Butchering (sage ability)

Butchering is an amateur-status sage ability in the study of Logistics covering the skills of slaughtering, dressing and preserving meat from livestock, game and fish. While on the move, an army must often make use of live animals to feed their number. A slaughter improperly performed can spoil or even poison the meat, so having skill at removing the animal's entrails is necessary in the production of large amounts of available meat.

The steps in slaughtering include killing the animal (which must be done quickly to reduce the production of adrenaline, which spoils the meat's flavor), exsanguination (facilitating the removal of blood), skinning (removing the hide or pelt), scalding and dehairing (with pigs), evisceration (removal of the organs) and splitting the carcass in preparation for cutting. Secondary butchery involves boning and trimming the meat so it can be easily distributed for cooking by small groups or preserved with salt.