Re: Mike - Slaughtering pigs and chickens

February 23, 2004

@@@@@@@@@@@

That reminds me of a time when I was about maybe 6- 8 years old. My

Grandparents lived on a farm. Had their own chickens, ducks, geese,

goats,cows etc.

>

> It was time for the chickens to be slaughtered. My Grandpa told us

(my sister and I) to go inside as the adults had things to do. Told

us not to look out the back windows. Well be the curious kid I was I

had to look. . .Oh my gosh the sight I say to this day stills is very

deeply engraved in my memory.

>

> Sheryl

@@@@@@@@@@@

Hmmm, Tell a kid " don't look out the back windows " ... Pretty slick

advice!

When you say engraved, is that good, bad, or just neutral and

distinct? Maybe scary for a kid? Maybe it would be bad if you were

friendly with the chickens...

Mike

SE Pennsylvania

February 23, 2004

Mike wrote:

When you say engraved, is that good, bad, or just neutral and

distinct? Maybe scary for a kid? Maybe it would be bad if you were

friendly with the chickens...

Mike,

It was traumatizing for me as a kid. As an adult I have pretty much gotten over

the image of my grandfather with a bloody hatchet and the chickens running all

over with no heads. One even turned back around and ran into the stump he was

using as the block for the chopping.

Not sure how many the slaughtered. . .I just stood there mesmerized for a few

seconds. I am sure it wasn't minutes as I was so grossed out.

Now my Mom and Dad who were both raised on farms wouldn't have thought a thing

about the scene at 6- 8 years old. Heck they saw everything done as kids.

Funny I guess my grandpa figured we were city kids and couldn't handle it. . .he

was right.

Sheryl

Sheryl Illustrations

February 23, 2004

>

>Mike wrote:

>

>actually, one time when I was at my local butcher I was watching

>some pigs getting slaughtered and it was one of the loudest and

>most piercing things I've ever experienced;

>

how did they kill them mike? my mom told me that a family friend used to

live in an apt. above a local butcher and was always haunted by the piercing

screams of the pigs being butchered. usually steer are shot, but how are

pigs typically killed?

Suze Fisher

Lapdog Design, Inc.

Web Design & Development

Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader, Mid Coast Maine

----------------------------

" The diet-heart idea (the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause

heart disease) is the greatest scientific deception of our times. " --

Mann, MD, former Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at Vanderbilt

University, Tennessee; heart disease researcher.

The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics

----------------------------

February 23, 2004

@@@@@@@@@@@

> how did they kill them mike? my mom told me that a family friend

used to

> live in an apt. above a local butcher and was always haunted by the

piercing

> screams of the pigs being butchered. usually steer are shot, but

how are

> pigs typically killed?

>

> Suze Fisher

@@@@@@@@@@

That was the only time I've seen pigs being killed, but the butcher

shop has a machine that lifts the animal up with a chain of some

sort, and if I recall correctly the pig was simply sliced with a

knife somewhere (maybe around the neck?) once it was cranked up and

hanging in the air; it definitely wasn't shot, but all the steers

I've seen slaughtered were shot.

I'm sure there are more traditional ways of doing it, but it must be

hard to hold pigs down!

Mike

SE Pennsylvania

February 23, 2004

At 12:27 PM 2/23/2004, you wrote:

> > how did they kill them mike? my mom told me that a family friend

>used to

> > live in an apt. above a local butcher and was always haunted by the

>piercing

> > screams of the pigs being butchered. usually steer are shot, but

>how are

> > pigs typically killed?

they do squeal like crazy when you're trying to get them on the trailer.

our butcher said that they use a spike into the skull that is

pressure-loaded - it's like shooting them but without the bullet.

apparently they don't even see it coming...

February 23, 2004

katja <katja@...> wrote:

hey do squeal like crazy when you're trying to get them on the trailer.

our butcher said that they use a spike into the skull that is

pressure-loaded - it's like shooting them but without the bullet.

apparently they don't even see it coming...

Hi All,

My husband worked for the USDA for a while. Hated it by the way.

If I remember correctly, he said that the reason they are squealing and the cows

are mooing and the are so hard to get into the location for slaughter is because

they can smell the blood and hear the squealing and mooing of the other animals.

That was of course in large slaughter house.

Sheryl

Sheryl Illustrations

February 23, 2004

>they do squeal like crazy when you're trying to get them on the trailer.

>our butcher said that they use a spike into the skull that is

>pressure-loaded - it's like shooting them but without the bullet.

>apparently they don't even see it coming...

i've been told they sound like humans screaming...

your butcher's methods sounds MUCH more humane than mike's. i can't imagine

how horrible it is for the pigs to be hoisted up by their legs *live* then

have their throats slit. i'm guessing this is the kosher method..?

but then the chickens i buy have their throats slit and are bled to death.

Suze Fisher

Lapdog Design, Inc.

Web Design & Development

Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader, Mid Coast Maine

----------------------------

" The diet-heart idea (the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause

heart disease) is the greatest scientific deception of our times. " --

Mann, MD, former Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at Vanderbilt

University, Tennessee; heart disease researcher.

