From the Cajun Boucherie to the Carolina Hog-Killin’, community gatherings centered around the harvest, cooking, and preservation of the farmstead pig have been a foundation of Western culture and society from time immemorial.

If you want to understand deeply, as all meat-eaters should, how the pig gets to the plate, or if you intend to engage in the delightful, time-honored tradition of raising pigs to supply your own larder, the skills we will teach you over the course of an afternoon will be indispensable to those ends.

Why learn to slaughter your own pig?

Slaughter is the first - perhaps underrated - step of the Boucherie. Failing a precise kill-shot and a quick stick with a steady arm, this step can be unnecessarily stressful to both man and beast.

Moreover, these days, many abattoirs skin the pigs that are brought to them for processing, wasting a tremendous quantity of fatback and, of course, the skin that would otherwise be consumed in the form of cracklins.

In this class, in order to provide you with the confidence and competency to slaughter your own pig so that full advantage may be taken of all that these wondrous little quadrupeds have to offer, we will cover:

1. Preparation for the kill-shot and placement thereof, including optimal caliber.

2. The content and methodology of sticking the pig to obtain a proper bleed-out.

3. Blood catchment and preservation.

4. Proper hanging of the pig carcass.

5. Scalding and scraping the pig.

6. Evisceration thereof.

7. Splitting the carcass in anticipation of the breakdown.

The duration of the class is 3-to-4 hours.

Maximum class size is 3 persons. Attendees must be 18 years of age or older or, failing that, accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Tuition: $300.00 per attendee.

WARNING:

Under Louisiana law, R.S. 9:2795.5, there is no liability for an injury to or death of a participant in an agritourism activity conducted at this agritourism location if such injury or death results from the inherent risks of the agritourism activity. Inherent risks of agritourism activities include, among others, risks of injury inherent to land, equipment, and animals, as well as the potential for you to act in a negligent manner that may contribute to your injury or death. You are assuming the risk of participating in this agritourism activity.