It’s the busiest time of the year for the abattoir and everyone is working extra hard. We have added additional slaughter days to accommodate all the bookings to the end of the year.
Please help keep things running smoothly. Don’t bring in more animals than you have booked. Let us know in good time if you will be bringing less so we can offer the space to someone else. Remember tags must be in the ears for sheep, pigs and beef. And if you have special powers, please keep the storms away on processing days!
Some important information:
- The Abattoir will be closed from January to March opening again in April 2022.
Expansion Project- A Call for Help!
We have the funds in place to increase the size of the cut & wrap space and expand the cooler. We have applied for the building permit but don’t yet have a contractor interested in doing the work. There is a very small window of opportunity to make this happen – work must start before the end of the year and construction completed by the end of March if we are to open again in April. If you are in the construction business or have any of the trade skills needed, we’d like to hear from you. For more information contact Chris Clark: saltspringengineer@gmail.com
Canadian Small Scale Pig Farmers Info
For our pork producers (or anyone interested in pigs) here is a resource provided to us by Jessica Law and the Canadian Association of Swine Veterinarians.
Planning for next year
Did the drought make you rethink how many animals you are keeping over winter? Was the demand for your birds higher or lower than expected? Maybe you were frustrated because there was no booking space when you wanted it? Please complete this short survey so we can better meet your needs in 2022.
https://saltspringabattoir.ca/2022-livestock-production-survey/
Working at the abattoir
Like many other businesses the abattoir has ongoing staffing challenges – the work is irregular throughout the year, and we cannot pay high wages or offer housing. We are especially thankful to everyone who committed in 2021 – our regular crew and those who come in occasionally to help out. There’s Andrew our butcher who comes on the ferry from Saturna every week and Bill who comes from Victoria to cut meat at the busiest times; our regular poultry crew Mariah, Juanita and Ali assisted by Filip in the summer. Krystel helps with both poultry and meat wrapping and we were delighted to have Brad back this fall to help the red meat team of Lisa, Marilou, and Matt.
Sadly, at the end of this season we will be losing Lisa Adams who is leaving the island to seek her fortune elsewhere. We will be looking for new people to join the team in 2022. If you have the skills and a day or more a week, we’d like to hear from you. We will also train anyone interested in an ongoing commitment. Or perhaps you know a student who would like a new experience next summer or a farm intern who would like to learn about meat processing as well as crop production.
Please contact us at: ssiabattoir@gmail.com