FAQs

Ichthys: An acronym made from the original Greek letters that stands for Jesus Christ God’s Son Savior. We aim to “acknowledge Him in all of our ways” (Proverbs 3:6), thus the name Ichthys.

Premium: We believe that we offer the best meat you can buy thus the word premium. The value of our meat comes in the quality. Do not expect a luxury automobile if you are only willing to pay for a cheap car. Grocery store meat might be cheaper but our taste and tenderness are not comparable. In our weight test, a hamburger made with our beef weighs 40% more than store bought ground beef post-cooking. In that regard our beef is actually cheaper, but I’d rather say a better value. We do not use antibiotics, growth hormones, or any unnatural ingredients whatsoever.

Meats: Well this one is obvious, we offer beef, pork and lamb for sale.

We charge $4.75/lb. hanging weight for regular beef ($5.75 for Wagyu and grass fed), $4.25/lb. hanging weight for pork and $7.25/lb. hanging weight for lamb. These costs include ALL of the processing costs and delivery of the animal to The Butcher Shop in Fairfield, NE.

The hanging weight difference from animal to animal and corresponding cost can be significant, but the following are some approximations. [If you would prefer your order come from a larger or smaller animal, resulting in a correspondingly larger or smaller hanging weight/take-home weight/total cost, we may be able to accommodate such requests.]

Beef: We sell beef in quarters (mixed halves), halves and wholes. We’ve had beef wholes weigh from 500+ pounds to 1000+ pounds. Most are 700-800 pounds. Using an 800 pound hanging weight, a regular beef would cost approximately $3800 for a whole (Wagyu $4600, grass fed closer to $3500 because of a smaller carcass/hanging weight-grass fed animals are on average smaller animals), $1900 for a half, and $950 for a quarter.

Pork: We sell pork in halves and wholes. Pork hanging weight would typically be around 200 lbs. so a whole pork at 200 lbs. would cost $850, $425 for a half.

Lamb: We sell lamb as wholes only.  A lamb could hang at 100 lbs. and cost $725.

We ask our customers to put down a non-refundable deposit equal to 50% of the estimated final cost when the appointment is made with the balance due once the hanging weight and corresponding actual total price is known. (Estimated total costs for each product can also be seen in the product drop down menu of the online order form, and the total deposit due at the time of ordering/reserving your processing date will show up in the order summary after selecting your product(s).) Once your entire balance is paid we let you know when your order is ready for pickup (about 3 weeks after the hanging weight is known for beef, sooner for pork and lamb). (The butcher shop will not release the meat until we have approved it, and they will only hold meat for one week before charging storage fees.)

Any animal has at least 3 weights: live weight, hanging weight and processed weight. The live weight is how much an animal weighs, alive, standing on a scale. The hanging weight is the weight after slaughter, hanging on a rail, with the animal split in two and the head, feet and entrails removed, before processing.  The processed weight is the weight of the packaged products the customer takes home after the hanging side has been processed, the weight you take home to your freezer. These weights all vary with the individual animal.

Hanging weight is the weight we use to determine your cost and is typically around 60% of live weight. When processing, bones and fat (and possibly organ meat) are discarded to get the processed packages. The amount/weight of discarded parts varies based upon your custom processing instructions.

Beef yields about 63% of the hanging weight as processed weight, pork about 75% and lamb 70%.

Hanging weight is the weight after slaughter but before processing, and the weight used to calculate cost. Hanging weight for a typical whole beef would be about 600-800 lbs (half 300-400 lbs, quarter 150-200 lbs). Hanging weight for a typical whole pork would be around 200 lbs and a typical whole lamb would be around 100 lbs.

See our online order form for detailed information about cuts available.  (After you select a product, your options will appear.)

A beef is processed primarily into (approximately) 25% prime cuts (steaks, prime rib, filets), 35% roasts and 40% ground beef/hamburger. Some customers save the ribs.  Most discard the organ meat  (oxtail, liver, tongue), but it is available to keep when purchasing a whole (and sometimes available when purchasing a half or quarter).  We have a variety of hamburger percentage requests (most do 90/10, which means 90% lean meat, 10% fat); some want the round steak tenderized and some want it ground into hamburger. Briskets are available when ordering halves or wholes (not quarters) or can be ground into hamburger.

Pork includes ham, bacon, sausage, roasts, and chops.  Some customers save the ribs, while others have them ground into sausage.

Lamb can include the leg of lamb, ribs, chops, roasts, shanks, loin, chops and/or ground lamb, depending upon your custom processing instructions.

See "How much does it cost?" above for approximations.  If the final hanging weight of your meat is above average, your total cost, as well as your total amount of processed/take home meat, will be more (and obviously less if less).

We ask for 50% of the estimated final purchase price when reserving a processing date as a non-refundable deposit on your order. We will let you know exactly what you owe as soon as the meat has been slaughtered and a hanging weight determined. Full payment will be due once we know the hanging weight of your meat. We will subtract your deposit from the total amount you owe and ask for payment prior to the meat being processed. We will let you know when your order is ready (about 3 weeks after the hanging weight is known for beef, sooner for pork and lamb). Please do not ask us to “carry” you until you can come up with the money for payment. You will not receive meat until you have paid for it. The butcher shop will not release the meat until we have approved it, and they will only hold meat for one week before charging storage fees.

Beef yields about 63% of the hanging weight as processed weight, pork about 75% and lamb 70%.

Cost per pound of take home meat varies from animal to animal, but one example: A quarter grain finished beef would hang at approximately 200 lbs. (You pay 200 x $4.75 = $950.) After processing, 63% would be 126 pounds of take -home weight resulting in an average price of around $7.54/lb (which includes all cuts: steaks, prime rib, filets, roasts, ground beef, etc.). A grocery store could have cheaper prices, especially on special sales, but the quality of meat will not compare. We offer customers the opportunity to get high-end, meat-market, beef, pork and lamb without the high-end meat shop price.

A whole pork that hangs at 200 lbs will cost $850 (200 x $4.25), and you will take home around 150 lbs (200 x 0.75) of pork, which would come out to $5.67/lb.

And, a lamb that hangs at 100 lbs will cost $725 (100 x $7.25), and you will take home around 70 lbs (100 x 0.7) of lamb, which would come out to around $10.36/lb.