How We Transport and Slaughter Our Livestock

PLEASE NOTE: This blog post will not be for everyone; it contains details of livestock slaughter that some may find offensive or repulsive.

I was recently emailed by a customer wanting to know more about our livestock handling and slaughter methods, and I thought, "That would be a great blog post!" This isn't a topic that I share about often, and for simply one reason: not everyone can handle it. Most folks following our farm want to know every step their food takes to get from field to fork, but some of these steps are less than attractive. Because of that, some prefer to be left in the dark when it comes to the harvest of livestock. If that's you, no judgment from me! However, you should probably stop reading here.

For those of you who do want to learn more about our humane handling and slaughter methods, I am happy to share. We'll dive into the loading, transportation, and slaughter, as well as the type of processor we use.

Loading & Transportation

Loading and transportation are very peaceful processes for both us and our livestock since we already use calm handling practices with our animals in the day-to-day. Patience also goes a long way when handling animals. They do not appreciate being rushed any more than you do, so we always take the loading process slowly. This process looks slightly different for our different species of poultry and livestock.

Chickens

Because chickens are too small to walk themselves onto a trailer, we use plastic crates to transport them to the poultry processor. We do this early in the morning or late in the evening while they are sleeping. Loading in the dark, they are much calmer and vaguely aware of what's going on. The chickens are loaded with enough space to move around in the crate but snug enough that they cannot be jostled during transportation. The crates are then stacked in a covered trailer with ventilation for their trip to the processor.

Cattle, Hogs, and Turkeys

Unlike chickens, these animals are capable of loading themselves onto a livestock trailer. Depending on the weather and where they are at the time, we will either walk them up to the field entrance or bring the trailer to them. Using corral panels, we create a funnel at the entrance to the trailer and calmly walk them in, giving them time to move at their own pace rather than forcing them like many commercial farms do.

At the Processor

We currently use several processors that are anywhere from 30 minutes to 2.5 hours away from our farm. Because we want to provide you with a quality product, we are very selective about which processors we use. For us, a processor must be:

• Trustworthy. Believe it or not, some processors have a reputation for giving you back meat from someone else's livestock, whether on accident or intentionally. This is a major deal-breaker since our livestock are raised to be purposefully healthier. The last thing we want is to drop off a tender grass-fed steer and pick up tough grain-fed beef!
• Able to provide custom recipes. Many processors are unwilling to change their flow, so we have to find processors that can work with us on things like sugar-free bacon, nitrite-free ham, and MSG-free sausage recipes. These recipes are expensive to produce, but crucial to meeting the needs of our customers and our family.
• USDA-inspected. There are several types of meat inspection available in the US. Because we deliver our meats outside the state of Missouri, we are required to have them processed at a facility that is inspected by the USDA. This means that a USDA inspector is present at the time of slaughter to inspect the animal and ensure that quality and welfare standards are being met. That is also the person putting the blue USDA stamp on the carcass.

Unloading

Upon arrival at the processor, the animals are unloaded immediately. We do not keep them in the trailer any longer than necessary. The chicken crates are carefully unloaded by hand, and the cattle, hogs, or turkeys are walked off the trailer to a stall.

Because slaughter is usually done first thing in the morning, we typically deliver animals to the processor the night before slaughter. These larger animals are nearly impossible to load in the dark, so loading them on the morning of slaughter is not an option. Drop-off the day prior also gives them time to settle from any stress caused by the drive, although it is generally a low-stress event. The holding stalls at the processor are always covered and provide fresh water for them to drink. 

Chickens are slightly different; because we don't want the chickens to spend any more time in the crates than what is necessary, we will load and deliver them the morning of slaughter when possible. Otherwise, they will be loaded in the dark the night before and kept covered, and with a fan for ventilation.

Slaughter

This is the part where everyone holds their breath. It's not a fun topic, even for us. While the slaughter practices we use have been developed for decades to be the most humane and effective, they still involve blood and the taking of life. We believe that as humans we were created above all other creatures and that they are given to us as provision, and we appreciate the sacrifice that they make for us. But they are God's creation as well and we do not take this lightly. We honor the lives of our slaughter animals just as much as those animals we do not eat.

The exact method for each species varies, however, the principle is the same. They are first stunned, which renders them unconscious and unable to experience pain or distress during the kill. Cattle are stunned with a captive bolt and the other animals are stunned with an electric shock. This is a humane and now commonplace practice among many slaughterhouses large and small. It ensures that the animal is quickly made unconscious and will now be unaware of the bleed-out. Within a minute of stunning, they are bled out through the carotid arteries and jugular veins, which quickly stops blood flow to the brain killing the animal.

NOTE: Many commercial poultry slaughterhouses in the US stun and kill with electrical shock. The issue is that electric shock is not 100% effective for killing, and the additional shock required to kill creates excessive tightening in the muscle. This prevents adequate bleed-out and is the reason why much of the meat you'll find in supermarkets is tough and bloody.

Once the carcass has finished bleeding out, it will be moved to another room for cooling. Cattle carcasses are hung in a walk-in refrigerator for 10-14 days before butchering. This gets the carcass down to a safe temperature and allows a natural process to occur in the meat that tenderizes it. Hog carcasses hang for 1 day, and poultry carcasses do not need to hang at all, but are instead chilled in an ice bath.

The Finished Product

If you've read this far, I'm proud of you. Like I said before, it's not a fun topic and many people simply can't handle the thought. I can assure you that I don't enjoy it any more than you do, but it is a part of life that we must come to terms with and steward to the best of our ability. The "circle of life" occurs every day in the animal kingdom whether we participate or not. And not only does well-managed livestock contribute to environmental improvement, it provides us with a food source that is high in protein and fat compounds, and vitamins we can't get elsewhere.

Once the carcass has chilled, the meat is then cut, packaged, and moved to a blast freezer where it is frozen quickly to preserve quality and freshness. Once it is frozen we will make the trip back to the processor to pick it up and restock our online farm store.

Thank you for being a conscious eater and supporting regenerative farms using humane care and slaughter practices. We appreciate you!

Your farmer,
Remi Kesten