Those who keep pigs in their yard should understand that sooner or later the animal will have to be slaughtered. This process cannot be called easy: it needs strength, because the animal is large, and dexterity to properly slaughter a pig so that it does not suffer. In addition, for many this is a psychologically complex process. Therefore, slaughter should be prepared in advance, and for everything to succeed, you need to know all the subtleties of the case.

When can I slaughter a pig?

It is best to plan a pig’s slaughter for the winter, because at this time the animal stops intensively gaining weight, and it will be better to store the resulting product. But if your pig has already gained a suitable weight, then you can hammer it both in the summer and in the fall, only in this case, if the air temperature is high, it is best to carry out the slaughter in the early hours of the day.

A suitable weight for slaughter is considered to be 130-150 kg. Such a mass of pigs are at the age of 9-10 months. But these indicators can vary depending on the breed. So, males of the largest breed at this age weigh 320-350 kg, females are 100 kg lighter. Vietnamese pigs gain no more than 140 kg.

You can carry out the slaughter from 4 months, but at this age the weight of the piglets is still small, and the meat yield will be insignificant, but the product will turn out to be tender.

Important! If you do not like fatty meat with a lot of fat, then you can slaughter an animal at six months of age. Its weight will be 90-110 kg, slaughter yield - 72–75%, and a thin layer of fat.

If you do not have scales with which you can determine the weight of the boar, then you can take measurements and calculate the required value:

1. Measure the animal’s chest circumference behind the forelimbs at the shoulder blades.
2. Measure the length of the body from the middle of the nape to the base of the tail. In this case, the animal should keep its head straight.
3. Substitute the obtained data in the formula: live weight = 1.54 * (chest circumference) + 0.99 * (length) - 150.

You can also use the table:

An animal sent for slaughter, in addition to gaining suitable weight, should not be sick and hunted. If a disease is detected, it is necessary to conduct a course of treatment, and if the disease adversely affects the quality of meat, then a sick individual is killed and its carcass disposed of. If the animal was treated with antibiotics and anthelmintics or vaccinated, then at least 2-3 weeks must pass before the drug is completely eliminated from the body. If the pig is in the hunt, then you need to wait until it ends, then wait another 10-14 days and carry out the slaughter. This measure is necessary so that the hormonal background of the animal returns to normal and does not change the quality of the meat.

Learn how to determine the weight of a pig without weights.

Slaughter preparation

In order for the slaughter process to be successful, and the quality of the products obtained to be as high as possible, it is necessary to prepare the pig for the procedure. For this:

1. 12 hours before the intended event, the animal is no longer fed. Only water is left, which is removed 3 hours before slaughter.
2. The pig must be examined by a veterinarian and confirm that the meat meets sanitary standards. If the products will be used for personal needs, then an inspection is not necessary.
3. An animal is washed if it is very dirty.
4. Prepare the necessary tools.
5. The site for slaughter should be chosen clean, dry, windless, away from the pigsty, so that other individuals do not see the death of their congener.

Did you know? The eyes obtained after slaughtering a pig are used by medical schools as training samples. Specialists in eye microsurgery hone their skills on them.

Slaughter Equipment

It is advisable to slaughter a pig together, but even if you do it yourself, then you will certainly need:

1. Working surface. It can be a table made of reinforced concrete or stainless steel.
2. Hook. A carcass will be hung on it to make blood glass.
3. Capacity. Blood will collect in it.
4. Stainless steel knife. The tool should have a double-sided blade, made of calcined and polished metal, with a wooden handle. It is necessary to have several types of tools: for slaughter (blade width 2.5–3 cm, length - 15–20 cm), for cutting cartilage and small bones (width 4–5 cm, slightly rounded), for skinning (length 12– 15 cm, sharp) to remove bristles (thickness 1 mm, length 18–20 cm).
5. A device for burning carcasses (gas burner or blowtorch).
6. Strong carcass binding ropes.
7. Gauze, wipes.
8. Sledgehammer or stun gun if you plan to stun the animal.
9. Warm water for washing pigs.
10. Pure straw for skinning.

Home pig slaughter technology

Before you start cutting a pig, you need to bring it to the prepared site. Only the owner should do this so that the animal is not nervous. You can lure it with your favorite treat.

If the pig categorically refuses to go out, then they put a bag on its head and carefully withdraw it backwards, or put on a bucket so that the animal loses its orientation in space and, trying to throw off an object, it starts backing away. Gently guiding the individual, you can remove it in this way from the pigsty.

Important! You can not scream, beat, kick, scare the animal. This will negatively affect the quality of meat.

If you are slaughtering for the first time, it is advisable to euthanize a pig, and it’s best to just stun it with a sledgehammer in the frontal zone just above the eyebrows. If you are a miner with experience, then stunning is not necessary, you just need to calm the animal. Now you can start slaughtering using one of the methods described below.

Puncture in the heart

This is the most humane way in which death occurs quickly and without torment. But it has a slight drawback - a little blood enters the chest cavity. To use this method, it is best to find a partner so that one cuts and holds the other.

1. An individual ready for slaughter is placed on its left side on a work surface, legs are held.
2. Feel the pulsation in the chest, as well as the 3rd and 4th ribs.
3. You can stun the animal so that it moves less and it is easier to keep it.
4. With a sharp movement, they stab a knife between the 3rd and 4th rib and do not take it out until the pig stops twitching.
5. The hole is plugged with a cloth and the carcass is suspended by the hind legs so that the glass is bleeding.

A puncture in the neck

This method allows you to get more tasty meat, because the blood from the carcass is removed to the maximum. But this method is more painful for the animal. For its implementation, 3 people may be needed, especially if the animal is large.

1. It is necessary to prepare the crossbar on which the ropes will be attached.
2. Putting food in front of the pig, and as soon as she begins to eat, her hind legs are wrapped with ropes. They are thrown over the crossbar and jerked up the animal.
3. They wait until the pig stops twitching, and with a knife they cut the throat of the carotid artery.
4. They wait until the blood drains.

This method is usually used on an industrial scale.

Find out how old pigs live at home and in the wild.

With a stun gun

Killing a pig with electric shock is far from the most humane way of killing. It is usually used if a very large animal is sent for slaughter, which is difficult to keep.

1. The pig is paralyzed by a stun gun attached to the back of the neck.
2. An immobilized body is laid on a table or suspended by its legs to strike in the neck or heart.
3. They wait until the blood drains.

Firearms

The worst way to kill an animal, as other inhabitants of the yard may suffer from a shot from a pistol. In addition, it is necessary to perfectly master these weapons in order to produce a deadly shot. Otherwise, if you miss, then a frightened or wounded animal will run around the yard for a long time, destroying everything in its path.

1. Take out the pig.
2. Tie her on the site to the post so that she does not run away. They put a container with food next to it.
3. When the pig begins to eat, make a shot in the ear.

How to carve a carcass

If you have successfully completed the slaughter procedure, then the bloodless carcass must be processed. First, burn the skin using a torch or blowtorch. This allows you to remove the bristles. Processing is carried out so that the skin evenly turns black. You can smother the carcass in straw to add flavor. Then the carcass is divided into parts.

Skinning

If you need to remove the skin, then you do not need to process it with fire, but simply follow these steps:

