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Remember - fast your pigs before slaughter

UK - Geo. Adams has reported a significant increase in pigs being sent for slaughter with full stomachs. Other abattoirs may be experiencing a similar increase.

National Pig Association THE VOICE OF THE UK PIG INDUSTRY NPA is active on members' behalf in Brussels & Whitehall, and with processors, supermarkets & caterers - fighting for the growth and pros-perity of the UK pig industry.

Some of the full stomachs - the size of rugby balls – that were removed yesterday.

Mark Haighton at Geo. Adams says he can offer no explanation as to why this should be happening… ‘but it is a situation where no-one wins’. The food in the gut at the time of slaughter is essentially food thrown down the drain. ‘At a time when feed prices are on the increase I would have thought producers would be trying to save as much as possible.’ Also, the more weight there is in the gut and stomach, the poorer the killing-out percentage.

Swollen stomachs and guts caused by excess feed create problems in the slaughterhouse. ‘Great care has to be taken to remove the gut because one mistake with a knife will burst the stomach/gut causing the contents to be spilled into the body cavity. These carcases then need to be detained while they are cleaned up.’

Further to this, the stomachs have to be physically squeezed empty before they can be processed along with the rest of the empty stomachs. A man has to be made available for this.

Geo. Adams asks pig-keepers to bear in mind they should be fasting their pigs for at least 12 hours before sending them to slaughter.

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