Fanii Hog Slaughtering

Fanii Hog Slaughtering

Is Big Business

Farm slaughter of hogs in Virginia is big business. . . -valued at over $20,000,000 last year. . .and farmers stand to lose much of the profit if they don’t follow some ' careful practices, warns George Herring, animal husbandman at V.P.I.

Herring says the $20,000,000 represents about 43 percent of the total gross income from hogs in Virginia last year. A five percent loss in farm slaughtered pork, a conservative estimate, amounts to $1,000,000. Much of the loss can be avoided by proper slaughtering and handling.

Some losses are caused by bad handling of hogs before killing. Avoid getting hogs heated or excited because it results in poor bleeding- Injuries to hogs may* cause spoilage of cuts. Improper sticking also may result in a poor bleed or in damage to the shoulders.

The greatest cause of pork spoilage, however, is failure to get carcasses c h i 1 l.e d quickly Proper weather or refrigeration is necessary. Most of the 80 locker plants in Virginia are equipped after slaughtering, or are slaughtered there, temperature is no problem. Hogs can be killed when they are ready and when it's convenient.

•However, if you depend on the weather to get hogs chilled, wait until a cold spell. There usually; will be several between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Killing the hogs in the early part of a cold spell is better than waiting until the weather starts to warm up. A weather report announcing the approach of cold weather may be used as a signal to get ready for , farm slaughtering.

Carcasses will chill quicker if the leaf fat is removed after the hogs are dressed, and the hogs split down the middle of the back bone. This permits air circulation between the two sides. In nearfreezing weather carcasses will be thoroughly chilled by hanging over night, and ready for cutting and placing in cure by the next morn- "

Insect damage, mainly caused by the skipper fly, is another source of pork losses- The skipper fly usually appears during* the first warm days of early February or March- If hogs are killed in early December, the meat can be cured, smoked, and properly stored before the fly arrives.