New Uses for Vermin & Introduced species

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Sandta is real :p

Seriously so are idiots with guns. As stated just a fact of life with no affordable maintenance.

Not all farmers have their scruples about them no good sugar coating it.
 
Not as interesting as Camel culls, but I was asked by the Kindy Director this morning if I would do something about a chook
that has it butt hanging out looking pretty messy, and most feathers missing on its belly.
Told her I would pick it up after school kids pick up and to avoid the kindy kids pickup time.

Took M1 (10yr old daughter), the other kids waited in the car, including Miss 4yrs that has just started that Kindy.

M1 and I had some discussion with the Director and the Director thought the chook looked better than in the morning,
and that the 'Gardening Girls' suggested that a warm arse bath would fix the problem.

So I got M1 10yrs daughter (VERY animal lovy duvy) to catch the chook and place it in the box I had brought along.
M1 doesnt like animals being hurt and doesnt eat meat so much (unless its Dads weber-ised anything)

The Director that didnt like the idea of the animal suffering was about 2 feet from me as I lifted the chook to inspect its arse.
She took one look and nearly threw up and ran off... about 15' from me and the chook.
The chooks arse was fly blown and there was obvious tissue damage and infection with like a palm full of puss,
I told her it was going to be put down !

She thanked me several times for taking this action and removing the chook and ending it's suffering.

The chook had been like this for weeks - I dont believe in that animal empathy she purports to have.

M1 was okay with the plan, much to my surprise, and carried the box out to the car while we discussed the termination of the chook,
I suggested that she consider becoming a Vet as she has a good balance over animal care and practical necessity because of suffering.

We will see.

Chook was deceased within 30min.

My 4yr old doesnt know - could you imagine her going to Kindy on Wednesday and telling all the kids...."My Dad killed the chicken !" :8
with a happy smile on her face.

:lol:

Back to the topic ......

Oh, yeah... bonus... No Kindy Fee's this term for us. I seem to be a paid killer now, Chook Hitman for Hire !
:playful:
 
Gem in I said:
Sandta is real :p

Seriously so are idiots with guns. As stated just a fact of life with no affordable maintenance.

Not all farmers have their scruples about them no good sugar coating it.
Click to expand...

Agree, same goes for all people from all walks of life though.

I would take up gun ownership discussion with a point of view but that debate will get the thread shut down. Lets just say in agreement that with any given privilege bestowed upon an individual it can also be abused by one.
 
All good agreed I'm not getting edgy over it.
Reflecting back over topic though :argh:
 
StayyerAU said:
G'day

Saw the article on Landline yesterday about the camel culling, that should have the activists all riled up and so it should, some of the people doing the shooting were not crack shots or professional shooters, just cockies who appeared to be just shooting wildly, it was plain to see animals getting wounded and then shot several more times to kill them, cant understand why people would get offended by that scene.

I wonder who qualifies these people to use firearms to kill the animals, when in the army I had to qualify on the range with an Slr to be able to hit a man sized torso at a couple of hundred meters before you were considered proficient, and with practice could easily carry out a head shot at some distance as well, these guys were shooting the poor beasts in the sides and neck from less than a hundred yards away.

The best idea I heard was that they were looking into the setting up of mobile processing plants so that they could cull and process the camels for meat, as there have been many countries interested in buying meat and camel products, so that sounds a way better solution to whats going on now, a very disturbing and poor show message to landline showing that mess in the middle of the day with school kids still on holiday and some probably seeing what I saw.

cheers

stayyerAU
Click to expand...

StayyerAU just an observation and I say this as a person who hunts many different feral animals in Australia but have you ever tried to head or neck shoot a camel at a few hundred yards. It's not the biggest target at that range. I saw the landline program and I think the guys who did the shooting did a great job.
 
I was thinking about this last night in bed (as one does tend to think about camels and their toes at such times). If they aren't viable as meat for human consumption because you can't load them live two high, and you can't get the meat to a slaughterhouse in time etc., what about shooting them for their skins? I know they use Alpaca hair for wool and they are a Camelid. So would a Camel skin rug make for a nice luxurious fireside or boudoir rug? They are certainly more exotic than a cowhide and cowskins sell for a good price. I'm just wondering if it would be worth skinning and tanning yourself as a farmer if you could then freight them to somewhere, or maybe set up an online business selling them, or even perhaps just selling them freshly skinned to a tannery? I'm sure a Camel skin jacket or pair of boots would be quite nice. I'd love to see a way of using this pest species to the advantage of the farmers/ landholders themselves and see them turning a loss into a gain.

