Producers sometimes find a breeding bull or cow in the pasture with a broken leg or a downer animal for a variety of reasons, including back injuries.
Their value can be salvaged with emergency on-farm slaughter.
There is a mechanism in which cattle can be inspected on the farm by an appointed veterinarian, put down, bled out and moved to a provincial plant where the final inspection can occur.
Producers with an empty freezer can take the meat themselves, but following the above procedure means the meat is also approved for sale.
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It is such a shame to waste this valuable protein when a little planning may ensure its use.
I am most familiar with the process in Alberta and so will review the procedure in that province.
Each province may be slightly different so check with your provincial government body.
The quicker a downer animal is killed and bled out on the farm, the better. Remember, downer animals cannot be transported to slaughter.
In Alberta, the agriculture department appoints the veterinarians who inspect on-farm slaughter.
Most provincial plants have a list of vets who are certified to do ante mortem (before death) inspection.
In Manitoba, any veterinarian accredited to do Canadian Food Inspection Agency work can do ante mortem inspection. They use a CFIA developed form.
Many local clinics have a veterinarian who has been approved and appointed.
Contact an appointed vet when planning an on-farm slaughter.
Someone, either you or the vet, should make sure the local plant is open and book an appointment. They should also make sure a provincial inspector is available.
The animal is then killed humanely with either a captive bolt or gunshot and bled out.
The animal is not gutted or skinned. Instead, it is taken intact to the plant so that the inspectors can complete their job.
A local veterinarian may also be the appointed provincial inspector in some smaller or remote communities with provincially inspected plants.
The key job of the appointed vet is to determine if the meat from a downer or injured animal is safe to eat.
A downer from a sudden injured back, broken leg, stifle injury or a calcium, phosphorus or magnesium imbalance may be eligible for butchering.
A downer from a clostridia disease, severe metritis or E. coli mastitis will most likely not pass inspection and would not proceed to slaughter.
The veterinarian will be able to advise if an animal that is ineligible for slaughter can be successfully treated.
If the animal is put down, the vet can do a post mortem that may determine the exact cause of the illness so that others can be saved.
These principles can also apply to those rare situations where a producer decides to butcher an animal on the farm, such as those that are severely fractious or extremely large.
This is often done with extremely large mature bison bulls.
When killing a large bull, make sure that either you or the butcher have more than enough firepower to get the job done and that whoever is firing has taken the firearm safety course.
Safety reasons might prevent highly fractious animals from being ear tagged.
The slaughter plant will often allow you to bring the tag with you. If not, tag the animal after it is killed.
The appointed veterinarian will provide a short form to take to the slaughter plant, which indicates the animal’s health before death, lists any abnormalities and identifies the animal.
This ensures that there will be a complete communication between the two levels of inspectors.
All this must be done so that the animal can arrive at the plant within 45 minutes of being killed and bled out.
The time may vary slightly depending on the season and ambient temperature, so check with the plant.
If the time is longer, your only choice is to butcher for your own use. Talk to the veterinarian if there is any doubt as to the suitability of the meat.
The appointed veterinarian is paid a fee, but it’s well worth it to allow butchering and sale of the meat.
Work closely with your appointed veterinarians, local butchers and provincial meat inspectors because abnormalities can often be detected at slaughter.
The meat may still be edible, but pathology such as lung adhesions, internal parasite scarring and peritoneal adhesions all indicate there has been a problem.
Corrective measures can then be taken that will increase herd productivity overall.
