First Dexter off to the butcher

We were up pretty early today and got the trailer loaded up with our first dexter that we are taking to the butcher. It's 6 months earlier than I had planned but Gráinne our red dexter, has been a troublesome young heifer since she arrived here last October. She has been continually bullying the other cattle, throwing the younger ones up against the fencing and is always pacing up and down the field. So we decided that maybe it would be better for everyone if she went to the freezer.

I called back down to the butcher in the evening to collect the offal and see how the carcass looked. He said it was pretty impressive and had never slaughtered or butchered a dexter before. Comparing the dexter to his 3 cattle he slaughtered, he said the yellow in the fat was a result of being grass fed.

I sliced up the liver into a couple of slices per bag and will keep us going for the winter in stews and even pan fried with some potatoes. Chris made a shepherds pie with the last of Peters mince meat and added some liver to it.  

So it's being hung for 21/22 days and then butchered up so I'll be back down in just over 3 weeks to collect :-)