Gallagher’s Butchers Castlefinn

Homekill

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“From your family farm to your kitchen table – our homekill has full traceability“

Gallagher’s Homekill Services

What is Homekill? Homekill is the slaughter and butchering of your farmed animals for domestic use . In other words to be consumed by you, your family, household and friends. At Gallagher’s Abattoir and Butchers Castlefinn, we’ve noticed there is a growing trend of home rearing of animals to be butchered for the freezer. It brings back a lot of the tradition that this country has lost over the years. Whether it is a cattle or sheep farmer holding back an animal for the family freezer or a hobby farmer rearing rare breed pigs our Homekill Service is what you need. We offer you a full slaughtering and butchering service with full traceability. We will blast freeze it for you unless you order for it to be kept chilled not frozen.

Small Scale Abattoir

Here at Gallagher’s Abattoir in Castlefinn we are as far removed as you can get from the large scale mechanised slaughtering that is carried out in the meat factories . Therefore we can and do give a more personal and individual service to our customers.
Some families really nurture their animals, limiting the medication they are given, and often using special foodstuffs, like adding apples, barley, corn or beer to their diets. They do this because they are intent on getting the best flavour possible from the meat. If our customers take that much care in the rearing of their animals then we will ensure that we will put as much care into the homekill. Here at Gallagher’s, we are proud to say that we have built a solid reputation in the area of homekill especially with our drycured bacon and hams.
We ensure with our homekill service that your carefully reared animal will be humanely and professionally slaughtered in our veterinary approved slaughterhouse. And then we will skillfully butcher and pack it for you leaving it freezer ready so that you will have full traceability from your family farm to your kitchen table.

Traceability

We do talk about traceability a lot in the food industry. However, if you drill down into it and check how close to the actual source traceability can get you, you might be surprised.
I heard of an instance where traceability wasn’t that simple. A butcher, was cutting up an animal that had been slaughtered by a large factory, and he found a broken off needle in the animal carcass. He contacted the factory to trace the source of that animal. They told him that they could narrow it down to a batch of 10 animals. All of these animals were sourced from separate farms . So the traceability system wasn’t able to trace it down to the actual farm or animal, in that instance anyway.
How can I do it (full traceability) when (sometimes) the big factories can’t? .
The main difference is that, here at Gallagher’s, I deal with each animal individually. I ensure that they are not stressed and that they are held in good conditions while waiting. It’s because I personally see the homekill process – the slaughter and the butchering – the whole way through. That’s from you delivering the animal to us, to us packing the meat into the boot of your car. As a result, I can ensure the full traceability of your animal from our backgate to our front door .

Gallagher’s Best Butcher Donegal

Regulations for Homekill

Who can slaughter my pig or lamb or calf? Even though we operate on a much smaller scale than the factories we are still subject to the same stringent veterinary and hygiene checks. So we assure you the slaughter process is carried in adherence with all the proper regulations . In fact, a registered vet attends on site on each slaughter day.

FSAI Regulations →

Gallagher’s Best Butcher Donegal

Slaughtering Process

We tend to slaughter one day in the week. Since we start the slaughtering process early in the morning you must deliver all homekill animals to be slaughtered to the abattoir by 8.00am . As a result, for your convenience we have arranged that you can deliver most animals, except pigs and bulls, with all the relevant paperwork the day before. We have a sheep holding paddock and a slatted shed to put your animals in to keep them safe and secure. So we will assure you that all animals will be well cared for.
The veterinary inspector will do an anti-mortem inspection on animals before slaughter. Because of this, you will need to deliver all your animals to us in a presentable state with the paperwork in order.
We will assure you that the meat cuts you get from your homekill are fully traceable back to your animal. So that means, that all the good work that you put into the nurture is reflected in the meat packed into the boot of your car.

The Process

What Weight is Lost in the Slaughter / Homekill Process

Do you know how much weight is lost from your animal in the slaughtering ? Approximately 50 % of the weight of the animal is lost. This is because it is made up of hooves, hide, fat and entrails. This is called the fifth quarter. The fifth quarter – the offal, hide etc – is a waste product which we must dispose of . Again the disposal of the fifth quarter is also subject to stringent regulations and cost.
In the butchering process more weight is lost mainly bone and fat but how much depends on how the animal is butchered. Some bones are left in as part of stews, chops and steak cuts depending on the preference of the customer which would add to the finished yield.

Some fat is good (See our Steak page for an explanation!) and some is a waste product. Wagyu beef (see picture ) for example needs a lot of trimming. So since it’s a very fatty animal a large joint only produces a small amount of meat. If you compare that to our Gallagher’s Rib Roast on the Bone which is exactly the same joint of the animal you will see the difference – much less trimming is required on the Rib Roast. While we do know Wagyu beef is succulent because of its fat content we also know this is not the same for every animal.

Timing

Ideal Time to Slaughter your Homekill

There is an ideal time to slaughter an animal – there is both an ideal weight and size . The best time to kill is when the meat is still lean . Therefore what we like to see is plenty of muscle tone and intramuscular fat but not too much subcutaneous fat.
If you would like us to advise you about the best age and weight at which to slaughter your animal, please ring us. We are always happy to help.

Freezer Ready

Get Your Homekill Meat Freezer Ready

We will send you a list/form to fill in. You tell us and we will pack it the way you want it. For example if you want 2 chops per bag, half a leg of lamb etc fill that out on the form. In that way, we will have it ready portioned for the freezer to suit your family needs. We will label everything for your ease of use.
Contact us about your homekill, we will guide you through the necessary paperwork that you need to file.

What others have to say…

Homekill Customer Testimonials

I am a beef farmer from Tyrone and I keep a good animal back every year for the freezer. I have been coming to Brendan for years to get the animal slaughtered and butchered . Why do I keep coming back?

What I like about Gallagher’s is that you are dealing with the man himself, Brendan, not someone in an office. He’s the one doing the slaughtering and butchering. Everything is done here the – the veterinary checks- everything. You don’t have to go anywhere else. He’s sharp , he knows his stuff. Now I am packing 220kg of freezer ready meat – cut the way we want it -into my van.

– Eugene O’Doherty, Tyrone