When your chickens get old and die...

That's it. I swaddled her in a t shirt because I wasn't sure about the apron technique either.

I was pretty revolted when she ate the raw yolks from right out of the hen at the end of the second video.

sevenfatcows said:

I was pretty revolted when she ate the raw yolks from right out of the hen at the end of the second video.

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Holy cow, thanks for the warning!!!

pnwoldie said:

Theres a youtube video on how to humanely harvest chickens. She wraps the animal in cloth, holds it with its head down, and calms it by stroking its neck. Then she cuts the jugular and waits for the bird to finish shuddering. I had to do this to my barred rock who got egg yolk peritonitis. I hoped being held was more comfortable for her than being in a cone.

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Sorry for your loss! I saw that video....

No more humane than the cone. My birds also are calm and I also stroke their neck as I move the feathers out of the way of my knife. If it made you feel more humane to be holding her in her time of need, I get that totally. Sorry, holding the bird as it jerks wouldn't be humane towards me or my family..... It's a difficult enough experience without me feeling every involuntary movement the chicken makes while having it possibly flop loose and chase me or spurt blood all over myself. I can see it working for someone with many years of experience. But for beginners who are often overthinking things, having a knife welding around while trying to control a chicken seems like it would be more nerve racking and dangerous to the untrained dispatcher.... at least for me. If I didn't already have a cone and set up.... I would totally consider it as a viable means to dispatch an injured chicken who was in need of the mercy.

Some use a pillow case. Seems like all those things would be cheaper than buying the metal cones that you still have to store somewhere... It's great to have many options though. Lot's of folks do have a knife and cloth of some sort. And many won't be processing bunches all the time. So having something to go to when it isn't the norm for you is a good idea.

EggSighted4Life said:

Sorry for your loss! I saw that video....

No more humane than the cone. My birds also are calm and I also stroke their neck as I move the feathers out of the way of my knife. If it made you feel more humane to be holding her in her time of need, I get that totally. Sorry, holding the bird as it jerks wouldn't be humane towards me or my family..... It's a difficult enough experience without me feeling every involuntary movement the chicken makes while having it possibly flop loose and chase me or spurt blood all over myself. I can see it working for someone with many years of experience. But for beginners who are often overthinking things, having a knife welding around while trying to control a chicken seems like it would be more nerve racking and dangerous to the untrained dispatcher.... at least for me. If I didn't already have a cone and set up.... I would totally consider it as a viable means to dispatch an injured chicken who was in need of the mercy.

Some use a pillow case. Seems like all those things would be cheaper than buying the metal cones that you still have to store somewhere... It's great to have many options though. Lot's of folks do have a knife and cloth of some sort. And many won't be processing bunches all the time. So having something to go to when it isn't the norm for you is a good idea.

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Ditto

I wish felt confident butchering my own, period. Would save time, gas, and $'s hauling them to the butcher who is kind of far away. The one thing that frightens me is I may not get all the inerds out right. When I watch youtubes (I'm an AV learner), I find out something new almost every time. For example, I didn't even think about having to get the lungs out and that THAT can be a bit tough. Geesh, I could've butchered a chicken and easily not have removed them, because I didn't know better. For now I'm leaving it to the Amish, but have not given up on the idea of doing it myself one day. Geesh. The pioneers, Moms, did it all the time and they didn't have all this fancy equipment, right?

I apologize for my comment making it seem like I was advocating one method over another. I was just kind of attached to that chicken. Also I had not anticipated needing to cull any for a while so I had to come up with something fast.

Any way somebody chooses to manage their flock is fine with me. The more animals you have, the more efficient you need to be and the less personal. Also if someone chooses to eat raw egg yolks that is their business. This is the last forum Im still participating in. I've dumped FB, twitter and next door. It's so hard to communicate online

Eggscoozme said:

Ditto

I wish felt confident butchering my own, period. Would save time, gas, and $'s hauling them to the butcher who is kind of far away. The one thing that frightens me is I may not get all the inerds out right. When I watch youtubes (I'm an AV learner), I find out something new almost every time. For example, I didn't even think about having to get the lungs out and that THAT can be a bit tough. Geesh, I could've butchered a chicken and easily not have removed them, because I didn't know better. For now I'm leaving it to the Amish, but have not given up on the idea of doing it myself one day. Geesh. The pioneers, Moms, did it all the time and they didn't have all this fancy equipment, right?

