Page 189 - Agriculture_Form_Three

Agriculture for Secondary Schools

Handling and processing of pork
Pig is essentially kept for pork production. It is a rapidly expanding livestock
enterprise in East Africa. However, one of the challenges facing the sector is scarcity
of proper facilities for slaughtering pigs. In Tanzania, for instance, many pig farmers
have to slaughter their pigs within their own facilities or sell them to the butcher
man. Nevertheless, in this section, you will learn the steps involved in slaughtering
pigs and preparing the carcass for sale. The steps you will learn are, however, for
small scale pig slaughtering house or slab.

Preparations for slaughter
The first step in slaughtering pigs or any animals is to ensure that all equipment
required for the operation are ready at hand. Whenever possible, all equipment
should be made of stainless steel. Stainless steel equipment is strong and do not rust
and it is easy to clean. All equipment and tools should be kept clean and in good
working order. Tools needed in slaughtering pigs include stunning (gun, electric,
heavy club), sticking knife, skinning knife (curved), block and tackle/hoist, meat
hacksaw, sharpening stone and steel, scalding barrel, working bench, water boiler,
thermometer, hog hook, gas fire torch for singeing, buckets as well as gambrel and
dressing cradle.

After having all the tools and equipment in order, the next step is to bring the animal
to the slaughtering house/slab. Pigs are sensitive to stressful handling. When they
are selected to be slaughtered, they must be treated humanely. If pigs are roughly
handled shortly before slaughter, the meat may show signs of PSE (Pale, Soft and
Exudative) and DFD (Dark, Firm and Dry). These conditions reduce the keeping
quality of the meat. It is important that pigs that are to be slaughtered should be set
aside for at least 12 hours during which they should be given plenty of water but not
solid food.
Slaughtering procedure for pigs
Slaughtering procedures for pigs involve stunning, sticking the throat, scalding,
singeing, skinning, evisceration as well as washing and splitting of the carcass.

Stunning: Pigs are very defensive animals and would always try to run away
or defend themselves when they feel threatened. Stunning is done to make them
unconscious and make it easy for the operator during throat-slitting (sticking the
throat). Stunning is done in different ways depending on available equipment. It
could be by electric shock, by stunning-gun or by a heavy blow to the forehead
slightly above the eyes using a blunt club or pole axe.
Sticking the throat: Sticking process is done immediately after the pig has fallen
unconscious. The pig should then be raised to speed up the bleeding process.

Student’s Book Form Three
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AGRICULTURE FORM 3 9.11.2022.indd 178 10/01/2025 12:31