Butchering a Hog. The Kill and Slaughter. Warning: Disturbing and Graphic Images.

SGH

As most of you already know, I killed and cleaned some hogs for a older friend of mine a few days ago. Due to the amount of photos, I'm only posting the kill and slaughter here. I will post the breaking in another thread. 

Equipment:
Homemade chopping block made from a oak tree trunk. The metal band helps keep it from splitting. 

Cleaver, knives and Skinning Racks.



Wild Russian Boar. 178 pounds live weight. Throat cut and bleeding out.

Preparing to skin after nerves and auto reflex has stopped. 


Belly up on the skinning rack.

Skinning in process. 



Carcass has been skinned, trotters removed. Carcass is now hung over gut barrel for gutting and organ removal. 

Opening the body cavity starting with anus removal and proceeding toward the thoracic region. 


View of anus removed. 

Secretions draining. 

Hole in the windpipe from cutting its throat during slaughter. 



Victim #2. Here's looking at you kid



Manually pumping the heart with my foot to aid in bleeding out.

On he skinning rack after bleed out. 

Various gutting shots.


I have have numerous more pics that I will post when time allows. However I'm wanting to see if the amount I have in this thread will even post. Pics test......

Darby_Crenshaw

Much respect. Pics may not be for the squeamish, but anyone who eats meat is complicit, and should at least understand what is involved

you hang them at all before breaking down? As with venison?

My understanding for cattle at least is that commercially they should be hung for a week or so or at least allowed to go through rigor mortis.

I don't know if it is the same for hogs (commercially).  

SGH

Darby_Crenshaw said:

you hang them at all before breaking down? 

Yes sir, I let them hang until the meat temp gets down to at least 48 degrees. Any warmer than this and the meat is to soft and pliable to work. Warm meat is a real pain to debone and cut into neat cuts. 

SGH

Darby_Crenshaw said:

Much respect. Pics may not be for the squeamish, but anyone who eats meat is complicit, and should at least understand what is involved

Brother Darby, I'm merely testing the waters with the pics above. I have some that are far more graphic. Want to see how BGE responds. 

bgebrent

Fascinating documentary!!  Interested to see the cardiac compression to aid the exsanguination.  Very informative brother!  Thanks for posting!

SGH

Darby_Crenshaw said:

My understanding for cattle at least is that commercially they should be hung for a week or so or at least allowed to go through rigor mortis.

I don't know if it is the same for hogs (commercially).  

The above is accurate due to sheer volume of carcasses to be processed. There are 2 distinct stages to concern yourself with when home butchering. Rigor and Rigor Mortis. As long as you process them before the actual Rigor Mortis stage sets in, the meat will be tender. Once Rigor Mortis sets in, it must run its course or the meat will be tough no matter what you do. Due to their sheer volume, this is why commercial meat packers hang for weeks. To complete the Rigor Mortis stage. There is no way to process as much as they kill and slaughter in a single day. At home you can. 

henapple

Should I send these to my vegan sister? 

SGH

henapple said:

Should I send these to my vegan sister? 

Uncle Apple I have some real graphic pics that you can send her

SGH

I have several more pics, I'm just waiting to see how the buffalo responds to this post. 

EGGjlmh

Thanks for sharing, how do you kill your hogs?

bgebrent

The buffalo should be pleased.

Legume

Very, very cool Scottie.  Looking forward to the rest of the story.

SGH

EGGjlmh said:

Thanks for sharing, how do you kill your hogs?

I shoot them behind the left ear with the barrel angled toward the right eye. This takes out the entire cross section of the brain. I use a 22 Short, 29 grain bullet to avoid the bullet exiting. I immediately cut their throat when they drop to the ground. 

henapple

I usually use an RPG... 

SGH

EGGjlmh said:

Thanks for sharing, how do you kill your hogs?

For years, I killed them with a sticking knife. Now that I'm older, I find less mishaps with the 22 than the sticking knife. However if I'm wanting to salvage the brain for head cheese, I will still kill them with a double edge sticking knife. Short of this, I use the 22.

Ragtop99

Excellent documentary.  I've only see the process once in person with a deer and I was impressed how quick it can go.  How long does it take with the hog?

SGH

Ragtop99 said:

Excellent documentary.  I've only see the process once in person with a deer and I was impressed how quick it can go.  How long does it take with the hog?

I killed, skinned and gutted 4 hogs pretty much by myself in 1 hour and about 50 minutes. Give or take a little. A few young strong men can do it much faster. In my prime I could skin and gut a hog in about 15 minutes. That's just skinning and gutting, not processing the meat. Atlas, I'm getting old and slow my friend. And my hands are semi-paralyzed to boot.  

Davec433

Those are some cool pictures. I've only been present for a hog being slaughtered once and we had some Native Americans with us. If I remember right we are pretty much everything that was edible.

Tbent

Very interesting. Keep the pics and info coming. 
Do you ever scald and scrape or always skin them?

henapple

@SGH.... You're a killer 

SGH

Tbent said:

Do you ever scald and scrape or always skin them?

Depending on how I'm going to break them, yes I remove the hair and leave the skin on. However if I'm not going to use the skin, it's much simpler and faster to skin them. Depending on how the buffalo reacts to this post, I have some pics of a very easy way to remove the hair. However it looks barbaric. 

SGH

henapple said:

@SGH.... You're a killer 

You just don't know Uncle Apple

gdenby

SGH said:

EGGjlmh said:

Thanks for sharing, how do you kill your hogs?

For years, I killed them with a sticking knife. Now that I'm older, I find less mishaps with the 22 than the sticking knife. However if I'm wanting to salvage the brain for head cheese, I will still kill them with a double edge sticking knife. Short of this, I use the 22.

Good work. I've only done some fowl, and a couple of rabbits. I'd supposed a 22 was standard for hogs. Or a big hammer followed by a knife.

I don't have a problem w. the pictures (other than they too long to download). Go ahead.

Oh, what knives do you use.? Some of the cutting looks pretty hard.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

SGH said:

henapple said:

Should I send these to my vegan sister? 

Uncle Apple I have some real graphic pics that you can send her

Just send her the one titled "view of anus removed". That outta do it. 

anton

Thanks for the education, very interesting.

SGH

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Just send her the one titled "view of anus removed". That outta do it. 

Brother Tex, I have a hunch that you already know this, but for the folks who don't, we use pig anuses to make imitation calamari. Even a very astute tongue can not tell the difference between the anus and real calamari. And fellows, I'm honestly not joking. 

fruitguy

thanks for sharing
very interesting

Hawg Fan

Thanks for posting, it brings back a lot of memories.  Growing up, my family butchered, hogs, goats, chicken, beef cattle, deer and small game.  My first memory of butchering a hog was when my dad used the scolding method on the hog, put later converted to skinning the hog.  He also was a fan of the .22 short.

SGH

Hawg Fan said:
  He also was a fan of the .22 short.

The 22 Short is near ideal for several reasons. First and foremost is safety. In 40+ years of head shooting hogs, I have yet to see the little 29 grain bullet exit. It always stays inside the head. It's usually lodged just behind the right eye. A 22 Long or Long Rifle will exit 80% of the time save for hitting the skull. Also the little Short doesn't damage as much meat. A 22 Long Rifle actually does far more damage than most folks realize. It's a shame that the little 22 Short has declined in popularity over the years. 

Tinyfish

Now I know how my bacon starts to make its way to the package. 

SGH

Tinyfish said:

Now I know how my bacon starts to make its way to the package. 

Bacon being separated by hand.