QA

How To Butcher A Hog

How do you butcher a pig step by step?

Steps for Hog Slaughter Step 1: Check the weather. Step 2: Heat the water. Step 3: Set up your equipment. Step 4: Move the hog into the area where you will stun it. Step 5: Stun the pig. Step 6: Exsanguinate (bleed the animal). Step 7: Hang the carcass. Step 8: Scald.

How long should a pig hang before butchering?

When And Where To Slaughter Your Hog You see, the finished carcass must hang and cool for at least 24 hours before the meat can be sectioned and cured or frozen.

Do you have to scald a pig before butchering?

When butchering a hog, it can be either scalded or skinned. Skinning is quicker, but scalding is the preferred method if you plan to make head cheese or levavausht.

How much meat do you get from a 300 pound hog?

From what we’ve experienced, a pasture raised pig will yield 70-75% of hanging weight. We’d expect a pig this size to produce 120 to 150 lbs of packaged meat.

Where do you stick a pig to bleed out?

After they are down, stunned- You to bleed them out. Slit the throat- best done by sticking a 6″ boning knife into front base of neck and moving the knife around until you hit the carotid arteries. You will know as the blood will gush and bleed the pig out quickly. You want this.

Do pigs suffer when slaughtered?

Animal rights groups have recorded images of pigs being transported to slaughter in cramped and unhygienic conditions. They state that the transportation does cause suffering, which has economic rationale. The pig is then eviscerated, the head is usually removed, and the body is cut into two halves.

How much meat do you get from a 200 lb pig?

live weight hog will dress approximately 72%, thus 180 pounds of carcass. That 180 pound carcass will yield approximately 65% in retail cuts, thus approximately 120 pounds of “take home” meat. If the pig is a real lean genetic pig, the yield would be 2-5% higher; if it is a fatter pig, the yield would be somewhat less.

How long can a hog sit before gutting?

If the temperature is warmer, and the area is not too humid or rainy, then you might have as long as 12 hours; anything past that and you’re pushing your luck significantly. If the temperature is cooler, then 24 hours is around the maximum amount of time you want to wait before the meat starts to spoil.

How hot should the water be to scald a pig?

When using Old Baldy Hog Scald the temperature must be above 139 degrees and below 146 degrees. The best way to do that is to that is to maintain a fire under your scalding vat or have a ready supply of heated water available to supplement the soaking water.

Why do people scald pigs?

Hogs are covered with hair. The purpose of the scalding box is to heat the hog so that the hair can be pulled out and scraped off with a minimum of effort. If heated too long, the hair would set in the follicle, making the scraping and pulling more difficult.

How much bacon do you get from a 300 pound hog?

A whole hog will yield about 16 lbs of bacon. You can slice it and fry it fresh as a pork belly or you can have it smoked and cured to make bacon.

How much does a 250 lb hog cost?

For the 250 pound hogs yielding more than 75 percent the total wholesale weight is 31,861pounds and is valued at $26,582 or $132.91 per head.

What is the current market price of hogs?

USDA says the 51-52% lean live hog price averaged $43.18/cwt. in 2020. They are predicting an average price close to $69.45/cwt. this year and an average around $61.00/cwt.

What is the most humane way to slaughter a pig?

For older boars and sows, use a 0.30 calibre firearm. Most captive bolt pistols are suitable for small pigs; however, large pigs require the use of high-velocity captive bolt pistols. Animals should be bled out immediately after shooting with the captive bolt, while they are unconscious, to ensure death.

Do you have to bleed a pig?

To prevent the risk of recovery, animals must be bled as soon as possible after stunning, ideally whilst still in the tonic (rigid) phase. Bleeding involves severing the carotid arteries and jugular veins, or the blood vessels from which they arise. The animal then dies from loss of blood.

Where do you cut a pig’s throat?

Cut the pig’s throat. After you’ve killed or stunned the pig with a shot, feel for the pig’s breastbone, and insert your knife a few inches above it, making an incision across the front of the throat, at least, 2–4 inches (5.1–10.2 cm) long.

How does Smithfield slaughter pigs?

When they reach a Smithfield slaughterhouse, these terrified pigs—weakened from their long, frightening journey—are hung upside down and have their throats cut, sometimes while they are still conscious. The cages are so small that the pigs can’t even turn around in them.

What happens to pigs in slaughterhouses?

When allowed to live out their natural lives, pigs live for an average of 10-15 years, but factory farmed pigs are sent to slaughter after just six months of life. These sick and injured pigs will be kicked, struck with electric prods, and finally dragged off the trucks to their deaths.

Do animals cry before slaughter?

Wild cattle travel in herds for protection and a fearful cry is a quick warning to the entire herd that they may be in danger. Slaughterhouses try to keep the process as calm for the cattle as elevated levels of stress hormones degrade the quality of the meat harvested.