The Muslim approach to slaughtering goats

[Buster]

So since I am considering raising goats for meat, I thought it might be a good idea if I found out whether or not I could do the processing. Physically I know I can, but I want to make sure I can muster the gumption to do what is necessary. A few weeks ago a BYC friend worked with me on processing some roosters, and I found it was a snap. So it occurred to me it might be a good idea to do the same thing with goats.

A colleague of mine is from Pakistan and is of the Muslim faith. He grew up farming back home, and one of his favorite meats is goat meat. He goes to a local farm, buys the goat, and slaughters it there himself. He has offered to let me help him next time he goes so I can get an idea about what it is all about.

One reason he slaughters his own is because he is very devout, and believes the animal must be killed by someone of the Muslim faith, at least as I understand it. Part of the reason for this is there are very particular steps that must be taken in order for the slaughter to be considered a clean one.

Here's my question.

I know the killing has to be done a certain way. When I do it at my home I plan on using a gun, so that's unimportant. I don't need to know how to do that. But is there anything else specific anyone can think of that makes the process different? In other words, is the opportunity he is giving me going to be of practical use for a backyard operation?

A bit obscure, I realize, but in case someone here is familiar with the issue.

 

[freemotion]

Can't tell you too much, but I think thoroughly bleeding the animal is a big part of it, too. At least according to a local restaurant owner I get to talking with on occasion about food quality....and the lack of availability of quality food. I wish I could understand him better, though, his accent is quite thick. Once, I was talking animatedly about wheat, and he was replying about weeds (nettles, specifically, as his wife finally clarified when I got very confused!)

How it is killed impacts how much it bleeds out. I'd take him up on his offer. Kosher generally also means very high standards of quality, religious reasons aside.

 

[username taken]

Hi Buster,

I have a slightly different perspective on the issue, and not much knowledge of the Muslim faith however I do have a little bit to do with supplying Muslim consumers with goat and sheep meat.

I belong to a group of goat breeders who supply the Muslim population in Canberra, Australia with goat meat. We slaughter approximately 70 wethers per week. Obviously they are done at the abbatoir and not at home.

All our goat meat is certified Halal and I believe the slaughtering is done in a very humane way. The animals are stunned first by an electrical probe which is simply touched to the back of the head - in our country the Halal guidelines allow for stunning as long as it is reversible - and the electrical stun is certainly reversible, if you put the animal into the corner it will wake up in 5 mins or so. After stunning their throats are cut by a certified Halal butcher. The skinning, gutting etc is the same as normal, and afterwards the Halal butcher blesses/prays over the carcass - forgive me, I have no idea what exactly this step entails.

I also have a few people come out to my farm and slaughter their animals there - they are Hindus and I dont know the particular steps they take.

I think helping your friend out with his next goat slaughter would be an excellent way for you to learn the process - there is no better way than to have a go yourself. I taught myself without anyone's guidance or advice, and I would jump at the chance to have a teacher.

muster the gumption to do what is necessary

Honestly that is the hardest part for me, the actual killing part. I have no problems with processing the carcase but the hardest thing for me is to get the killing over and done with. Turn it from an animal into meat. To be honest I struggle with the decision every time, I hate taking a life however I also know that I raised those animals for meat, that was their purpose from the day they were born, and while they lived I gave them the best possible life they could have.

 

[freemotion]

That is very good to know, UT, I hope it is the same way here in the USA. How different from the way the animals who provide food for most of the population here are handled, often with extreme cruelty.

 

[username taken]

Just thought I'd add, Halal slaughter allows for stunning, but Kosher slaughter does not. With Kosher slaughter the animal must bleed out from their throat being cut.

I completely respect the culture and those who consume Kosher meat, but for me personally I dont believe Kosher killing is humane. Halal is, Kosher isnt. But as I said, that is my personal opinion only, and I have no problem and completely respect people who slaughter animals and consumer meat in the Kosher way

 

[Buster]

Just thought I'd add, Halal slaughter allows for stunning, but Kosher slaughter does not. With Kosher slaughter the animal must bleed out from their throat being cut.

I completely respect the culture and those who consume Kosher meat, but for me personally I dont believe Kosher killing is humane. Halal is, Kosher isnt. But as I said, that is my personal opinion only, and I have no problem and completely respect people who slaughter animals and consumer meat in the Kosher way

The odd thing is back yard chicken folk often cut the chicken's throat without stunning and don't think a thing about. Rabbit people do stun the rabbit before they cut, and big commercial operators are required to stun their chickens, but not your average chicken raiser. I wonder if we are just less inclined to see the feathered creatures in the same way we do the furred.

Me, I chop my chickens. Nice, clean, quick. It probably doesn't bleed out as well, but some things are more important to me than others.

I'm not sure how my friend approaches the killing, whether he stuns the goat first or not. But I'll accept his approach without comment regardless and then do it my way when I process for myself.

 

[freemotion]

Hmmm, my Muslim guy used the term kosher.....probably because he knew I wouldn't know halal. He said "Muslim Kosher." Is that different?

 

[beefy]

is there a religious reason for them wanting to slaughter on site or is it just for convenience?

 

[Buster]

is there a religious reason for them wanting to slaughter on site or is it just for convenience?

Convenience, in my friend's case. He lives in town in a nice neighborhood. Butchering a goat in the back yard might be frowned upon.

[And sorry to the mods for posting in the wrong forum... couldn't find a meat goat section.]

 

[lupinfarm]

We cut our chickens' throats, but we let them hang upside down for a bit so they get kind of dizzy and disoriented.