# killing the pig without a gun



## DayBird

Is there anyway to humanely / semi-humanely kill a potbelly pig if I have no gun?


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## hunter92

I heard if you hit them on the head with a sledge hammer it paralyzes them.

Never tried it. Sounds inhame. then stick. A slow death. I hate to see anything suffer. IMO
hunter92:nerd:


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## tinknal

The old timers used to stick them, basicly using a sharp boning type knife. If you can restrain the pig it's fairly easy, IF you know what you are doing. Sometimes they would attach the knife to a pole and just walk into the pen and do it. A farrowing crate would probably work.

You need to stick the knife above the V shaped bone where the neck meets the chest. Stick deep, edge up, and thrust upward. This will cut a main artery,and the pig will bleed to death within a minute. Best not to tell squemish types about this.


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## james dilley

Use A 8# sledge hammer right between the eyes. It will Kill it in a second if hit hard enough..


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## starjj

The old timers used to stick them, basicly using a sharp boning type knife. If you can restrain the pig it's fairly easy, IF you know what you are doing. Sometimes they would attach the knife to a pole and just walk into the pen and do it. A farrowing crate would probably work.

You need to stick the knife above the V shaped bone where the neck meets the chest. Stick deep, edge up, and thrust upward. This will cut a main artery,and the pig will bleed to death within a minute. Best not to tell squemish types about this. 
Today 10:32 PM 

And if you don't know what your doing your going to have a mess with a screaming pig and blood everywhere. I saw it done wrong once not pretty and not humane


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## tinknal

Yes star, thats why I capitolized the word "if".............


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## Ronney

Unless you know what your doing with a sledge hammer or knife, or have access to a stun gun, don't even contemplate it. Even if you know what your doing, there is nothing humane about sticking a pig. There is nothing particularly nice about standing around waiting for an animal to bleed to death. If you can't kill it humanely yourself, get somebody in to do it for you.

I have a particularly bad memory of somebody sticking a pig which caused me to lose my temper to the point that I was incoherent and spitting because of the length of time it took to die and the needles cruelty when the chap doing the killing actually owned firearms and could have dealt to it in seconds.

My view only but as a farmer and one that eats what the farm produces, my one abiding rule is that all stock is killed as quickly as possible.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## GeorgeK

I've seen films of electroshock used to stun the pig and then they stick it. It induces a granmal siezure, and personally although I'm sure the pig doesn't feel anything (speaking as someone who's been zapped in a physics lab by a stupid TA and also hit by lightning) the animal will be flopping around and I don't think I would risk injury to myself by attempting this method. I know someone who tried to get a pig drunk enough to pass out so he could stick it quietly. Didn't work because the pig drank all the beer and was still standing


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## spam4einstein

be humane for god's sake and get or borrow a gun. A brand new .22 is under $100 at wallmart.


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## Laura Workman

Just possibly, the issue is not having enough money to buy a gun or having a problem with owning a gun or borrowing one. Just possibly, the issue is firing a gun where it is illegal to do so. We're not all way out in the country. 

Living in suburbia, I plan to use my .22 regardless, but I have a gulley, so can be sure the shot won't go astray and hurt someone. Some are not so lucky. Are there any options for those folks, other than loading the pig up and hauling it to the butcher?


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## spam4einstein

perhaps an assumption on my part was out of line. Just figured if your in a area acceptable to raising and butchering hogs, a mild BANG wouldnt be a problem. I may be wrong. However, if we cant afford to treat our animals as humanely as reasonably possible, then perhaps we shouldnt be keeping them. Butchering them humanely should be as important as housing them and feeding them in a responsible manner. If your a fellon and cant own a gun, then do what you have too do. But a small amount of money, or silly anti-gun attitude is not an excuse to be irresponsible.


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## Patty0315

He said it was a potbelly pig, yes some do eat them. A sledge will stun,knock em out or kill it. Hit it hard the first time , no second chances. Have a good sharp knife ready and slit its throat RIGHT after you hit it. It will bleed out. The other option is to just slit its throat if you can get close enough safely. If the knife is sharp enough it wont feel much. Think about it when you cut yourself with a very sharp knife you sometimes don't even know it at first.


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## beeman97

Using the sticking method is not as inhumane as some here are making it out to be. 
If done Properly, by slicing the jugular vein, it is the most humane process available & the only method used by processors who work on a Kosher animals
.
There is no shot to the head nor hit by some heavy object or any other method to render the animal unconscience before slitting the throat.
It is a scientific FACT that by cutting off the blood flow to the brain you immediately & without exception remove any pain involved in dying. When the blood stops flowing there can be no further transmission from the electrons or neurons in the brain. If you research the bible it is described there as well as the proper way to dispatch an animal for religous consumption.
While the body will still react because the heart is still pumping blood to other parts of the body there is no actual pain to the animal. If you research kosher butchering you will see they use proper containment or confinement & swift VERY sharp knives to render an animal for consumption.
So in my opinion the answer to the question asked at the beginning of this thread is YES there is another way to kill without using a gun. 
I mean after all folks ,, animals have been killed for eating for thousands of yrs ,, how long have guns been around? not very long.
Good Luck with what ever way you decide to go with it
Rick


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## hayzor

I've seen 2 alternate ways - neither were as quick as a gun.
1- smack in the head w/ a framing hammer. It dropped the pig immediately and then was stuck. Not much movement. The guy that did it was very experienced, having done many that way. 

