A Pig scalder is a tool that was used to soften the skin of a pig

Pig

A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...

 after it had been killed to remove the hair

Hair

Hair is a filamentous biomaterial, that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the defining characteristics of the mammalian class....

 from its skin. Because people rarely slaughter

Animal slaughter

Slaughter is the term used to describe the killing and butchering of animals, usually for food. Commonly it refers to killing and butchering of domestic livestock ....

 and process their own pigs anymore, pig scalders are seldom used for domestic use.

Modern swine processing plants use industrial scalders as part of their slaughterhall process.

There were many shapes and sizes for scalders depending on materials used to construct it and how much was spent on it. In general, a pig scalder looks like a very large pot or tub. It would be made of wood or metal, though a metal scalder meant that you could build a fire beneath the scalder in order to heat the water inside. In New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, many farmers use their old cast iron bathtubs for this job, but the tubs are becoming harder to acquire. Metal scalders were also easier to clean after use.