Not wanting to start a moral or ethical debate but why butcher so young?
Let's try and avoid the debate! Shall we? :becky:
Well, think of suckling pig, cabrito (young goat), hogget (just learned this term as I looked it up, so may be using incorrectly). Anyhow, first of there is a market for the meat of these young animals.
From a ranching/raising perspective from which I'm very limited in experience, too many offspring being born and not enough land, feed, etc to maintain them. So slaughter and pack the freezer. Selling em is an option so that someone else can fatten em up over time and then slaughter them, but most times the money you can get for a small, new born animal is not worth the sale. Better off loading up the freezer with it.
When we could, we had goats, sheep, chickens, etc. If there were too many chickens for the space and feed budget we had,,,,,well, after a while, they became food. Same with the goats and sheep. If you could only feed and maintain so many, the excess becomes fill for the freezer.
It's also a delicacy. In terms of taste, texture, etc it's phenomenal.
Is it a bit sad,,,,,yes. But in the end there is a consumer market for it and if you are raising em, a whole nother set of variables come into play. There are many here on the forum with info regarding that area.
Back to the topic. The set up Aussie posted was what I was thinking about, but never done a whole calf. You can never go wrong with Cowgirl's advice either!