2- This one was in Panama. The guy picked up the hind legs of his hog and proceeded to walk it into the ocean. Pig was squealing for several minutes and eventually could not keep his head up enough, took in a couple gulps of water and finally drowned. Obviously not recommended. I'll give the guy credit though. The pig outweighed him probably 3 to 1 and he did what he needed to do. No guns around and he would have been killed if he had tried to stick it.


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## MissKitty

Dear God have mercy...just melt down some sleeping pills and shoot it up with an overdose....Better yet call the humane society to come get it...Or drop it off at their door and run...MissKItty


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## Dan in WY

Here's an easy one. I had a job for awhile as a feral animal removal technician. I trapped and hunted feral hogs to remove them from a delicate area that they were destroying. To kill the pigs caught in traps in and near towns, we used to immobilize them chemically using succinol choline injections or by hog tieing them. If you mix potassium chloride, commonly known as NO SALT salt substitute, and water you get a substance which will stop their hearts when injected directly into the heart. 30 cc's is plenty for most pigs.


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## MissKitty

IMO Dan you have the right idea...I could handle a needle.. but my god, a poker and slit.its throat... hitting it i the head with a sledge hammer...that just seems inhumane to me...but I am a softy...MIssKitty


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## james dilley

I had A boar hog we killed about 18 yrs. ago ,That boar was Shot with A 22 Mag and it never went down ,My dad shot him 9 times in the head. I know that was over board. I then shot him 1 time with the 44 and he dropped. So you need to know where to hit him the first time.


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## Laura Workman

Aye, Miss Kitty, the heart will stop, but the animal won't lose consciousness for a bit, and during that time, it's panicing and wondering what went so desperately wrong as to cause that great pain at its very core. Happens a lot when they put down dogs at the pound. They're scared to death until they die. Personally, I don't care how long an animal takes to die as long as it's unconscious immediately and until death.


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## Oxankle

Both the Muslims and the Jews have strict moral guidelines having to do with killing animals for food. 

The Jews use an extremely sharp knife to cut the jugular vein and let the animal bleed out. The sharpness of the knife is such that the animal feels nothing but the drowsiness of falling asleep as its blood drains. 

I've never seen a Rabbi kill an animal, but I have stories of Muslims killing their animals. Inexperienced people with animals they are not used to handling--one story of a bull putting a couple of them in the hospital. 
Ox


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## bill not in oh

Veterinarian?????


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## MissKitty

Oh Laura I did not know that....And we had to have our "baby" a toy poodle put to sleep...he was 13 and having one seziure after another...I am broken hearted that we did this now... :shrug: .MissKitty


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## Ed Norman

Do you want to eat the pig or just kill it? You can put it in a cage and throw a tarp over it and let your car exhaust run under the tarp for 15-20 minutes. I don't know about eating it after that, but it will be dead. I've done that with skunks in traps. 

In the Morton Salt book on butchering, they say to hang a hog upside down and stick it. We gave it a try once. It certainly worked, but I had a headache for two days. We can use a gun here, so that is our method.


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## DayBird

MissKitty said:


> Better yet call the humane society to come get it.


Do you think I could talk them into cutting it up and wrapping the meat for me?  

I don't own a gun. I really do not want to own a gun and "No" I'm not anti-gun. I'm just afraid my wife will shoot me. :nana: 


My wife is not an American citizen and it is against her culture to eat an animal that has not been butchered by bleeding. We're trying to get her grandmother to come over after Christmas (if she's approved for a visitor's Visa). Maybe I'll just wait until then and get Sofia to tell me how to properly do it.

An ax does an amazing job with a chickens head. Too bad I don't own a guillotine.


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## MARYDVM

Aye, Miss Kitty, the heart will stop, but the animal won't lose consciousness for a bit, and during that time, it's panicing and wondering what went so desperately wrong as to cause that great pain at its very core. Happens a lot when they put down dogs at the pound. 

Don't know what they are using for euthanasia solution at that pound. Standard drug at vet clinics is pentobarbitol - animal loses conciousness first, heart stops next.


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## Dan in WY

MARYDVM said:


> Aye, Miss Kitty, the heart will stop, but the animal won't lose consciousness for a bit, and during that time, it's panicing and wondering what went so desperately wrong as to cause that great pain at its very core. Happens a lot when they put down dogs at the pound.
> 
> Don't know what they are using for euthanasia solution at that pound. Standard drug at vet clinics is pentobarbitol - animal loses conciousness first, heart stops next.


Hi Mary,
I see by your handle that you're a DVM.
Have you ever heard of using childrens tylenol cold medicine as an improvised euthanasia solution for dogs? I was told by someone who should know that this stuff will put a canine out of this world in the same fashion as a human dying from a barbituate overdose. Have you heard of this?
Not trying to hijack this thread, just curious.


