1st. Time Butchering 1200 lb. Cow?

Knives

Having grown up on a farm and butchered cow, pigs, goats, chickens for 50 years.....you don't need any kind of fancy high end cutlery.....we used and still use carbon steel blades.....Chicago Cutlery types.....I have carbon steel blades that are 70-80 years old and have cut up hundreds of animals.....a good bone saw is in order.....blades that are 4 to 6 inches are plenty big.....I have a heavy cleaver that will cut thru anything you lay down on the block.....I field dress and butcher deer every year also, two of my most used knives is a Russell "Woods walker" & a Buck 110 folder....you won't need some of these knives that I see advertised that you could behead a water buffalo with, just some good steel blades, a whet stone, oil stone.
Good work table with paper, good meat grinder, wrapping paper, etc.....we butchered every year and my grandmother used everything in the pig except the "oink" and everything in the cow except the "moo".

A little off topic. Congrats on your pup. I have a 4 yo female, working lines bred, right at 95 lbs. With some basic training you will have a dedicated friend for life.
As a Schutzhund trainer once said to me, " GS are not the best at anything, but they are the second best at everything". My girl has a switch. When it is off she is quiet and cautious. When it is on she is a formidable opponent.
Enjoy your pup.

Jim

If he's just feeding it to his dog then just randomly chopping it into chunks should be good enough. There's not a lot of butchering expertise needed for that.

The local "processor" in my neck of the woods, was quite fond of Forschners, for some time, but began the quest for something with a bit more edge retention, I don't think he ever found the knives he was looking for before he retired, but I do know that for the money the Victorinox/Forschner kitchen knives are grand. Also Old Hickories are quite inexpensive, and sport 1095 carbon steel. They still make several useful, old school styles for processing, like the skinning knife, traditional butcher knives (several different sizes , even one with a 14" blade), cleavers, and even a sticker.

Absolutely awesome. You have a very lucky pup!

Jim

Just looked at the photos . . . now I know what they mean by "a side of beef." Interesting. Guts are a bit revolting, though, lol.

Good job!

So tell us the details. What did you shoot it with and how did you split it?

Did she know the cow in question?

Try mixing it in with the food she is used to. Any animal needs adjustment to sudden changes in diet. Or maybe she's not very hungry. You could be over feeding. Reduce feedings by 50% or to once a day until her appetite returns. Pure meat is very concentrated nutrition, unlike commercial food that is vegetable and filler. Pound for pound pure meat will have more calories than rice/wheat blends, and take longer to digest.

Have you tasted it yet?

Been on the water almost continuously so just found this thread. Agree with all the recommended blade makers (my own are Forchner or Old Hickory). Wouldn't know anything about animals but have cut a lot of big fish over the years. Did recently see a video of butchering out a family cow on a show about Alaska (Alaska,the Last Frontier) that looked like a very practical routine. Looks like a lot of work even when you're skilled and organized. Interesting topic.

when feeing both, or switching from a kibble diet to raw, its best to feed twice a day...kibble for one meal and the the raw for the second meal. don't feed them together, kibble digests at much slower rate and its best for the dogs health/digestion to avoid combining them in one feeding. I feed my dogs a raw diet (chicken quarters and necks, brown rice, a boiled veggie, a scoop of cottage cheese, either chicken gizzards or beef liver, and a raw egg every other day) and its amazing the differences you'll see in their coat, cleaner teeth and small stools.