The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics

----------------------------

February 23, 2004

>Mike,

>

>It was traumatizing for me as a kid. As an adult I have pretty much gotten

over the image of my grandfather with a bloody hatchet and the chickens running

all over with no heads. One even turned back around and ran into the stump he

was using as the block for the chopping.

We had the same problem in our family ... Mom raised some

chickens and rabbits and killed them ... normal stuff when she

was growing up but totally freaked out my sister, and it

became a big family issue. Makes me wonder how to handle

it in our family. I always thought it was cool to dissect fish

and animals, didn't traumatize me at all. (when Mom was

cleaning the rabbits I was trying to figure out what the organs

were).

I did bring home body parts of our steer and spent a couple

of days hacking and packing, and had the hide spread out

on the lawn ... the kids thought it was interesting, so

I'd guess there is hope ...

-- Heidi Jean

February 23, 2004

>If I remember correctly, he said that the reason they are squealing and the

cows are mooing and the are so hard to get into the location for slaughter is

because they can smell the blood and hear the squealing and mooing of the other

animals.

>

>That was of course in large slaughter house.

Which also makes the meat not taste as good. Ideally the animal

is totally relaxed and doesn't know anything is going on,

so the adrenalin levels are low. Taking an animal ANYWHERE

is stressful for the animal. Hanging it up by the feet while it

is alive doesn't seem ideal to me ...

-- Heidi Jean

February 23, 2004

Heidi wrote:

I did bring home body parts of our steer and spent a couple

of days hacking and packing, and had the hide spread out

on the lawn ... the kids thought it was interesting, so

I'd guess there is hope ...

Heidi,

My daughter is the same way and I am sure the scene of the adults slaughtering

the chickens would not have had the same impact on her as it did me.

She wants to be a veterinarian. . .loves to watch all those surgery shows that

make me queasy.

I am grateful for people who can handle these things. . .Ambulance drivers,

vets, doctors, nurses, butchers etc. we need those who are not squeamish.

Sheryl

Sheryl Illustrations

February 23, 2004

At 01:04 PM 2/23/2004, you wrote:

>Which also makes the meat not taste as good. Ideally the animal

>is totally relaxed and doesn't know anything is going on,

>so the adrenalin levels are low. Taking an animal ANYWHERE

>is stressful for the animal. Hanging it up by the feet while it

>is alive doesn't seem ideal to me ...

>

>-- Heidi Jean

our butcher said this too - they have a single-kill floor (as they call

it), where the animals are brought in from the holding barn one at a time

and it's cleaned in between so they don't get worked up. which is good...

February 23, 2004

katja <katja@...> wrote:

our butcher said this too - they have a single-kill floor (as they call

it), where the animals are brought in from the holding barn one at a time

and it's cleaned in between so they don't get worked up. which is good...

Katja,

That sounds so much better. . .

Sheryl

Sheryl Illustrations

February 23, 2004

Mike,

Pigs realize more than cows, chickens or sheep. If you're home slaughtering

pigs more than one at a time if you drag the first out alive it will squeal

terribly, others react to to this and the subsequent are each progressively

harder to get out. Either they know what the particular squeal means or have

a stronger pig pen mate bonding. Thought that smelling pig blood more than

an injury tells them whats next. Better to shoot in pen then remove.Watched

many pigs slaughtered before I went to school at Dad's slaughterhouse next

door to house. Don't remember squealing outside of animosity between those

in holding pen still. Don't remember his process then. Was winch to raise

and there's an artery in neck that needs to be cut for proper blood

draining. Pig we home raised and had to kill because of a dog attack

bothered me most. Tried to nurse her but she was too weak to get up to eat.

> That was the only time I've seen pigs being killed, but the butcher

> shop has a machine that lifts the animal up with a chain of some

> sort, and if I recall correctly the pig was simply sliced with a

> knife somewhere (maybe around the neck?) once it was cranked up and

> hanging in the air; it definitely wasn't shot, but all the steers

> I've seen slaughtered were shot.

>

> I'm sure there are more traditional ways of doing it, but it must be

> hard to hold pigs down!

Wanita

February 23, 2004

I think that pigs are often shot, at least when slaughtered on the

farm. My father told a story the other day about his father killing a

large boar with a shotgun. The first shot didn't kill him and the boar

raised up on it's hind legs and came after my grandfather with his

mouth wide open. He was quick on the trigger and shot him the second

time right through the mouth. My father was just a boy at the time and

he said he had dreams about that for a long time afterwards. No

wonder.

~ Fern

----- Original Message -----

From: " Anton " <michaelantonparker@...>

> @@@@@@@@@@@

> > how did they kill them mike? my mom told me that a family friend

> used to

> > live in an apt. above a local butcher and was always haunted by

the

> piercing

> > screams of the pigs being butchered. usually steer are shot, but

> how are

> > pigs typically killed?

> >

> > Suze Fisher

> @@@@@@@@@@

>

> That was the only time I've seen pigs being killed, but the butcher

> shop has a machine that lifts the animal up with a chain of some

> sort, and if I recall correctly the pig was simply sliced with a

> knife somewhere (maybe around the neck?) once it was cranked up and

> hanging in the air; it definitely wasn't shot, but all the steers

> I've seen slaughtered were shot.