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## MARYDVM

Enough Tylenol will kill a dog by causing liver damage. Not quick, certainly not painless.


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## Ronney

This is getting a little off topic but I don't know what sort of drug they use at that pound either. Over the years I've had several elderly cats and dogs euthanased and the animal is dead in much less than a minute. The last dog I had put down had cancer and could barely breath let alone walk but could still eat and drink. I gave her a bit of meat as the vet inserted the needle - she never got to finish it. That's as it should be so may be that pound needs a bit of investigation.

Daybird, I like your sense of humour  but at the risk of offending, I have quite strong ideas about when in Rome...... Like your country, NZ too is becoming increasingly multicultural with people wanting to bring their culture with them. I categorically will not sell my stock to some ethnic groups because of their cultural beliefs in the way they kill animals. That might be the way they do it at home but they are no longer at home and their methods are not acceptable here either legally or ethically. Legally a pig has to be at least stunned, if not shot, before it is stuck. As an example of this, I had a group of Pacific Islanders turn up to buy 6 weaner pigs. They paid me for them and then asked if I had a broom. I was somewhat confused as to why they wanted a broom  but they were going to kill them there and then - place the broom handle across their throats with two men standing on either end of it until they were throttled. Not on my bloody farm they wern't nor did I want a broken broom handle. They got given their money back and told to ---- off. 

In many ways the argument is academic as ALL animals are bled regardless - their meat would be bloody awful if they wern't so even if you were to shoot this pig, you would still bleed it. 

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## GeorgeK

not all animals are bled, like your potential customers show. Much of that is cultural, and once in a while while hunting etc, you might have an instant kill heart shot, in which case it doesn't bleed out. I agree, I don't care for that flavor but some do. In some SE asian cultures they take the animal and put it in a sack and beat it to death to "release the adrenalin" or drown it or tie it down, douse it with kerosene and burn it alive. Just academically thinking, Don't you think a broom handle would break before a pig was suffocated? Even little ones are strong and tough








Ronney said:


> This is getting a little off topic but I don't know what sort of drug they use at that pound either. Over the years I've had several elderly cats and dogs euthanased and the animal is dead in much less than a minute. The last dog I had put down had cancer and could barely breath let alone walk but could still eat and drink. I gave her a bit of meat as the vet inserted the needle - she never got to finish it. That's as it should be so may be that pound needs a bit of investigation.
> 
> Daybird, I like your sense of humour  but at the risk of offending, I have quite strong ideas about when in Rome...... Like your country, NZ too is becoming increasingly multicultural with people wanting to bring their culture with them. I categorically will not sell my stock to some ethnic groups because of their cultural beliefs in the way they kill animals. That might be the way they do it at home but they are no longer at home and their methods are not acceptable here either legally or ethically. Legally a pig has to be at least stunned, if not shot, before it is stuck. As an example of this, I had a group of Pacific Islanders turn up to buy 6 weaner pigs. They paid me for them and then asked if I had a broom. I was somewhat confused as to why they wanted a broom  but they were going to kill them there and then - place the broom handle across their throats with two men standing on either end of it until they were throttled. Not on my bloody farm they wern't nor did I want a broken broom handle. They got given their money back and told to ---- off.
> 
> In many ways the argument is academic as ALL animals are bled regardless - their meat would be bloody awful if they wern't so even if you were to shoot this pig, you would still bleed it.
> 
> Cheers,
> Ronnie


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## Ronney

George, you've given some even worse examples  

Given that a couple of the men did have knives, I would imagine that the idea would have been to stick them once the piglet was throttled although I don't know how successful that would have been - and I never got to find out. 
I would have thought my broom handle would have broken too but these were only 8 week old piglets and I guess with one or two holding it down and another one or two doing the throttling it possibly wouldn't have been too hard on the broom handle - but again, I never got to find out.

I agree, there are some situations where animals are not bled but this tends to be circumstantial (i.e. hunting) or ethnic. Most of us prefer out domestic meat bled.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## highlands

MissKitty said:


> IMO Dan you have the right idea...I could handle a needle.. but my god, a poker and slit.its throat... hitting it i the head with a sledge hammer...that just seems inhumane to me...but I am a softy...MIssKitty


There is nothing inhumane about hitting it in the head to knock it out. Properly done it will feel no pain. I did this to my wife and she never felt a thing. No, I did not follow through and sticker to bleed her out!    It was an accident. She stepped in front of a big fence post I was putting in the ground and caught it square on the forehead as I shifted it. The blow knocked her cold. She has absolutely no memory of the incident nor of the following ten seconds. She did not not even feel the blow. She described that she leaned forward to check something on the post and the next thing she knew she was lying on her back looking up at the sky with me cradling her in my arms. There was no consciousness in-between.

The fact is, hitting her on the head was a clean, humane death, er, knock out. A four pound hammer blow to the forehead of a pig works similarly. You then have time while the pig is unconscious to slit the carotid artery and it dies without feeling anything. It is completely humane. I would argue it is even more humane than electroshock which causes a seizure which is not pleasant to experience.


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