Just thinking out loud :idea:
 
Deepseeker said:
I was thinking about this last night in bed (as one does tend to think about camels and their toes at such times). If they aren't viable as meat for human consumption because you can't load them live two high, and you can't get the meat to a slaughterhouse in time etc., what about shooting them for their skins? I know they use Alpaca hair for wool and they are a Camelid. So would a Camel skin rug make for a nice luxurious fireside or boudoir rug? They are certainly more exotic that a cowhide and they sell for a good price. I'm just wondering if it would be worth skinning and tanning yourself as a farmer if you could they freight them to somewhere, or maybe set up an online business selling them, or even perhaps just selling them freshly skinned to a tannery? I'd love to see a way of using this pest species to the advantage of the farmers/ landholders themselves and see them turning a loss into a gain.

Just thinking out loud :idea:
Click to expand...
While doable, extremely hard in the paddock and not real profitable.

Camels are a huge unit. I find skinning anything is best done off the ground for speed and ease. I can't roll a camel over by myself, I have to pull it over with the ute or the winch to get to the other side.
Same with breaking down a beast for the chiller, it's so much easier if it's hanging, doing it on the ground when it's 40+ you run the risk of the side on the ground cooking while you're tackling the top. Fork lift and ladder required.

Farmed camels would be more profitable skin wise than feral camels.
These feral ones are covered in scars and callouses and have mulga sticks and splinters all through them.
As for the wool, it's seasonal and most of the times is pretty filth! Camels don't hop out of bed to go to the toilet either, so the back ends of some of them are pretty rancid.

As I said, doable but not with my limited skills.

Camel skulls on the other hand, up to $250 for a nice clean example with decent canine teeth :Y:
 
That makes it hard too I guess if the Camel skull is worth the most and the bloody thing has a hole in it or is shattered. I guess once you're looking to farm them too you then have the costs of feed, water, vet bills, fencing etc., so you may as well stick with cattle? They sound like one of the worst pest species yet :(
 
Probably as easy to farm as cattle if not easier.
On the whole they are a pretty sedate beast, muster quite easy and will respect fences if trained to and domesticated.

Water is your biggy...they can drink 150+ litres in a couple of minutes and will drain a trough quicker than it can fill. Then they'll smash it to get to where the water is coming in and then you lose the whole tank.

As for the skulls, a good neck shot will most times kill them outright so no need for the follow up in the scone. Sever the spinal column and the main artery and it's instant lights out.
 
madtuna said:
Camel skulls on the other hand, up to $250 for a nice clean example with decent canine teeth :Y:
Click to expand...

Mate take off a good one for me and post it to me, I would love to taxiderm one for myself. No bullet holes please

Double bag seal it and courier it to me. What a great display it would make!

Have not used the peroxide for ages.

:)

.
.
That should get some one wound up.
 
When we took the 7 Camels to Saudi, they fetched $75K each, with the young one thrown in.

Cattle were $1500 each (170x)

Sheep were $150 each (78,000)

only lost 6 sheep on the ship out of Fremantle to Saudi

37 years ago.

:)
 
Greenhornet, when you say 75K each, do you mean $7500 each (and meant $7.5K) or $75000 :eek: each???

Either way it sounds mind boggling. Did you breed them or were they raised from ferals?
 
Deepseeker said:
Greenhornet, when you say 75K each, do you mean $7500 each (and meant $7.5K) or $75000 :eek: each???

Either way it sounds mind boggling. Did you breed them or were they raised from ferals?
Click to expand...

Yep $75,000 each, they were sold to a Saudi King or Royalty, for racing stock and breading stock,
at that time the majority of Camels in Saudi were infected with Syphilis.
So these animals were top dollar, as they were strong with no contamination's being in Australia.
They dont gamble, but it is the prestige of the animal winning.

Wild capture, held for 6 months before transport to humanise them a bit.

Not me, but the Sheep Shipping Company - Rachid Fares Group.
"Danny F." - British owned, Argentinian Registered
Ex Oil Tanker converted to a ship transport - cut 1/3 out of the guts and welded back together.

Cattle and Camels were caged behind the Bridge structure (left side picture)

1580803280_ship.jpg


:cool:
 
One of my uncles was the grounds man at Calivil Race track and Rec grounds in Victoria and they used to have camel races, not sure if it was late sixties or early seventies when one of the camels bolted and tried to jump the running rail pinning another of my young
cousins neck and head to the rail underneath the camels front leg and chest. Left him with some permanent injuries.
Some in the GT may remember the images in the Bendigo Advertiser.
 

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