[Talitha]

Me and my family are thinking about keeping Shetlands. Animal welfare is extremely important to us so we would want to slaughter them ourselves in their familiar surroundings rather than send them to an abattoir. I understand this is legal but only if the beef is for our own consumption or for barter. Can the carcass be taken to be butchered for our freezer? Any idea of the cost or regulations of this?

[Factotum]

This reply assumes you are somewhere in the UK.

Please see the current regs for 'Home Kill' here : https://www.gov.uk/guidance/slaughter-poultry-livestock-and-rabbits-for-home-consumption

Although it may seem laudable to want to slaughter them at home, I would not consider trying such a task. You would need specialist equipment, and training, to humanely slaughter something as big as a Shetland steer.  You would also need to have some way of disposing of the entrails, head etc.

I think that barter of home kill is not allowed. See https://www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/home-killguide.pdf. This states:

The legality of slaughter outside approved premises depends on whether it is
intended the carcase or meat from the carcase will be sold or “placed on the
market”. “Placing on the market” is defined as “the holding of food or feed for
the purpose of sale, including offering for sale or any other form of transfer,
whether free of charge or not, and the sale, distribution and other forms of
transfer themselves”

and later in the document:
Therefore, for home slaughter to be legal and exempt from the Hygiene
Regulations, the owner must only supply his immediate family who share the
household. If the owner does supply others this is illegal under the Food
Hygiene (England) Regulations/ Food Hygiene (Wales) Regulations and local
authority officers may certify that meat has not been produced, processed or
distributed in accordance with those Regulations. Such meat would then be
treated as failing to comply with food safety requirements under section 9 of
the Food Safety Act 1990. An order for its condemnation could then be
obtained from a Magistrates’ Court. In carrying out this enforcement role,
local authorities may on occasion need to liaise with the Food Standards
Agency. A list of contact points is at Annex A.

We have always taken our Shetland steers to the local abattoir, they slaughter the beast, hang the carcase for a week and then send it on to our butcher. He keeps it for another couple of weeks and then butchers it and splits the meat into easily usable packs. Our abattoir charges  around £105, and our butcher charges about £375 - that includes vac-packing and making sausages. That system works well for us and our beasts.

Sue

[Rosemary]

I agree with Sue; we keep Shetlands too. To minimise stress, we always send two animals that know each other to slaughter together. We keep three cows and the year we only had one steer calf, we bought another Shetland steer from Sue and Steve.

Our bull yielded 400kg dw and our steer 350kg; that's what we hit most years. We sold 20 x 10kg bef boxes and stll have 200 packs of sausages plus mince, stew and a few steaks and joints. It's a lot of meat.

If you get it professionally killed and butchered, you can sell some to offset the cost fo keeping - and introduce folk to the best beef ever 

[SallyintNorth]

I'm not sure it's even feasible to kill a bovine humanely on your own premises.  It's one thing to have to have one slaughtered because it's injured or sick and not fit to travel, but I think the regs for humane slaughter for butchering for human consumption may not be able to be met outside an abbatoir.  I could be wrong, but I think it's a different process and harder to do than slaughtering a pig or a sheep.

[Gregoz]

I support you wanting to slaughter at home Talitha.
It seems some would advise you against it- although it may not be something others practice, I would certainly not advise against it or call it inhuman. That said, you need to be organised and have a very clear plan. You also need the equipment and the knowhow. If you don't, get the pro's to do it!

[Sbom]

You'd have to be very accurate with your chosen method of slaughter.....not something you can easily practice 

I'd love to home kill ours but would be terrified of causing unnecessary stress and agony if I got it wrong 

I've seen a good few cows killed on farm by profession slaughtermen and even they have the occasional issue which is distressing for all involved 

Stunning pre kill seems better all round to me, but everyone is different........

[Backinwellies]

Stunning pre kill seems better all round to me, but everyone is different........

Legally Must be stunned even if home slaughtered

[Sbom]

Stunning pre kill seems better all round to me, but everyone is different........

Legally Must be stunned even if home slaughtered

I thought you could just shoot? I'm sure I've seen articles by Tim Tyne where he just shoots?
Sheep and pigs anyhow...

[Marches Farmer]

Not sure if it's still legal but I've known a couple of farmers have downer cows slaughtered by the knackerman on farm.  Our knackerman has always done an excellent job - very calm and takes as much time as necessary for the animal to be settled and in exactly the right position for a single bullet to drop it like a stone.

[Rosemary]

Not sure if it's still legal but I've known a couple of farmers have downer cows slaughtered by the knackerman on farm.  Our knackerman has always done an excellent job - very calm and takes as much time as necessary for the animal to be settled and in exactly the right position for a single bullet to drop it like a stone.

Bleeding out the cracase might be a bit of a challenge though 

[Backinwellies]

Slaughter for medical reasons is very different legally to slaughter for consumption ..... Just Google home slaughter and check k legalities

[Sbom]

Just google home killing by Tim Tyne. No mention of stunning and just for home consumption.
Seems perfectly legal? Again not sure about doing cattle though...

[Factotum]

Sorry, but please read this: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/slaughter-poultry-livestock-and-rabbits-for-home-consumption

It clearly states that you MUST stun before killing.

Sue

[Sbom]

Just re read the Tim Tyne article and apparently using a shotgun counts as stunning and killing 

[Factotum]

I wouldn't dream of doing that to any cattle  - apart from not having the experience to be sure of a clean kill, what would be done with all the waste products?

Various parts (brain, skull, spinalcord, tonsils, intestines etc, etc) are classed as Category 1 waste and must be stained and disposed of according to the regulations. Then there's the butchery that would need to be done. An average Shetland steer might produce about 200kg (or more) of meat - that takes a long time to process. And finally any meat can only be eaten by the person killing the steer and their immediate family - i.e those sharing the same house.

I don't think it's practical to do home slaughter on cattle - leave it to the professionals, get the carcase properly butchered and enjoy eating the meat & selling it to friends & neighbours.

Sue