Home slaughter of pigs

[Bootneck]

Local abattoir no longer taking pigs. Other ones are a long way from me, couple of hours drive.
I have 2 pigs nearly ready to go, thinking about home slaughter and then take them to the butchers to hang and cut. Know I can’t sell the meat, that’s fine. Anyone got any tips or advice ?

 

[Chasingmytail]

Will the butcher take the meat its home kill? Not sure they will. Ive had lads here cut up pigs for me but finding people to do it now is impossible. Especially those with old skills like threading.

Ive never done home kill pigs its the hair issue thats the problem and you need to have a big bath with scolding water. Youll need some pulley system on forks to hang the beasts to bleed

I think if you pop over to the Accidential smallholder web page or The sausage forum there are usually clever people on there.

This is the issue now for many people. The crafts have gone and no one is interested.

 

[TripleSix]

You can skin them if you don't want to scald to dehair.
Just you won't get crackling.

Don't be scared of cutting them up yourself, you're going to eat it so it doesn't matter what it looks like, do it how you want.

 

[ShooTa]

some good vids on YT.

 

[borderterribles]

Are you on Facebook? Look up the Butchers Slaughtermen Farmers group. There's some very handy lads on there, for sure!
I would be very surprised if you could get a Butcher to have your home killed stock on his premises. But , as stated above, it's no biggie to skin your pigs instead of scalding them. They don't look as nice, and no crackling , but a lot easier than scalding for home-kill.

 

[Pieces_of_Eight]

I've done a few for hog roasts, the boil in the bath is the hassle.

Getting him hung up on the forks then round to the bath takes a bit of organising.

 

[Wooly]

There are several small pig producers in East Sussex with the same problem. Can you not get together and arrange a collection point to take your pigs to an abattoir ?

 

[Exfarmer]

If you have close neighbours, I would be shy of home slaughtering unless they fully understand . The poor pigs know whats coming

 

[Pieces_of_Eight]

The poor pigs know whats coming

Disagree, if its planned properly and done quietly and calmly.

Scoop of food on the floor and lights out. Easier with lop breeds.

Trying to bully and restrain adult pigs with shouting and brute force is a recipe for noisy disaster.

 

[Exfarmer]

Disagree, if its planned properly and done quietly and calmly.

Scoop of food on the floor and lights out. Easier with lop breeds.

Trying to bully and restrain adult pigs with shouting and brute force is a recipe for noisy disaster.

I don’t disagree , however I remember last time we did one, you could have shouted as loud as you liked, and would not have been heard over the pigs squeals.
Having the right handling and equipment is key, which makes it sad there are not more mobile abbattoirs available

 

[borderterribles]

If you have close neighbours, I would be shy of home slaughtering unless they fully understand . The poor pigs know whats coming

One of my not close by, retired farmer neighbours confidently told me the other day that he could hear when we are killing pigs. Not sure exactly what he's heard, but it ain't that. Absolutely no home kill here, as I need the full paper trail, re meat inspections, abattoir stamp etc.

 

[Tim W]

You don't have to scald ---you can just burn the bristle off by placing the carcass on a bit of dry flakey straw
Use a gas bottle to tidy up the job

 

[Exfarmer]

You don't have to scald ---you can just burn the bristle off by placing the carcass on a bit of dry flakey straw
Use a gas bottle to tidy up the job

That was how we did it as a kid only we did not have a gas bottle, only an old petrol blow torch.
My mum stopped the practice due to the neighbours commenting and the terrible bacon we made, which was inedible

 

[Bootneck]

Yep I was thinking of using a gas blowtorch for the hair.

 

[multi power]

Disagree, if its planned properly and done quietly and calmly.

Scoop of food on the floor and lights out. Easier with lop breeds.

Trying to bully and restrain adult pigs with shouting and brute force is a recipe for noisy disaster.

100% agree, last time I seen a home kill bullock he stood in the collecting yard, was still chewing the cud as he hit the floor, absolutely NO STRESS OR NOISE

 

[multi power]

You can skin them if you don't want to scald to dehair.
Just you won't get crackling.

Don't be scared of cutting them up yourself, you're going to eat it so it doesn't matter what it looks like, do it how you want.

Definitely agree, I've only ever done turkeys myself but would not hesitate to do a pig

 

[Barleymow]

have home killed casualty pigs ,hang up on loader to bleed ,pressure wash clean ,blow torch on hairs make cutting table with pallets and plywood.

 

[defender]

.22 with a silencer and never a sound from pig, hang it from loader to bleed
Hot pressure washer and scrape the hair is a good way to do it as it all comes off , pot lid makes a good scraper , tidy up with blowlamp if need be
Easier than putting in the bath , it's easy to make the bath water too hot

 

[Pieces_of_Eight]

IMHO a .22RF is not enough firepower for a 120kg pig.

.410 is the tool, with hushpower if you have neighbours.

 

[unlacedgecko]

IMHO a .22RF is not enough firepower for a 120kg pig.

.410 is the tool, with hushpower if you have neighbours.

Or a bolt gun.