Orkney farmer plans trailer abattoir to end lengthy trips

Farmer Jane Cooper says the on-farm abattoir will improve animal welfare

An Orkney farmer is part-funding her own abattoir so her rare breed Boreray sheep no longer have to be taken on a seven-hour trip to the mainland for slaughter.

The islands have been without a slaughter house since 2018 but Jane Cooper says she hopes to have her Tiny Trailer Abattoir - the first of its kind in the UK - by next year.

It will fit on two trailers - one for the humane slaughter of the sheep and the second to store and chill up to 20 carcasses.

The trailer system can be operated by one slaughterman.

Jane's Boreray rams are called George, Corin and Benedict.

It will be able to move between farms around the islands, but each place it operates will have to comply with all regulations and be licensed separately as if it was a fixed abattoir.

Scottish island abattoirs are now able to use local vets to fulfil the role of official veterinarian supervising the process.

Rural abattoirs across the UK are shutting down at an alarming rate. According to industry reports, more than a third have closed in the past two decades due to high running costs, retaining skilled staff and increased regulation.

Ms Cooper said the ability to slaughter sheep on her own farm would greatly improve animal welfare standards.

"At the moment, I have to transport the animals on a ferry and then drive them to Dingwall," she said.

"It's a seven-hour trip. I'd rather walk them a few steps from the field and into a trailer."

She added that her system would produce almost no waste.

"We will be able to use many more byproducts than just the skins and horns that we collect from the abattoir in Dingwall," she said.

She is funding up to half the £150,000 herself, with the rest coming from another cooperative.

She expects the trailers will be on her farm by springtime next year.

Jane has been breeding native Boreray sheep on her farm in Orkney for 12 years.

Ms Cooper has been farming her distinctive sheep on the Orkney mainland since 2013.

The animals are descendants of native sheep from Boreray island in St Kilda.

In 2017, they were registered as a distinctive breed in their own right.

Several flocks are now established in Orkney which work together through the Orkney Boreray Co-op Ltd.

The Tiny Trailer Abattoir will be owned, operated and hired out by the Co-op on a not-for-profit basis.

Ms Cooper said the design was a new concept in the UK but she was confident it would be a success.

"The butchers we already supply are confident their customers will be more than happy to pay an extra premium for our mutton once the sheep are slaughtered on our farm," she said.

"We are transitioning our farm business here at Burnside from mostly breeding to bringing in and finishing Orkney Boreray sheep bred and reared by other members of the Co-op."