On Site Butchering Services & Education:
Since 2010, we've traveled New England and New York, offering on-site butchering services at farms and homes and providing instruction to family farms and homesteads new and old. Our services include slaughter, skinning, dressing, quartering, small cuts and consultation for meat curing.
Our mission is to educate and empower you, your family and friends so that you can do this intuitive and eye opening work on your own in the future - saving you and the animals a stressful, impersonal and costly trip to the slaughterhouse. After our visit, you will be familiar and confident in home processing, and will be able to do it on your own.
Pricing: As below. We are determined to make our services accessible to anyone, please let us know what works for you.
Our mission is to educate and empower you, your family and friends so that you can do this intuitive and eye opening work on your own in the future - saving you and the animals a stressful, impersonal and costly trip to the slaughterhouse. After our visit, you will be familiar and confident in home processing, and will be able to do it on your own.
Pricing: As below. We are determined to make our services accessible to anyone, please let us know what works for you.
- All cows, pigs, sheep and goats: 1$/lb live weight. Compare to .70$ + fees @ most slaughterhouses, plus 10$/head slaughtering fee.
- Rabbits, deer, game: We'll teach and assist you to butcher your own rabbits, deer, or hunted game. 20$/ rabbit, deer and bear 1$/lb hanging weight.
- Poultry: Chickens 1-5 = 60$, 10$/ea thereafter. Ducks 1-5 = 90$, 15$/ea thereafter. Turkeys and geese 1-3 = 90$, 25$/ea thereafter. Get in touch for custom quotes for many birds. For just a few birds, we recommend giving it a try yourself! You can do it!
- Meat curing, smoking and hide work - by arrangement.
- Travel & supplies: Fuel fossils cost 25$/hr for travel. Check round trip distances with the power of mapquest, from Holyoke, Mass. Customers will need to provide packaging, we recommend gallon zip-locks.
We are dedicated to providing instruction to our customers:
No matter what your experience level, we will show you and those you invite (all ages welcome!) all aspects of this oldest human profession, included in our price, in a holistic and respectful context. First time butchers welcome! If you value your animal's companionship, and the gift of their body, consider being involved! We recognize that it is challenging to be present for the death of the animals you care for. We will confidently guide you through this process in a respectful context of connection and gratitude, in which we allow ourselves to be present and available for the animals, rather than packing them into a trailer and waving goodbye.
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We believe in empowering those we work with with these skills - which open our eyes to a way of being more connected to our animal cousins. When we're done you will be confident and comfortable to participate or undertake this work by yourself in the future in a knowledgeable and conscientious way.
Training program: If you do not have any animals but would still like to learn, contact us to join us on the job for a day of instruction and roll up your sleeves. |
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Workshops:
We offer educational workshops open to the public during the fall and winter. We can also organize a workshop at your farm to reduce the costs of butchering. Please let us know if you'd like to get on the mailing list.
Check our blog for upcoming workshops. Past workshops:
Check our blog for upcoming workshops. Past workshops:
- Bison, stone tools - Mockingbird Farm, Easthampton MA (Jan 2008)
- Sheep - Potwine Lane, Amherst MA (Jan 2011)
- Sheep - Potwine Lane, Amherst MA (April 2011)
- Turkey - Northampton MA (Nov 2010)
- Chicken - NorthStar Teen Food Camp, Amherst MA (Aug 2012)
- Sheep - Cider & Squirrel Festival, Plainfield MA (Oct 2012)
- Goose - Hampshire College, Amherst MA (Nov 2012)
- Pig - Shutesbury MA (Nov 2012)
- Ducks - Northampton MA (Dec 2012)
- Sheep - Honker Pond farm, Plainfield MA (Apr 2013)
- Guinea hogs & chickens - Cummington MA (Aug 2013)
- Guinea hog - Cummington MA (Sept 2013)
- Sheep - Cider & Squirrel Festival, Plainfield MA (Oct 2013)
- Chicken - NorthStar Teen Center (Oct 2013)
- Cow - Worthington MA (Nov 2013)
- On-site Butchering (sheep) - NOFA Winter Conference - Worcester MA (Jan 2014)
- Bison w. stone tools - Next Barn Over Farm, Hadley MA (Apr 2014)
- Pig & chicken - Cummington MA (May 2014)
- Cow - Cummington MA (Aug 2014)
- Pigs - Cummington MA (Oct 2015)
- Scottish Highland Cattle - Mason NH (Dec 2015)
- Pigs - Dog Hill Homestead, Huntington MA (Nov 2017)
Pushing the envelope:
We believe in making use of all parts of the animal so that nothing is wasted. While the fungi and insects get everything eventually, we respect the life of the creature by keeping its parts circulating with us humans for as long as possible.
We will happily take home any body parts that you do not wish to keep, but are even happier to show you how to use foods unfamiliar to contemporary American sensibilities... tidbits that are vital to traditional diets and technologies around the world. You'll get to keep information about how to use, and recipes for these curious new parts of the animals.
These include blood, organ meats, cartilage, bones and fat, feet and heads - which are delicious and nutrient rich foods; sinew which can be made into strong cord; hoofs and horns which can be preserved or made into glue, bones which can be carved into jewelry, decoration or tools, and hides which may be tanned and preserved beautifully for many years as rugs, blankets, or to hang on the wall.
We will happily take home any body parts that you do not wish to keep, but are even happier to show you how to use foods unfamiliar to contemporary American sensibilities... tidbits that are vital to traditional diets and technologies around the world. You'll get to keep information about how to use, and recipes for these curious new parts of the animals.
These include blood, organ meats, cartilage, bones and fat, feet and heads - which are delicious and nutrient rich foods; sinew which can be made into strong cord; hoofs and horns which can be preserved or made into glue, bones which can be carved into jewelry, decoration or tools, and hides which may be tanned and preserved beautifully for many years as rugs, blankets, or to hang on the wall.
Our Tracks:
