SELECTION AND CARE OF ANIMAL BEFORE SLAUGHTER
Several factors should be considered before slaughtering a hog for home consumption. The most important considerations are health, kind of animal (barrow, gilt, sow, or boar), expected meat yield, and care of the animal prior to slaughter.
Health
You should take care that an unhealthy animal is not selected for slaughter. At the time of selection, look for signs of sickness such as fever, increased breathing rate, and diarrhea. Animals suspected of being unhealthy should be treated by a veterinarian until the animal is returned to a healthy state.
Animal Care
It is important to exercise proper care of the animal prior to slaughter, if you expect to obtain high quality meat. Pen the animal in a clean, dry place the day before slaughtering. Restrict the animal from feed 24 hours prior to slaughter, but provide access to water at all times. The slaughter of hot, excited animals increases the risk of sickness, injury, and darker meat; therefore, do not run the animal or wrestle with it. Bruises and whip marks cause bloody spots which must be trimmed out.
Animal Type and Meat Yield
Highest quality pork is produced from young, healthy, well-fed, meaty hogs that weigh from 175 to 240 pounds. The meat-type hog should have full, plump, meaty hams and straight, smooth sides. Fat should be firm, evenly distributed, and not more than 1.6 to 1.7 inches average thickness over the back. The average meat-type hog produces as much pork as a family of two consumes in 10 to 12 months. Heavier, fatter hogs produce less lean and more excess fat.
A meat-type hog, when cut and trimmed according to the methods described later, will yield approximately 65 to 70 percent of its carcass weight in ham, picnic shoulder, loin, bacon, and Boston butt. Expected yields of major and minor cuts from a U.S. No. 2 hog are presented in table 1.
| Cuts | Percentage of USDA carcass weight |
| Ham (trimmed) | 19 |
| Belly (untrimmed) | 18 |
| Collar, fat back, and clear plate | 18 |
| Picnic shoulder and Boston butt (trimmed) | 17 |
| Loin (trimmed) | 17 |
| Feet, tail, and neckbones | 5 |
| Spareribs | 3 |
| Jowl (untrimmed) | 3 |
| 100 | |
| Four lean cuts[8] | 53 |
| Adapted from Smith, King & Carpenter, 1975. | |
| [8] Ham, loin, picnic shoulder, and Boston butt. | |
The slaughter of boars is not recommended. Meat from boars has a strong odor during cooking, and an off-flavor. This “sex” odor and flavor is often identified as being “soapy,” and the odor increases as boars approach sexual maturity. If old boars are to be slaughtered, they should be castrated and allowed to heal prior to being slaughtered.