 Unless the animal was a bird, its corpse was flayed, with the skin kept by the priests.The flesh of the animal was divided according to detailed instructions given by the Talmud (Tamid 31), and would then be placed on the wood on the altar (which was constantly on fire due to the large number of sacrifices carried out daily), and slowly burnt.After the flesh (including any horns and goats' beards) had been reduced to ashes, usually the following morning, the ashes were removed by a Kohen - as refuse - and taken to a ritually clean location outside the Temple.