FARMER'S 



CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



ANIMAL PRODUCTS 



SLAUGHTERING AND CURING OF 

 MEATS 



In this section we shall consider first 

 the practices of the large packing houses 

 and later the methods which may be 

 adopted on the farm. Among the sights 

 of interest in a large packing center 

 like Chicago, the abattoirs must be in- 

 cluded. The present account of slaugh- 

 tering and curing meats in these estab- 

 lishments is based on personal observa- 

 tions and on the excellent descriptions 

 by Wilder and Mohler. 



Condition of cattle before slaughter 

 — Before animals are slaughtered they 

 must be brought to a fit condition for 

 slaughter. They must not be feverish, 

 excited, or exhausted. Animals which 

 are diseased or which are killed during 

 violent exertion or immediately after 

 being driven or transported in cars for 

 long distances, do not bleed as freely 

 as they should. The result is that such 

 meat is too red and does not keep prop- 

 erly. Consequently, cattle should be al- 

 lowed to rest over night and should be 

 driven to the slaughtering floor with as 

 little excitement as possible. Any un- 

 necessary abuse and beating or poking 

 merely causes red and unsightly spots 

 on the carcass and makes bleeding less 

 perfect. 



Conditions affecting bleeding — Heiss- 

 ler found that age was without any 

 special influence on the amount of 

 blood obtained in slaughtering. Male 

 animals yield somewhat more blood than 

 females. An excessively fat condition, 

 especially in swine, brings about a strik- 

 ing diminution in the amount of blood. 

 In horses, the blood amounts to 4 to 9 

 per cent of the body weight, in cows 4 

 to 5.75 per cent, in calves 4 to 6.7 per 

 cent, in sheep 4 to 7.5 per cent, in hogs 

 1.5 to 5.75 per cent. In rabbits and 

 other small animals, bleeding is perfect, 

 even if the throat is cut without pre- 

 viously stunning or otherwise rendering 



the animals unconscious. In such cases, 

 the blood flows out quite completely, 

 since the brain is intact and the blood 

 pressure is not lowered at the outset. 

 In large animals, however, this is not 

 the case, but bleeding is just as com- 

 plete after stunning as when the animal 

 is slaughtered, according to the Jewish. 

 method, without previous stunning. 

 Moreover, no differences have been found 

 in the keeping quality of the meat, 

 whether bled by the Jewish method or 

 after previous stunning. 



Formerly animals were pithed or 

 speared before bleeding. This consisted 

 in severing the spinal cord at the base 

 of the skull. The method suffers from 

 the great disadvantage that the animals 

 remain conscious until the blood is re- 

 moved, and bleeding is also quite im- 

 perfect. The best and most humane 

 method of slaughter is, therefore, that 

 in which the animal is stunned and then 

 bled. Humanitarian sentiments are 

 thereby satisfied, since the animal is in- 

 stantly rendered unconscious, bleeds 

 freely since he medulla oblongata, the 

 regulating center of the heart's action, 

 is uninjured. 



Slaughtering of cattle—Cattle may 

 be prodded forward in the chute by 

 means of a pole with a rounded knob 

 on the end, without bruising the meat. 

 In the stunning chute they are knocked 

 or stunned with a long handled four- 

 pound hammer, which delivers a blow 

 on the center of the forehead. A slid- 

 ing door in the chute allows the ani- 

 mal to be rolled out for hoisting, after 

 which it is stuck and headed. Both 

 arteries and veins are severed, so as to 

 allow free bleeding. In removing the 

 tongue as much fat and meat as possible 

 is left in connection with this organ. 

 The skin is cleanly removed from 

 around the horns and care is taken to 

 leave a full shaped neck in heading. 



