# blood spots in home s/b pig



## Sbrock (Oct 25, 2006)

So, he was a young pig - but weighed about 200-210, long and lean (we're not much into the fat - he had good cover, trimmed off a lot for our venison sausage). Manner of taking - he was walked calmly out of the pig area to a pile of his favorite noms where we let him take a mouthful then popped him with a .22 mag. He dropped like a rock and was immediately stuck to bleed out. Once the death kick was gone, he was eviscerated and taken up to our main barn for skinning and hanging for the night. His liver, heart, kidneys, spleen... all pristine. Not a spot on them, not a blemish in them. This morning we split, and broke each half into thirds before cutting him into "packages." This is where we ran into some trouble. Most of the meat was pristine, but some of the loin, and parts of the ham had some blood spots through them. We didn't lose much to the blood spots over all (about the equivalent of six chops that we couldn't soak it out of), but is there a way to prevent/reduce them when we do the next pig? What may have caused them? 
tx


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

I would hazard that the pig was not bled out quickly enough. See:

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/blog/2007/10/question-on-killing-blow.html

Blood pressure gets too high causing capillaries to burst.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
Read about our on-farm butcher shop project:
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/butchershop
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/csa


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## Sbrock (Oct 25, 2006)

THanks Walter... I'll try bleeding the next the way you described in that article.  She's going to be a hard one for me.... She's a beautiful and very growthy gilt with a great personality. *sigh* she's a 230# lap pig.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

The good news is that although the blood spots are unsightly the meat is still good to eat.


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## bruceki (Nov 16, 2009)

I've had blood spots where the shot has taken out the brain stem of the pig. This stops the hearts pumping action immediately, and results in an incomplete bleed. A better shot will take out the upper functions of the brain but leave the brain stem (and heartbeat) alone for the duration of the bleedout. If the hear has stopped the speed of the sticking won't matter much; you want the heart to continue beating for another 20-30 seconds for the best bleedout. 

For me, what's worked is to draw an X from eye to opposite ear, and then shoot at the top of the intersection of the two lines. If I cut the X in half, I get a V, and I shoot where the bullet is near the bottom of the V, but between the two lines, with the shot from the front, angling down, exiting between the front feet if the bullet makes it that far. The pig will typically drop, you then flip it over and stick.


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## Sbrock (Oct 25, 2006)

Thanks for the article Walter! Hammy went much better. Very few blood spots at all in her, and those I'm sure because hubbs popped her in the barn rather than waiting for her to walk outside. She bled out much faster than Porkers, and we hung her up like in your article rather than carrying her to the hanger in the shop first. The whole process seemed faster overall from bleedout, skinning, and processing... Couldn't ALL be previous experience. I've only done the one pig... But many deer.


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

Glad to hear it went well. It is definitely a learning experience. Lots of little tricks.


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