I have to vent to someone, and I know you all will understand.

I am royally PO'ed right now.

So my husband and his uncle get a few goats for butchering - fine, I know the farm they came from. But then the other day his uncle brings a sheep here, didn't even ask to bring it here! But we just put it in the small pen and he said he'd butcher it today.

So he came over, I specifically told my husband and his uncle - don't butcher in or too near the pen because it could attract predators as there are fox and coyote in the area, but we haven't seen them on or too close to our property. I want to keep it that way! As we don't have a LGD yet.

What do they do? BUTCHER THE THING IN THE PEN NEAR THE CREEK ANYWAY! No tarp, they let the thing bleed out all over the ground!!!!

Of course his uncle wouldn't care, not his worries is it? As long as he gets the sheep meat right? His uncle is okay, don't get me wrong, but I feel USED and disrespected right now. Firstly, I....let me resay that 'I' have been the one to have to take care of this animal - feed and water. Not that I don't like sheep, but you get the point I am sure.
And now butchering in the pen, knowing we don't have any kind of protection for our goats.

I am just furious I told them do it back in the woods, tie her up so less mess. But oh no, they have her down on the ground, so there is going to be one heck of a mess. I told them to do it where they can 'bleach' the area real good, but you can't really bleach this area.

I thought it would be good to have some goats we could butcer ourselves, as I've wanted to try goat meat. BUT, now I am just not happy about this at all. I feel we are being used. As far as I know he hasn't paid us anything to keep his two goats here, and I can't grain our feeder goat without graining his. I am also giving hay and water to those boys since we don't let them run with our other goats.

Thanks for listening to me rant and rave. I know they don't see the 'threat' the way I do, but I just don't want to take any chances, and I DON"T want my goat pen turning into a butcher yard!
I can't imagine going out and finding my goats dead because of predators either! I am sooo irritated right now

honestly, you have every right to be royally PO'd I would be.. thats just endangering the animals you have.. we alwaysbutcher the animals far from our existing stock for their safety

So the sheep was INSIDE the pen with the other soon to be butchered animals??

Sounds like a huge predator issue now. Along with the leftover smell... if the other animals saw it and were screaming in fear it will call in predators for sure. Plus it is way more humane to do it out of sight/smell of the other stock... fear is the biggest cruelty.

Yea I would be upset.

I agree that's the way it should be - away from the others. Now I wonder just what they think they will do with the remains. He said his uncle would dispose of them a week ago, but I sure didn't see him armed with any trash bags to take them in. If he thinks it's going in our trash can he has lost his mind, and even more so if they think they are putting it any where on our property.
And I can almost guarantee my husband will try to get me to go out there and bleach the area. I think not. They wanted to do this, they can deal with it.

We've had enough drama going on, this was the last thing we needed to worry over. They act like oh, it's no big deal. Let's see how big of a deal it is when goats start getting attacked. Not only do we have to worry about the wild predators, but there are dogs in the area too.

I am just so upset

The other goats were back in the woods with me, so they didn't see them kill the sheep. We are whethering 2 of the butcher goats, but as long as we are watching them they can be out in the pen <don't want them to breed our girls or stress them>. The boys came from a farm where we know the herd.
The goat pen is pretty big, and nobody seemed bothered by what was going on, which is a relief.

We have horse farms to our east and north, about 4 acres of wooded area including our acre of wooded land which would be to the north before you hit the horse farms.
Otherwise, there are houses around us, though we are out of town. i've seen red tail fox about 1/2-1 mile up the road at night before. About 4-5 miles away years ago Coyote scared horses through the fence at a farm I worked on...so I know coyote are in the general area <more wooded area over that way for them to live in>.
I am just so mad....and my husband doesn't understand why.

We were offered to try an LGD for free and if he works we keep him, if not then he goes back to the farm. Well, looks like I'll be taking that offer up sooner than I thought. Not to mention we are getting 3 more does soon!
The barn area is right up behind the house and I can see with the security light outside. I am a night owl myself, but now I'll be watching the herd like crazy....

Oh... no .... I can't blame you a bit and.... I am on your side.... ....I would make it known...it is not acceptable ...what so ever ...to bring any other butcher animals to your place...if they cannot respect your wishes...when you where very fair and compromised and let you go ahead and butcher and told them ...where it should be done for the safety of your others animals.....and they turned around and disrespected you.... .....that is very hurtful and not ethical on your hubby and uncles part..... I am so sorry... they are putting you through this..

Thanks Pam, I knew you all would understand my concern. My husband just left for work, and his uncle is finishing up. They used my wheel barrow too! My husband still thinks they are doing nothing wrong, and not putting our animals at risk. I have seen what 1 dog can do to a whole flock of chickens... I can't imagine if a dog or even a coyote got in our pen, our animals could not only lose their lives but be put at risk of going into shock.
My husband left for work about 20 minutes ago and had the nerve to ask me to go help clean up. Uh I think NOT. If they had done what I had asked, I would help - it doesn't bother me to help I've seen animals butchered before.
If the mess isn't cleaned up properly...I am going to be furious.

I know I'll be the one to go out and clean up the blood. I'll end up having to bleach the area...

At least none of the goats seemed bothered... were even grazing nearby. Last thing I'd ever want is my babies upset! I love my goaties, besides my kids, they really are my world!

I just had this conversation with DH the other day. I had to take care of one of my extra roos, and i waited until after dark b/c they are calmer, and DH asked why i was outside in the dark instead of in the barn, and I said i didn't want to kill it in front of the others b/c I thought it upset them (even when it is relatively quiet and non-bloody since i wring their necks, i still think it is upsetting and they 'know') I thought he would think i was just being weird, but he said 'yeah i can see that'

I'm glad at least the others didn't have to witness the butchering. That can be traumatic for the livestock.

I personally would let them know this is not going to happen again or his goats and sheep and any other livestock are going. That is totally unfair that you are feeding and housing the livestock as well with no compensation. I would be having a talk with them. That is very disrespectful to not listen to what you told them.

The others are just fine, not a care in the world. But then they know how much they are loved We gave them extra love pats tonight, and even more baby talk LOL

As for the mess..... he dug up dirt, but there was dried blood on the leaves as there are weeds that grow in that area. I ended up going out there and blasting that area with bleach & water - smelled like lavendar bleach when I got done with it. At least he made an effort to try and get it all cleaned up. But I am not convinced we are out of the woods....

I'm still quite upset about this, and still don't want to deal with any more butchering of animals on the property if this is how they plan to do it.
Like his uncle told me, we need a place where we can have a drain for the blood, and a place to hang the animal.

Your welcome...sometimes we have to endure alot......"some men" not all....are so hard headed..... I feel sorry that he would do something like that.... and not think he did anything wrong..... go figure....
I agree with Kylee....


I also agree with zoomom...they do know and it stresses them....