>

> I'm sure there are more traditional ways of doing it, but it must be

> hard to hold pigs down!

>

> Mike

> SE Pennsylvania

February 23, 2004

From: " Suze Fisher " <s.fisher22@...>

> >they do squeal like crazy when you're trying to get them on the

trailer.

> >our butcher said that they use a spike into the skull that is

> >pressure-loaded - it's like shooting them but without the bullet.

> >apparently they don't even see it coming...

>

> i've been told they sound like humans screaming...

> your butcher's methods sounds MUCH more humane than mike's. i can't

imagine

> how horrible it is for the pigs to be hoisted up by their legs

*live* then

> have their throats slit. i'm guessing this is the kosher method..?

>

> but then the chickens i buy have their throats slit and are bled to

death.

But from what I understand when chickens are killed in this way they

don't feel it ... something about all the blood rushing into their

heads numbs that part of their body. At least if your chicken

processor does them the same way my brother does: he has metal cones

that he puts the chickens into, with their heads sticking out the

bottom. Does about 6-8 at a time (I can't remember the exact number),

and goes along and slits their throats and then lets the blood drain

out.

He raises grass-fed chickens and his whole family helps with the

processing, from the youngest (3) to the oldest (15). They have six

children and the younger ones help to fill the tubs with water and

that kind of thing (and take lots of breaks!), while the older ones do

some of the more gory jobs, like removing the innards, etc. It

doesn't seem to faze them one bit. But then they do it for two days

every six weeks in the summer and have been doing it for the last

several years.

~ Fern

February 23, 2004

Wanita wrote:

Tried to nurse her but she was too weak to get up to eat.

Wanita,

Oh how sad.

Sheryl

Sheryl Illustrations

February 23, 2004

Fern wrote:

My father was just a boy at the time and

he said he had dreams about that for a long time afterwards. No

wonder.

Fern: Those kind of things are hard to ever get over. Boars are very

dangerous. To this day I am sure it can see the situation vividly.

I sure that we felt his life was being threatened. . .and it was.

Sheryl

Sheryl Illustrations

February 23, 2004

Suze-

>i can't imagine

>how horrible it is for the pigs to be hoisted up by their legs *live* then

>have their throats slit. i'm guessing this is the kosher method..?

And I'm guessing that nobody out there is trying to slaughter pigs in

accordance with kosher rules. ;->

-

February 23, 2004

Why not slaughter pigs in Kosher way?

I use to serve plenty of bacon-wrapped shrimp with cream sauce at " events " ,

prosciutto too. By requests. :-))

Wouldnt slaughter in way most " humane " and least pain possible to animal be a

good thing?

RE: Re: Mike - Slaughtering pigs and chickens

Suze-

>i can't imagine

>how horrible it is for the pigs to be hoisted up by their legs *live* then

>have their throats slit. i'm guessing this is the kosher method..?

And I'm guessing that nobody out there is trying to slaughter pigs in

accordance with kosher rules. ;->

-

February 23, 2004

Fern,

Wild boar hunting is considered by most hunters to be the most dangerous as

they have attitude when wounded and tusks they know how to use.

> Those kind of things are hard to ever get over. Boars are very

dangerous. To this day I am sure it can see the situation vividly.

Wanita

February 23, 2004

>Why not slaughter pigs in Kosher way?

i don't know if you're asking me or paul since you top posted and didn't

snip any of the email in which paul replied to me. but, i believe the kosher

way is slitting the throat and letting the animal bleed to death - that's

why i asked if mike's butcher was doing it kosher.

>

>Wouldnt slaughter in way most " humane " and least pain possible to

>animal be a good thing?

imo, *absolutely*.

Suze Fisher

Lapdog Design, Inc.

Web Design & Development

Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader, Mid Coast Maine

----------------------------

" The diet-heart idea (the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause

heart disease) is the greatest scientific deception of our times. " --

Mann, MD, former Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at Vanderbilt

University, Tennessee; heart disease researcher.

The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics

----------------------------

>

February 23, 2004

Suze-

>but, i believe the kosher

>way is slitting the throat and letting the animal bleed to death - that's

>why i asked if mike's butcher was doing it kosher.

Yes, I know that, but you missed my joke: pigs are by definition not

kosher, so I don't think anyone's slaughtering pigs in accordance with

kosher rules (or kosherly, if that's a word).

-

February 23, 2004

>>but, i believe the kosher

>>way is slitting the throat and letting the animal bleed to death - that's

>>why i asked if mike's butcher was doing it kosher.

>

>Yes, I know that, but you missed my joke: pigs are by definition not

>kosher, so I don't think anyone's slaughtering pigs in accordance with

>kosher rules (or kosherly, if that's a word).

oh ya, i had forgotten. ho ho ho ;-)

Suze Fisher

Lapdog Design, Inc.

Web Design & Development

Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader, Mid Coast Maine

----------------------------

" The diet-heart idea (the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause

heart disease) is the greatest scientific deception of our times. " --

Mann, MD, former Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at Vanderbilt

University, Tennessee; heart disease researcher.

The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics