I've read that some folks cut the jugler and others go for the heart (divorcies need not respond). Which is best? Do pigs have juglers along the neck like people? Just where is it located? And the correct way to do it. Do you hang it first or just after shooting it? Still months away but want to get it right the first time. All opinions desired. Thanks Noel
Your aim is severing the carotid artery which you can find beneath the breastbone. That should be done right after shooting (stunning) to avoid blood splah on the flesh. Its recommended to bleed the pig within two minutes of shooting or whatever method you use to stun, that means it isn't yet hanging. Do an internet search for "Farmers Bulletin Number 2265" and you can download a comprehensive instruction booklet about the entire butchering process from shooting to cooking. It helped us A LOT our first time. Best wishes.
What I've seen of the Farmers Bulletin Number 2265 looks great, but I've been unable to find the full PDF (only posts with first 36 pages). Does anyone know where the entire document is available? Thanks! ZORK75
Noel. I shoot it, hang it, cut the jugular in the neck and let it bleed into a tub. I do cut both sides of the neck for a quicker bleed out.
It really doesn't matter where you cut the jugler vain as it runs from the heart to the brain. The last pig I stuck I cut it from ear to ear just below the jaw and it is best to do it just after you plink a 22 bullet straight into its brain. As soon as you shoot the forhead the pig will drop straight down and remain motionless for about a minute. This will give you enough time to cut its throat before the nerves will start making the carcass twitch and jump around. If you have a partner with you they can be looping the pull rope around its feet while you cut its throat. If your by yourself you may have to wait till the pig quites moving before you can hang it to bleed out. Good luck and good eating.
I bought some tools from a retired butcher and he had the Morton Salt Complete Guide to Home Meat Curing. It is a fine little book. I've always plinked the hog with a 22 then I stuck the heart. I also usually sliced into the brisket and bruised the meat. r.h. is right, I should slit up by the head. Morton Salt tells how to stick the hog correctly. First they say to never butcher when the hog is over-heated, excited, or fatigued. They recommend to get a loop around a hind foot, hoist the hog up in the air, then stick it. Just going by our past pigs, if we raised them up inverted by a hind leg, they would have been over-heated, excited, and fatigued. So would we. They also say you can just roll the hog over on his back and stick him there. They don't recommend shooting first, they want the heart to pump with the full brain signals coming to it. We've got four more hogs geting big that we can practice on, we'll see how these methods work.
I don't see how cutting the heart while a hog is still alive can be beneficial. And I'm doing a double take reading about hoisting the pig in the air by a leg, while still alive? Did I read that right? Sounds dangerous to the people involved (maybe cause I'm smaller than most of you guys and do it myself) but it also sounds like the meat could be off flavor and off color is the hog gets too wound up, not to mention it is probably not a humane method for the hog. I've only butchered one. Killed it with a .22 to the brain then cut the carotid. We did everything as closely to the bulletin as we could and the meat came out great- better than supermarket and better than the hogs we've purchased butchered for us in the past. Since I had raised that hog myself, it was important that she not suffer or freak at the last minute. I was very pleased with the results- though I did lose it emotionally a bit right afterward (it was the first large animal I ever killed). I regrouped and started the long cleaning out process. For me at least, it was a straightforward method that offered the most humane and efficient way to slaughter.
You stick, or bleed the hog, while it is still alive to pump all the blood out of the meat. If you shoot it then wait up to two minutes, you are wasting your time. The heart has to be pumping to clear out the blood. I'm not advocating the method in the Morton book, I was just saying what they said. I think it would get the hog worked up, too. And even though I am great big, when I hoist up a hog, I use a hoist. My wife can hoist one, and she is small. It doesn't matter your size if you have a good hoist or winch. The wonders of leverage.
Ed's right on the bleeding part, you have to be quick. I've always shot and hung the hog, then bled it. I can't complain about it, I always get a tub of blood, and the meat is wonderful.
I see. We didn't get the blood though we had wanted to. Had we a hoist I think we could have shot it, hung it, and then collected the blood. We will defintiely have a hoist the next time.