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I have gotten store bought w/lungs and other bits still attached
I couldn't find a cone that fit some BR and my cx .... read about Beekissed using a big bleach bottle.. I used a cat litter container

I didn't feel like you were advocating for one method over another, and I agree with you that it is very hard to communicate online. It is difficult ,sometimes, to get the nuance and easy to be mistaken about someone's attitude. If someone wants to pluck raw egg yolks warm from the hen's body and pop it in her mouth, it is her business, but it still made me a little queasy; that is not a judgement, just a reaction.
It is hard to cull your own birds, harder, I think, than culling a strange one for someone else. I, personally, have many more reservations about slaughtering a sweet little hen who has laid a lot of eggs for us than I do about roosters, even if I raised them myself. Everyone just has to work the method that they can manage to pull off, and I am sure all of us are serious about trying to be as careful as we can. I appreciated your post.

I too appreciate the post pnwoldie. BYC has the nicest people online by far. It IS very hard sometimes to get the meaning across when the voice is not there to hear the inflection.

Eggscoozme said:

Ditto

I wish felt confident butchering my own, period. Would save time, gas, and $'s hauling them to the butcher who is kind of far away. The one thing that frightens me is I may not get all the inerds out right. When I watch youtubes (I'm an AV learner), I find out something new almost every time. For example, I didn't even think about having to get the lungs out and that THAT can be a bit tough. Geesh, I could've butchered a chicken and easily not have removed them, because I didn't know better. For now I'm leaving it to the Amish, but have not given up on the idea of doing it myself one day. Geesh. The pioneers, Moms, did it all the time and they didn't have all this fancy equipment, right?

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We have the video looping in the back ground while my daughter is processing the birds. All the reading/watching in the world won't make up for hands on experience. And we didn't get it right every time. It is a learning process like so many other things. Yep, we even have cut an intestine and popped a bile sack! Had to discard a good portion of the bile sack one.... but it's all part of the learning process. And my daughter still ins't exactly sure where she is supposed to disconnect the neck at. I have a feeling the pioneer women were raised up knowing it would one day be their responsibility to feed their family, unlike many of us who have never even touched raw chicken with bones in it. So they may have been a little more mentally prepared. I definitely respect the amount of work they had to do back in the day before the modern convenience of the grocery market and all of our appliances! I am honored to be mother and daughter doing this difficult but worthy task together.

Yes, I will try to get rid of my hens before eating any.... Not that their life has more value than a roo. Maybe because I knew all along that most boys will feed us as their service. If you ever had an accidental outbreak of cockerels you weren't yet prepared for who suddenly gang up on your most docile hen and hold her down while they take turns, it becomes much easier to do the deed. But still not out of anger.

pnwoldie said:

I apologize for my comment making it seem like I was advocating one method over another. I was just kind of attached to that chicken. Also I had not anticipated needing to cull any for a while so I had to come up with something fast.

Any way somebody chooses to manage their flock is fine with me. The more animals you have, the more efficient you need to be and the less personal. Also if someone chooses to eat raw egg yolks that is their business. This is the last forum Im still participating in. I've dumped FB, twitter and next door. It's so hard to communicate online

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I don't think you had anything to apologize for. That's why BYC is here, so we can all share what worked for us! And I do advocate some of the things that do work for me... But I also understand that what works for me might not work for someone else. We are all as individual and as unique as each of our chickens. I also don't Facebook, twitter, or any of that stuff. And this is the only forum I participate in as well. And I find that most folks here are well meaning and good hearted, just trying to help each other enjoy their animal keeping experience. Reading back... sorry if it was me that made you feel weird! I usually try to use emoticons to show my intent but can see I didn't earlier. Flock management is a very personal thing, and I know we all have to do what will work for us... or it doesn't work. And I participate in threads even when I think I know the answer because what someone reveals may ultimately be better than my current understanding. And there are some things I WISH I could make work the way others do, but just isn't right for my situation. I learn something new here almost every day!

Just for info.... even with 48 birds last season, all had names and individual personalities. There is a definite need to be more efficient. But thankfully I am not at a point where it is less personal! I can see how big farming it would be. But I'm just a hobbyist, using animal keeping as one of my coping mechanisms to maintain my insanity!