How to Butcher a Day Old Calf

Bleed the animal by sawing through the neck below the head and cutting through the neck. Tie the twine tightly at the hock joints of the rear legs, lifting it to hang so that the blood drains into the bucket, a process which can take several minutes, depending on how long the calf has been dead. The bucket can be used as an offal pail.

Arrange your tools so that they will be readily at hand, and prepare a clean space nearby where you can later place the butchered meat for further cutting or packaging.

Cut the hide away from the back legs, folding it down and pulling to continue separating it from the flesh. Cut the base of the tail near the flesh with the knife, and take care not to cut into the flesh; with adequately firm pressure, the hide should be easy to separate from the meat. Where the legs meet the joints of the body, slit the hide down the leg to create flaps that can be easily pulled away.

Put the hide aside, and saw through the front legs, completely through the bone, just beneath the front legs.

Use a tree branch trimmer to cut the breast bone in half, and cut carefully from the base of the tail -- cutting around the anus to keep it intact -- to form a shallow incision traveling the length of the belly and chest, all the way through the neck, cutting through the skin but keeping the innards intact. Pry apart the breast bone, and begin scooping the innards out to be set into your offal bucket. If the innards break, rinse the inner cavity out with clean water.

Saw through the pelvic bone and through the carcass vertically, until it separates into two halves.

Quarter the carcass by sawing horizontally between the second and third ribs, leaving two ribs on the top quarter and three on the bottom quarter.