Procedures of slaughtering an animal
- a) Before Slaughter
The animals should at all times be handled humanly, rested and starved for 24 hours.
- This allows emptying of the gut and reduces spoilage and contamination of meat.
- The resting also conserves stored body glycogen. After slaughter, glycogen is converted into lactic acid which has a preserving effect on the meat.
- feed withdrawal leads to increased ease of evisceration and reduces the incidence of intestinal tract rupture during evisceration
- Starving /Fasting pigs before slaughter reduces mortality during transport to the abattoir.
- Inspection of the animal to check for any disease, deformities, injuries, sex etc. is done at this stage.
- Stunning
This renders the animals senseless just before slaughter to reduce pain. Painless killing of animals is human and it is strongly recommended.
Stunning can be achieved either by use of a hammer gun or electric shock or carbon dioxide
- Slaughter
The neck of the animal is cut and it’s allowed to bleed by hoisting it up. Adequate bleeding is essential to reduce meat spoilage. Skinning is then followed by evisceration which is the cutting open of the carcass to remove the internal organs.
- Hoisting mean to raise (something) by means of ropes and pulleys: The cattle hoist is mainly used to lift the cattle that have been turned down from cattle killing box to the upper rail for assassination and bloodletting.
- Inspection This is the postmortem inspection for infection by tuberculosis, cysts etc.
The carcass has to be passed for public consumption. Condemned carcasses are buried / burnt.
- Grading
The products looked for are fat, degree of marbling, texture of meat and color. A pale color indicates poor quality
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