The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Pigs => Topic started by: GBov on December 05, 2019, 07:01:31 pm

Title: Home killing?
Post by: GBov on December 05, 2019, 07:01:31 pm
Having only kept pigs in the US I am trying to find out everything I can about the UK processing rules.

I used to kill and process my own pigs in my yard but I am guessing, in the land that invented red tape, the rules may be different here? :innocent:

One of my neighbors here is a licensed hunter/gun owner so the kill shot is no problem, despite my no longer having a gun but....

Is it legal for me to do all the processing at home? 

Usually, I raise pot belly pigs as they are small enough for me to handle on my own and no huge amount of pork to deal with, all at once.
Title: Re: Home killing?
Post by: SallyintNorth on December 05, 2019, 07:15:56 pm
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/slaughter-poultry-livestock-and-rabbits-for-home-consumption (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/slaughter-poultry-livestock-and-rabbits-for-home-consumption)
Title: Re: Home killing?
Post by: GBov on December 05, 2019, 07:29:09 pm
I can honestly say I have never stunned any animal of any kind using a bullet to the brain.

Killed them instantly, yes.  Stunned?  No! 

My understanding of the word "stun" is that it is something an animal or person will recover from!

Thank you for the link, I got a  :roflanim:from it and now I know that what I have been doing all along, I can keep doing here.  Whey hey!
Title: Re: Home killing?
Post by: harmony on December 05, 2019, 09:44:31 pm

For home slaughter you must dispatch the animal yourself .


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[font=&amp]You don’t need a licence to kill animals to eat at home, provided:[/font]
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[font=&amp] you own the animal and you kill it on your property[/l]
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  • [font=&amp] you’re killing it for you or your immediate family who live on your property to eat[/font]
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  • [font=&amp][/font][/l]


Title: Re: Home killing?
Post by: sabrina on December 08, 2019, 09:23:22 pm
I think to even start to kill your animals at home you must be experienced. Getting it wrong would be a total nightmare. Talking about doing it is not easy I would expect. You raise them, could you then kill them and make a good quick job. We take ours to Dingwall and that is hard enough. I take them in myself as they are used to seeing me every day. I stay calm but once back in the car I feel so bad but we raise them for meat and I make sure they get a good life with the best of care. Killing them myself, never going to happen.

Title: Re: Home killing?
Post by: GBov on December 08, 2019, 09:37:46 pm
Quote from: sabrina on December 08, 2019, 09:23:22 pm
I think to even start to kill your animals at home you must be experienced. Getting it wrong would be a total nightmare. Talking about doing it is not easy I would expect. You raise them, could you then kill them and make a good quick job. We take ours to Dingwall and that is hard enough. I take them in myself as they are used to seeing me every day. I stay calm but once back in the car I feel so bad but we raise them for meat and I make sure they get a good life with the best of care. Killing them myself, never going to happen.

That is a very good point, well made.  Fortunately, I have vast experience in home meat production having raised 100% of the meat my family eats for many years now. 

Add in foraging, fishing, trapping, and roadkill, I am pretty good at putting dinner on the table. As I posted my question in the pig section I only mentioned pigs but all manner of animals came and went in my very tiny homestead.

I am thrilled that what I have done in the states is legal for me to keep doing here as I was a touch worried that it wouldn't be and already I am missing the quality I produce.  Nothing in a supermarket can compare with home-raised pork!

The wording on the DEFRA document though had me  :roflanim:at its wording.  Blimey, whoever wrote it needs to look up the definition of STUN!