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Abattoir experience

What happens on work experience at an abattoir? Are you expected to get involved in the slaughtering or do you just observe?
you need a license to slaughter animals so you will not be asked to slaughter/inspect any carcasses officially, but of course you will be shown what the food inspectors are looking for when they inspect carcasses and you can watch slaughtering if you wish :smile:
Reply 2
It's just observational due to health and safety etc...
If you want to go to one try Staffordshire Meat Packers in Bucknall. They are really nice people, very professional and fantastic with the animals. They also do all the cutting and packing as there's a shop on site too so its interesting from that point of view too. If the same vet is still there he was an extremely intesting chap who has worked all over the world.
Reply 3
Original post by ponyvet
It's just observational due to health and safety etc...
If you want to go to one try Staffordshire Meat Packers in Bucknall. They are really nice people, very professional and fantastic with the animals. They also do all the cutting and packing as there's a shop on site too so its interesting from that point of view too. If the same vet is still there he was an extremely intesting chap who has worked all over the world.


I'm just organising experience now, I go to SMP in Bucknall to buy meat anyway. How did you contact them? We sort of know the boss and he's friendly with us when we go to buy stuff so would that be the best time?
Reply 4
Hi everyone, I did a day at an abattoir last December and I strongly recommend you go and experience it and I found it has kind of change my whole view of meat and abattoirs. I was really scared and worried about going, I started to cry the night before and was really close to bottling it but my dad made me go and I'm really glad he did. There is honestly nothing to worry about. The smell isn't bad it just smells like a standard butchers, even quite a clinical smell. After you get over the initial shock of walking in its really interesting, I found it just like dissection on a massive scale, so just see it as an anatomy lesson. Things that are strange but if you're expecting it are: after been shot/tazered the animal still has reflexes so when it's hung in the air it flails a bit until the bloods drained. Also the noise is a bit surreal there is a lot of machinery and clunking which is a bit strange at first.
All I did was watch the vet, he showed me how he checks their fit for slaughter when alive, then he talked me through step by step in the abattoir and then told me what he was looking for when inspecting the meat and insides.

If you have any questions I'm more than happy to answer cos I wish someone had reassured me before going because I'd never been so anxious for anything before, but now I've done it theres such a sense of relief xxx





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Reply 5
If anyone knows of any abattoirs in and around the Warwickshire area I'd really appreciate it as I've contacted a few and none seem to be replying so they're clearly not happy taking on any work experience people :/ any help would be appreciated :smile:

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Pie1213, i'm warwickshire too and just plucking up the courage to try a few! I'm thinking of trying Long compton as it's the nearest - is this one you've tried? Have you had any luck yet? :smile:
Reply 7
I did 2 days in an abattoir; 1 day I followed the vet and was given a tour of the whole process from the vet's POV. Day 2 I spent with the people on the line, seeing what various healthy animal innards look like.. Everything really is pristine. I found the smell very offensive, but then I'm not a meat eater, wasn't as bad as the dissections I had to do for my zoology undergrade :-)

I did mine at Merryns Meat in Merthyr.
Original post by Pie1213
If anyone knows of any abattoirs in and around the Warwickshire area I'd really appreciate it as I've contacted a few and none seem to be replying so they're clearly not happy taking on any work experience people :/ any help would be appreciated :smile:

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Original post by Huckleberry11
Pie1213, i'm warwickshire too and just plucking up the courage to try a few! I'm thinking of trying Long compton as it's the nearest - is this one you've tried? Have you had any luck yet? :smile:


I used these guys - http://www.chrowley.co.uk/ourabattoir.html it is quite a small abattoir but they cover pigs, cattle and sheep. Do you know any farms in the Warwickshire area that offer work experience?? looking for pig or poultry work.
Thank you, I'm currently liasing with long compton so feeling hopeful about that, if not I'll give yours a try. Yeah I've searched all over the internet for pig farms, can't find ANY.
Original post by Huckleberry11
Thank you, I'm currently liasing with long compton so feeling hopeful about that, if not I'll give yours a try. Yeah I've searched all over the internet for pig farms, can't find ANY.

good luck! iv found a couple and emailed them but no reply which is really annoying.
i did a day at an abattoir and it was actaully really interesting :smile: they gave me a tour of the place and i got to see how they refrigerate the meat and where they keep the animals. i was there when they were doing sows (pigs) but i couldn't watch the actual killing of them. the vet told me a lot about the process and it is actually very humane and the animals don't feel anything. basically, it's not as bad as you think :smile:

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