a butcher shop...

[magnumwheelman]

around here... ( state of MN is enforcing new regulations on local processing plants ) the cost of processing has gotten to the point, that a guy can't afford to hunt, or raise your own meat... the labor shortage has done nothing to help that...

so I'm thinking about building a home butcher shop... pouring about a 15' X 15' concrete pad, setting 8 posts, & adding a single slope steel roof over the pad... running up half walls, & to start with, probably screening in the top half of the walls... I'm going to build it right next to one of the hydrants on the property, & run a basic gravity feed drain line, over to one of the hog runs... when the old hog plant burned down, I bought a couple of the big stainless vats, & I have an extra 110 Vt cable hoist, I think could be mounted to a track, add a stainless table, & some heavy duty cutting boards, a big meat grinder, & a band saw, big vat can have ice added for keeping meat cool, or dumping chickens into, mid process... I would like to pick up a chicken plucker to put outside the building... I'm wanting to probably add a hot water heater, & a cold water siphon sprayer for bleach water sanitation... I'm not planning on heating the building, so everything would have to be able to go through the winter...

I'm wondering if I can't put my wife to work out there doing pigs lambs, deer, chickens ( I know I'll get roped into doing most of the physical work ) but she used to cut meat at the packing house, before the fire... possibly rent it out to friends to process their own deer, turkeys, ducks & geese

if you guys had the option of renting such a place would you???

I just had 4 lambs processed, & spent $380.00 for 80 lbs of meat... 50 lbs of ground lamb, 3 leg roasts lamb chops, and a couple steaks... nothing smoked... seems like a lot...

[contender]

I've been processing my own deer & all for many years. I got tired of rising costs,, as well as not getting the best work I felt I should have. I understand a butcher has to be quicker to make money,, but it still should be a better job than what I saw at a few places.

That said,, it looks like your set-up should work. My only difference would be to enclose it,, and cool it. I like to hang & cool my meat a few days before cutting. I'm working towards a cooler & such myself. I've got a pad poured,, (10'x10') and I also have a bunch of walk in cooler wall panels. I also have gotten a stainless table to use. Gotta get mine finished. Your set-up is more detailed and is for more work than mine is.

[clintsfolly]

Finds Amish community they will have butcher and do great work cheap.

[bula]

And they like cash deals..

[magnumwheelman]

We do have an Amish community about 15-20 miles south of us, & the last 2 times we butchered chickens, he had amish women butcher them... guess I hadn't given thought to doing larger animals down there... still like the idea of being able to do it myself quickly & easily

[Burnston]

I like the way you think. Any legal idea that allows less dependence on others for a service is worth considering. Not only will it offer financial savings and "custom" work on your own meat; it seems it also gives you an opportunity to be a good neighbor for those who are like-minded. I say proceed.

[squawberryman]

Hijack: I YOUSTA could cut a chicken into nine parts in eight seconds. Your own meat locker sounds awesome.

[bradshaw]

magnumwheelman.... first deer I killed hung for a week. After aging, spent three days with an array of sharp blades learning motions of muscle & tendon, the anatomy my teacher. Since then, to slaughter my game and to help others butcher just comes natural. It’s work, no matter how you slice it.
David Bradshaw

[theoldredneck]

I'm in the southeast so we do not have the winters to deal with you have. Easier to build a skinning shed/building. Pipes can freeze here but easier to prevent. Raised on a dairy in a community where people got together for hog killings etc. Raised to kill and process/butcher your own or help others. Farming is gone and only a handful of guys I know personally that can process/butcher what they raise or kill hunting. Having a place most hunters here could rent wouldn't help. Most load deer and haul to processing without even gutting it. Hunting for most is sitting in a shooting house looking over a green field. Shooting over bait is legal this year so a green field isn't necessarily needed. Automatic feeders work. Guys that lazy ain't going to process anything. I could see you building it for yourself, but if folks there are anything they are here I wouldn't trust them to use my place. One idiot can destroy a lot quickly. I'm not being a pessimist just learned the hard way idiots have no respect for others.

[magnumwheelman]

Yup... if others are using it, we'll be picky about who, may offer to help, or supervise & may provide knives, & may not, depending on who it is... will probably have a basic waiver made up, if they'll be using any of our cutting equipment... got a couple good friends who are better off using a saw, rather than a sharp knife... wifes gal pal helper he cut up some of the last chickens we had butchered by an Amish lady... Mrs is my knife sharpener, after 10 years in the packing house, she can sharpen a knife much better than I can... she can't fix the knife her girl friend used, without grinding it... it was in the bone more than a steel can fix...

so things like that will have to be taken into account

[x101airborne]

I know I am late to the party but just felt the need to share some experiences on the subject.
Getting someone else to use and respect your equipment is (in my opinion) a futile effort.
Even my own family peeves me off with the way they use my knives. It takes me two days to sharpen a knife properly using bench stones. And sure as sunshine, someone is going to try to cut a bone with the best edged knife in the bunch. That or they will just saw back and forth on a cutting board not realizing they were through the meat 5 strokes ago. Then when I finally say something everyone gets all offended that I am fussing or just being intentionally difficult.
Other people will never clean your saws and equipment correctly. Nor can you trust them to use a butcher saw or meat grinder without sticking their hands in it and not only getting hurt but destroying your equipment in the process. Almost guaranteed someone will put a bone down your meat grinder or a bullet fragment and ruin a knife and plate. Then they will run off without saying anything hoping you wont find it till much later and they will deny deny deny it. Then you will have the people who show up with one deer per case of beer and see which they can get through first.

In total, I advise if you want to help your neighbors and friends, do so for free and supervise the entire thing. Don't invite the general public to the party. Save yourself the aggravation and heartache.

[willicd]

If it were someone I called "friend", I would never dream of "renting" it to them. It would be theirs for the using if the need arose....