Indeed, perhaps the most troubling part about pig slaughter for most individuals is the sounds and smells that can come with a slaughter not done properly, and enforcement of nuisance laws are a novel way for neighbors to stop such conduct.
Take a look at what has been happening in Florida. What about sanitation regulations? Slaughtering your own animal will require you to deal with properly disposing of blood, wastewater generated during the slaughter, and inedible parts of the pig.
Many farms can take care of this on-farm through composting, burial or burning. But depending on where you live and the size of your property, this may not be a viable option consider the smell and potential pests it will attract , and so you will need to give some consideration to this part of the slaughter process. If this is your first pig slaughter, just read this to get a sense of the amount of pig parts you will need to consider and these are just the ones to be eaten!
Law Review article out of Duke University Law School: Though it is a few years old now, provides a good synopsis of the usual methods of slaughter and the history of federal and state humane slaughter laws. State humane slaughter laws compiled by Michigan State University College of Law Animal Legal and Historical Center : This list is from so it is likely to be outdated in some cases; check with local counsel for the most current laws.
Disclaimer: This information is general in nature and for educational purposes only. It is not intended as specific legal or any other advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing thereof does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.
The reader is encouraged to seek the advice of an attorney or other professional when an opinion is needed. Kristen M. Ploetz, Esq. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Check out the new Million Gardens Movement website and get gardening! Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly.
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This requires skill and experience in the use of the appropriate firearm for this purpose and experience in handling the species concerned. The concept of a mobile slaughtering unit arose from this need. This method of slaughter is not designed for large-scale meat processing around 40 million cattle, calves, sheep, lambs are slaughtered in Australia each year.
Regulation of the industry, licensing of mobile butchers, and the ability to comply to food safety standards are the initial steps which could eventually lead to these butchers being able to sell their meat commercially and subsequently operate on a larger scale. The NSW Food Authority, for example, has granted a licence to a mobile slaughtering unit in that state meaning that the slaughter of animals must be conducted according to NSW Food Authority requirements.
Be careful if you choose to hang the carcass this way. If you cut into the tendon, it may snap under the weight of the carcass and the carcass will fall.
Rinse the carcass with water and a scrub with a bristled brush if you have one. This will keep the process cleaner. Be sure to continually move the carcass around and do not let it sit on the bottom of the tank at the heat source. Allowing the carcass to sit on the bottom too long will result in cooking the meat and skin. After a few minutes, the hair on the portion of the carcass that is under water should begin to easily peel off when you grab it.
Hoist the carcass out of the water and begin scraping against the direction of hair growth with skinning knives or bell scrapers. You can lay the carcass on a sturdy table or stacked pallets or leave it hanging where you can reach it. You will want to remove as much hair as possible. You will notice that if the carcass was not white before scraping, it will be when you are done.
If the whole carcass did not fit in the water, flip the carcass so it is hanging by the front legs and repeat the process. If you do not have a water container big enough to fit the carcass, drape one side of the carcass with old towels and pour the hot water onto the towels. Let the hot towels sit for a few minutes and continue to scrape as previously described. Draping the carcass in fabric can help hold the hot water in place to speed up the process.
If you intend to keep the feet, use a hook to pull the toenails and dewclaws off of the foot and be sure to get all the hair out from between the toes. If at any point scraping becomes difficult, pour more hot water onto the carcass or dip it back into the vat.
If necessary, a torch attached to a propane tank can be used to singe off any remaining hair. Do not put the torch too close to the carcass or leave it in one place too long to avoid burning the carcass.
Once you are done scraping the carcass, rinse it down and if you have brushes, use them to ensure all the hair has been removed.
If you chose to skin the carcass, it is similar to skinning a deer. It is important to avoid as much contamination as possible when skinning.
When making cuts to the skin, stab through the skin with the sharp side of the knife blade pointed up and away from the carcass. This will prevent pushing any contaminants from the skin into the meat. Your clean hand is the hand you hold your knife with, and your dirty hand will be used to pull the hide out of the way. Do not switch or confuse which hand is which.
Wash your clean hand if it ever gets dirty and do not touch the carcass with your dirty hand. Make cuts around each leg just above the knee or hock joints. You can begin from the front or back legs depending on how the carcass is positioned hanging or laying down on a clean surface such as a tarp. Follow the leg to the center of the carcass.
Open the skin down the middle of the carcass. Note: If the pig was male, you will need to remove the pizzle penis at this step. Consult step 10 for instructions on this. Once the skin has been opened, work from the legs to the center of the body by cutting between the skin and the fat until all the skin is removed.
Some people prefer to loosen the skin around the hind legs and from the belly and then pull the skin off. This method can be faster, but it increases your chance of pulling the fat off the carcass, which can negatively impact the quality of the meat.
If you do not want to keep the head, you do not need to skin it. Once you have the skin removed down to the head, move on to Step 9. Locate the base of the skull and make a cut slightly above the skull that exposes the vertebrae. You can use a saw to sever the backbone or insert your knife between the skull and the first vertebrae to separate the skull from the backbone. Using your knife takes a little bit of skill and patience.
Once the backbone is severed, slowly continue to cut around the head until only the trachea windpipe and esophagus are attached. The trachea feels like a rigid structure with cartilage rings. This is a large, hard structure where the esophagus and trachea fuse together.
This will make the removal of the internal organs much easier. Lower the carcass so you can reach the point where the back legs meet. Place your knife where the back legs meet slightly off center, and using light pressure, cut the skin open moving towards the navel. If you cut exactly down the center, you chance cutting into the pizzle and contaminating the carcass with urine.
That is the pizzle. Once you get close to the navel, carefully pull the pizzle towards you and use your knife to cut behind it to separate it from the body wall. Continue this cut down to the navel using caution to not cut into the body wall or the pizzle and separate the end of the pizzle from the carcass. Then, using the same technique, move towards the tail separating the pizzle as you go.
Once you reach the point between the back legs near the anus, cut the pizzle off the carcass. The first step in evisceration is called bunging. Stand behind the carcass so the tail is close to you. Use your knife to carefully cut around the anus. You should not be cutting into the muscles of the ham, but right next to them. Once you have loosened the anus, you can grab it to move it side to side to continue cutting the connective tissues holding the bung in place.
Next, move to the belly side of the carcass. Starting where the back legs meet and hold your knife parallel to the length of the carcass, using light pressure, score the skin from between the back legs to the sternum. Then, holding your knife in the same starting position, slowly open the body cavity. Do not stab into the carcass to prevent puncturing the intestines and bladder. Once you have opened a large enough hole to insert your hand, place your hand that is holding the knife inside the carcass so the blade of the knife is outside the carcass at a 90 degree angle and the handle is inside the carcass and pressed against the inside of the body wall.
In one swift motion, open the carcass down to the sternum. It is critical to not remove your hand until you have made the full cut. Opening the carcass with your knife handle inside will prevent you from puncturing any organs and contaminating the carcass. Stopping before you have reached the sternum and trying to start again drastically increases your changes of contamination. Once you have opened the carcass, use your hands to pull the bung downwards and out of the carcass.
You can use string or a zip tie to close off the anus to prevent fecal contamination. Then working slowly, continue to pull the organs forward and out of the body. You may need to use a knife to cut the ureters or heavy connective tissue. Be careful not to cut the intestines or stomach.
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