How long does it take the meat to become "Organic"?

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GBov

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When I buy meat I only buy it walking round and have done for several years now. Local farm swaps and Craigslist are super for finding great deals on livestock and I have rad butcher skills. :cool:

But I have been wondering now we are in our own place and I can keep them around for a few days or weeks, how long does it take a rabbit (or chicken, pig, turkey, cow) to become modern agg chemical residue free when fed a diet of organic feed and home grown forage?

I wasn't sure if I should put this in other livestock but as its about butchery I thought here might be best. :lol: Am picking up a pig later in the week and will be holding it for a few weeks to fatten it up but would love to hold it the shortest time for best flavor results so any ideas?
 
By USDA standards, an animal given ABs or grazed on treated land will never qualify as organic. I.E. if an organic farmer treats an animal with ABs one time (even for a legitimate illness) they can never sell that animal or products from it as organic. I believe the standard for certifying a property as organic for growing crops/forage is that the property must have been free from herbicides or pesticides (or other prohibited products) for minimum 3 years prior to production.

I think a lot of what you're looking for would depend on how the animal was treated before you got it. Was it with a farmer that just automatically loads all their animals with vaccines, chemical dewormers, ABs, and poor quality feed? If so, I wouldn't buy those animals even if I had a year to spend growing them out.

If it's from a more responsible farmer, has maybe had some ABs for a legit illness and fed a diet that may not be ideal but isn't at the bottom of the rung of feed stuffs, you may consider growing it out a bit and flushing the system. As far as ABs and dewormers go, I would give them minimum 2 weeks after last administration before butcher, but would encourage even more time than that if possible. As far as the diet goes, I think there's still a lot we don't understand (or just haven't been told, because big ag doesn't want us to know...) about the long-term effects of feeding animals low quality/GMO/herbicide & pesticide treated products. Definitely get them started on your regimen of fresh and organic feeds right away, and focus on herbs that are cleansing (there's some great lists on here!). Personally, I would wait at least a month.
 
Hobby farmers feeding standard feed store feed mostly.

Having spent most of the day watching a video on nutrition several projects that were for later on are now right at the front of the todo list.

Who needs to do house work anyway? And if I havnt needed the stuff in boxes yet, why unpack eh? :lol:

Shall be making a few chicken tractors and a movable pig pen this week ahead, finding the right beasties to put in them and will keep planting.

Was going to give a month at least but more like two or three. I want the organ meat to be the best it can possible be, they are our favorite bits. Well, fat, skin and innards, meat is just extra. :lol:

And a good excuse to get more rabbits! Like any of us need an excuse. :roll:
 
tarheel506":3qy0jacw said:
GBov":3qy0jacw said:
I can keep them around for a few days or weeks,

Great, this quote here is mainly why I responded. Good Luck.


And a good response it was .... Saved me from typing it.
 
I know (in humans), it takes 2 weeks to get milk proteins out of your system... that's about all I can offer :lol:

I wonder if you could look at the time it takes cells to regenerate for a good time frame for the organ meats?

Nice idea for cheap meat! I started with rabbits since they were the easiest to butcher at home ;) . I want to learn how to do bigger animals eventually. What is your plan for a moveable pig pen? We have some out back that I helped bottle feed when the sow killed off more than half the litter, 2 of the 4 came in injured... we didn't think we would be keeping them this long (they are technically DH's cousins, we were going to keep 1, then found out we were moving)... they are in a total muck pit so we would like to make it so they can have fresh grass every few days, but not sure how to successfully contain larger hogs temporarily.
 
I dont know if this would work wiht big hogs, I only keep pot belly pigs. Other than not giving me a proper pork chop, they are fantastic in all other respects. They are even nasty enough little things to make butchering them satisfying, like nasty rabbits. :twisted:

Take one hog panel and bend it into a rectangle three feet wide and five feet long. Wire the join together really well with hot wire wire. Even more useful than duct tape, that stuff is. :lol:

Then tie a cavity block to each corner with the block on the outside, using slip knots, so the block is slightly hanging so as to produce the most downward force.

Mini pigs are strong as tanks but small tanks, I have kept fully grown pot sows in with just two hog panels so this should work as well and yet let me move it easily on my own. And when I move it, its just the size planting bed I like.

Toss a bit of sheet metal over the top and hey PRESTO, movable pig pen.

Have called about two free mini pigs today but got no answer, will try again later.

If you can butcher a rabbit Circus, you can do any animal, its just one needs heavier lifting tackle. I did a cow over Christmas, on my own, and while it was a huge job, it was just like a really big rabbit. Really, really big rabbit! :D

How old/big are your piggies? If they are still little you could make one pen each for them, once they are use to it they dont try to get out. Well, they shouldnt. Maybe. Worth a try?

Meat is my easiest thing to get and cheapest as well but I want it to be the super best it can be while not taking up all my space to raise it. Vegetables are like diamonds buying organic so have been out killing myself in the heat again today to get more in the ground. Storm coming up has most likely saved me from heat stroke. :oops:
 

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