have knives with those colors in it too.

Thank you for the updates!

Cate
 
David Martin said:
Haa, yep. I've wondered if secretly my wife has considered stuffing me in it should I not complete her requests in a timely manner. DM :)
Click to expand...

Grin.

My husband has been drooling over a small cabin on the Kootenai River up north. It has a hot tub in the yard too.

So if we decide to buy it for his upcoming retirement within a year and I TURN UP MISSING... look for me in the Kootenai National Forest or Kootenai River or somewhere in the YAAK region right below British Columbia, Canada (USA side!).

I wonder if my cane floats? I am a VERY good swimmer but the water is still pretty COLD.

Old Lady Cate
 
Cate, good to see you on here. Good luck in procuring your dream home. Let us know how it goes.Thanks, DM
 
I have been processing 2 of a morning and 2 in the evening. They are weighing 10-11 lbs. at eleven, now twelve weeks. This is when the best percentage of dressed meat occurs. For a 10 1/2 lb. we are getting 7 1/2 lbs. of meat. That's 72%. Only a 28% loss and my dog eats much of that. :) This is a very good conversion. Much better than a steer or deer. We are down to 17 left and if things go as planned-- there will be only 15 by dark today. Buck's Cabela's Alaskan Guide really shines doing these. I've noticed the really sharp edge degrades after processing 4. Then a mostly sharp edge holds on for a long time. It can still shave Some arm hair but more force is needed for it to cut thru bones. Mostly I separate the parts at the joints but some bone separation is required. So, I don't baby it--- it has to work. DM
 
David, when are we going to have a chicken fry?

I do not process live chickens, but I go to the open air market and buy fresh killed ones. I bring them home and cut them up. I do this once a week. I cut up two chickens and cook one and freeze the other until the first one is nearly finished.
The Buck 110 does not need to be babied on a chicken with those hollow bones. A cow bone might be a different story.
 
Great info as always,what model alaskan did you use David?i have found the sane results,the wicked sharpness is gone fairly quick. The feild dressing process,but then the sharp edge left stays sharp for a long time.
 
Doc, thanks. When I grill one, I'll get you a picture up.
Razor, it is a 110. Yes, it sort of settles into a working sharp edge and keeps going. DM
 
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