1. Put the bloodless carcass on the table belly up. Support the sides with wooden shields so that it does not roll down.
2. Take a sharp knife and carefully, pulling the skin behind the ears, cut it, making an incision along the back of the head to the lower jaw.
3. Make the next incision along the belly, from the throat to the anus, around the genitals.
4. In the hoof area, make circular and longitudinal cuts.
5. Slowly, poking the skin with the fingers of your hands, begin to remove it from the hind limbs, moving to the stomach. If necessary, undercut, but so that no traces of fat remain on the skin. From the abdomen, move towards the sternum, then go to the shoulder blades, sides (to the spine).
6. When the skin is removed from the forelimbs, it is necessary to turn the carcass on its side and cut along the spine. Avoid cuts and tears of the skin, as this negatively affects its market value.
7. Leave the skin left to cool, folding it in half, bristles out. She should lie down in a cool place for half an hour.
8. Clean the cooled skin from dirt and grease.
9. On a clean surface, smooth the salt in one layer and lay the skin on top, with the inside up. Spread it well and sprinkle with salt. It needs to be spent at the rate of 300 g per 1 kg of skin.
10. Rub salt into the skin, fold it into an envelope so that the bristles are on the outside, and pack in a plastic bag, leaving it to lie for 5-6 days at a temperature of 8 ° C.

Important! During skinning, you should try not to touch the meat and fat with your hands, since it is easy to transfer the bacteria on the skin to meat products.

Cutting

On an industrial scale, to simplify the cutting of carcasses, it is suspended. In this position, the muscles and tissues are taut, which makes it easy to cut the meat. If at home you cannot hang the carcass, then place it on the floor. Further, all actions are similar:

1. Chop off the head to drain the rest of the blood.
2. Cut fat and muscle on the belly.
3. Indulge the abdomen by performing an incision from the sternum toward the anus.
4. Remove the guts and other entrails. Try not to damage the bladder. Flush the gut.
5. Gently separate the gallbladder from the extracted liver.
6. Cut out the diaphragm and take out the lungs, heart. Cut the heart muscle and remove blood clots.
7. Wipe the carcass with a rag (no need to wash), separate the legs in the joints.
8. Chop the carcass along the spine. Leave the carcass to cool.
9. At the end, divide each half carcass into 6 parts according to the scheme.

Video: How to Carve a Pork Carcass

How to store pig meat after slaughter

After cutting the carcass, the meat is stored in a refrigerator or a glacier, placed in an enameled container. If desired, you can freeze and store in the freezer. Some people prefer to salt the product, turning it into corned beef.

If you plan on storing refrigerated, then after slaughter, the carcass that has been cut is stored in special refrigerators. If they are not available, then you can put the meat in a large refrigerator or glacier at a temperature of 2-3 ° C. In such conditions, the meat should be 12-20 hours. Then it can be frozen at a temperature of –28 ...– 25 ° С. Then its shelf life will last up to 12-18 months. Without cooling, the duration of product storage depends on the ambient temperature: at 20 ° C, meat can be stored for 2 days, at 15 ° C - 3 days, at 10 ° C - 5 days, at 5 ° C - 8 days, at 0 ° C - 15 days.

Possible errors and complications

Correctly slaughter a pig is not for everyone. In this matter, experience and dexterity are the most important. Beginners often have oversights:

1. They fed the pig, watered before slaughter - involuntary bowel movements and urination during slaughter are possible.
2. They killed the animal at the pigsty - the rest of the livestock was alarmed, and if slaughter was planned, then it would have to be postponed, since it would be difficult to calm the animals.
3. They chose a frosty day - the carcass froze, cutting is difficult to carry out.
4. They scared the animal, made it nervous - adrenaline was released into the blood and ruined the taste of meat.
5. An incision or an injection with a knife was made incorrectly - hemorrhage in the internal organs, the meat is inferior.

Did you know? In the Middle Ages in Europe, pigs were prosecuted for killing children. At that time, these animals walked freely through the streets and could go into the house of the poor and bite the baby sleeping in the cradle. The caught " criminal " was sent to a criminal prison. The city authorities allocated approximately the same amount for their detention as for the maintenance of an ordinary criminal. If you are not confident in your abilities, then it is better to entrust the slaughter and carcass cutting to a specialist. You can try to do everything yourself, but then consultants should also take a specialist. Over time, you will gain experience, and slaughtering a pig for you will become a simple affair.