| Abattoir |
It is through our state-of-the-art
abattoir that best-of-breed
livestock is slaughtered and prepared for
sale.
The abattoir complex comprises three
main areas of operation: the
lairage; the slaughterhouse;
and the cutting
room.
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Lairage
When
livestock (i.e. cattle
and lambs) are delivered
by their farmers, each
animal enters the lairage
(i.e. a large covered
shelter) located at the
side of the slaughterhouse.
Originally, the lairage was used to
house cattle and lambs for up
to one week before being
slaughtered. During
their stay, animals enjoyed
clean, dry and spacious
holding pens, and were
given the freedom to roam and graze on privately owned land
directly opposite.
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Unfortunately, due to
various BSE scares and
the recent Foot and Mouth
crisis, legislation
dictates that we are no longer
able to hold
livestock for any great length
of time. Therefore, the
lairage is no longer used to
house livestock. However, since
all our cattle and lambs arrive
after short journeys from their
local farms, stress caused to
the animals is
minimal. Therefore, upon
arrival, we
are able to slaughter humanely
and quickly without any
unnecessary delay.
In the case of cattle, each
animal is unloaded and guided into
a race
situated inside the lairage (see the picture
above-right). The animal then
proceeds down the race and into a stun
box within the slaughterhouse.
In total, it takes between 5-10
minutes for an animal to
leave the delivery wagon and
enter the stun box.
For lambs, the animals are
guided through the race and into a holding pen
behind a stunning area. Each lamb is
then carried individually by
a slaughterman to a stun
cradle within the
slaughterhouse.
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Slaughterhouse [top]
We
have prepared a set of informative
and educational
materials
(i.e. text and videos)
which describe the slaughtering
process for both
cattle and lambs.
If you are interested in
gaining an understanding
of the slaughtering
process, please click
here to continue.
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Cutting Room [top]
Once
cattle and lambs have been
slaughtered and dressed,
their carcasses are
removed from the
slaughterhouse and hung
in a refrigerated area
to cool.
Typically, carcasses
will be left for between 18-24
hours before being taken
to the cutting room. It
is here where our Guild
of Q butchers
skillfully cut
and prepare the meat for
sale in the shop,
1817
cafe bar and restaurant,
and to our wholesale
customers.
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Beef is then packed in special 'vac
pacs' (vacuum
packages) to enable at least 28
days maturity before sale.
In the case of lamb, 'vac pac'
storage is around 7 days
before sale.
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At all times, we adhere to strict animal welfare
and hygiene
legislation to ensure our meat is the safest, highest quality
produce available.
Unfortunately, such is the
"gold-plating" and
pointless nature of some of
these legislative measures that
many independent, small abattoirs
owners are unable to cope with the
mountains of paperwork and additional expense.
Consequently, more and more of
these generations-old abattoirs are
being forced to close down -
quite unnecessarily.
To help counter this, and fight
for the survival of small
abattoirs (such as ours), John Chadwick founded SAFe
- the Small Abattoir Federation.
For more information, click
here.
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If you have any questions about
our abattoir, or perhaps you would like to
organise a visit during
operation, please do
not hesitate to contact
us - we will be happy to help.
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