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Pigs are fattened using vegetables from the market gardens and farms which varied from region to region: turnips, beetroots, potatoes, beans, cabbages, corn, wheat bran, etc. This food was sometimes bulked out with mash that also contained corn flour or bran.
=== Timing of the slaughter and beliefs Aseguna ===
Pigs are slaughtered during the cold months of autumn or in winter. St. Martin's Day, on 11 November, is the most popular date for this task according to the common saying in Álava: "Por San Martín sal del cortín" [similar one in English would be "Every pig has his Martinmass"]. Domestic slaughtering is usually in January and February in the southernmost part of Navarra.
=== Slaughter. Txerri-hiltzea ===
Once the slaughter date is set, all the items are bought or gathered that are needed for the many tasks after the killing of the animal.
All the relatives and neighbours are called upon. That help by women and men alike is essential given the many tasks involved in the slaughtering of the pig.
=== Carcass singeing ===
Once the blood had been drained, the animal's skin is singed. The legs and ears are first removed in many places in Álava. The hollows left by the ears and the wound made to drain the blood are covered by a white cloth or stuffed with straw to stop ash entering the carcass.
=== Gutting ===
Once the skin has been singed and the animal cleaned, it is opened up to be gutted, ''tripie askatu ''(Bermeo-B). The carcass is hung from a ladder or a hook set up for that purpose and it is cut open using a knife or a ''poadera ''(Monreal-N). The anus or ''cular ''(Galdames-B) would previously be plugged.
=== Cooling and resting ===
Once the viscera have been removed and the animal gutted, the inside is washed out with cold water and a fine cloth. In many places, that cloth would usually be made out of linen ''ehunezko ''(Zeanuri-B). The carcass is then hung in a cool place out of the reach of other animals such as dogs, cats or mice, and left to rest until the following day when it will be jointed. Sticks or stakes are placed crosswise using the cut made in the belly to remove the entrails to hold the carcass open so that air circulates and it dries better.
=== Weighing and jointing ===
Once it is clean and cold, the carcass is weighed in order to calculate its price and to establish the number of days that the ham and bacon have to be cured.
=== Cured meats ===
The meats are cured two or three days after the animal is slaughtered, except for black pudding which is made when the blood is still fresh.
Black pudding and chorizo or longaniza sausages are the most common cured meats and the wife is in charge of making them. The man of the household has very little involvement. He sometimes helps the women to cut up the meat for the chorizos by working the mincer.
=== Gifts at slaughter time ===
Neighbours and relatives are given black puddings and other parts of the pig as a gift at slaughter time. It is given as a courtesy and also expresses the links and relationship that sometimes goes beyond the simple physical closeness to relatives and neighbours. The Bizkaia Basque saying "''Odolosteak ordea" ''(Black puddings are given in return) indicates that this gift is part of an established exchange.
=== Timing of the slaughter and beliefs Aseguna ===
