# Game



## zyrcona (Jan 9, 2011)

I noticed the subject of game being brought up in a few posts, so here are some ideas for game and other sources of free/cheap dead animals that can be eaten. Warning: may be offensive/disgusting etc. to some people.

General: don’t eat animals that died from illnesses or feed them to your dog. Pay attention to where the shot entered the animal’s body and make sure you remove the lead before giving it to a dog. When breaking up carcasses into smaller pieces, try to break bones apart at the joints rather than crushing or sawing through, as you can embed splinters in the meat this way. Hinge joints (like elbows) will usually have a cartilaginous part at the side of the joint that you should be able to feel through the meat while opening and closing the hinge, and if you cut into this with a sharp knife the joint should twist apart. Ball and socket joints will come apart if you cut the meat apart under the limb and bend them at an unnatural angle. Cut between ribs and vertebrae and break apart. Freeze meat before consuming, ideally for two weeks at least, as this destroys any parasites that might be there.

*Birds*:

General: skin or pluck birds. Cut off feet using pliers at the joint. Gut skinned/plucked birds by first cutting off the head and cutting the neck skin open on the throat side, and make a hole in the bird where the neck joins the chest, removing the excess vertebrae on the neck if you prefer. Then make an incision around the cloaca (bumhole) with a sharp knife or scissors and cut any ligaments holding the bottom of the digestive system in place. Push your fist (or two knuckles on a small bird) into the neck cavity. This should force the crop, intestines, and liver out of the bird’s bottom, if not fully at least far enough to get hold of with your other hand and pull out. I advise you do it this way rather than the other way round, as pushing the cloaca through the abdomen may cause the bird to poo inside itself. Game birds often vomit wheat or similar the crop into their body cavity during this, so rinse out the bird to remove it. If you are slaughtering your own birds, you can fast them beforehand to prevent this. The kidneys will probably still be inside the body cavity, so you need to pull them out. You can give the kidneys and liver to your dog, but I would throw away the crop and intestines. Birds tend to have salmonella bacteria in them, so probably best to get them in the freezer ASAP after slaughter.

You can then butcher your bird and sort out the bits you want to eat from the ones you’re going to keep for your dog. Here is a video of how to butcher a chicken 




Pigeon: skin, cut off breasts, eat breasts, give rest to dog.

Chicken: you may be able to get old battery layer hens for free or for very little. If you have room and aren’t squeamish, you can let them recuperate in a garden or similar for a few weeks before slaughtering them. They eat garden pests, kitchen waste, and wheat/similar. They may also lay eggs. If you slaughter your own birds, please don’t do it by cutting their heads off while they’re still alive, as they remain conscious for a minute or so after decapitation, as did the French aristocracy. :-( You can either pull their necks and lie them somewhere peaceful for a few minutes afterwards, or use an electric stunner and hang them up and cut the blood vessels in their throats.

*Mammals*:

Rabbit: how to gut and skin a rabbit: 



 Squirrel: same as rabbit.

Hares: same method as rabbit. All the ones I have had have an unpleasant sulphurous stench. I’m not sure if this is typical.

Deer: either hang up the deer by its back legs or skin it on a clean plastic sheet. You don’t want to get the outside of the skin touching the meat as you skin it, because bacteria from the skin can contaminate the meat. The meat being dirty is not usually a problem if you are going to eat/use it immediately, but if it is left for any length of time the bacteria will multiply and can cause food poisoning. Cut the deer up. Here is a website showing how a cow is traditionally butchered Diagram of How to Butcher a Beef Cow that you can apply in some degree to other large mammals. Bear in mind that the cow carcass is split in two down the spine in the abattoir prior to being butchered, so the image is technically of half a cow. You can then decide which parts you want to eat and which parts the dog can have, and put them in the freezer. You can also eat the deer raw (cut off as much meat as is easily accessible with a knife) and give the bone to the dog as a chew. You can eat the liver, heart, kidneys etc. but don’t eat the intestines and stomach. You can also boil up the deer’s brain and use it to tan the hide and make yourself a loincloth or a cool poncho for your dog etc.

You might also be able to get hold of dead male dairy calves which you can butcher in the same way (unless the farmer is interested in raising them for veal, they are usually shot at birth and thrown away).


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## Fluffyspoos (Aug 11, 2009)

I won't give game birds at all to Vegas, those are mine to eat! And I don't want him associating something he needs to be retrieving with food. However, I am putting in for a deer this year and I will be using as much of the meat as I can! Dogs will be getting A LOT! Rabbit has been on a down season for a few years, so haven't been hunting them.

I really like the idea of feeding game meat to my dogs, it's a natural diet to wild animals anyway.


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## tokipoke (Sep 3, 2011)

I doubt I will be using Leroy for hunting/retrieving so he's been getting chicken, quail (gutted but stuffed with beef tripe), and whole duck (with organs). The duck is big so I've been giving it to him three days straight. I gave him the whole duck, let him chew at it, then cut a portion for him to eat. Put the rest of the duck in the fridge. Next day, gave him the leftover duck, he chewed at it till full, then saved the rest. He just finished the rest of it tonight. Never had issues with bacteria.


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