DIY HUMANE way to Kill Slaughter Chicken (Stun-kill, Gas)

The state I live in now is one of the 10 or so that still allows it. The shelter in our town was euthanizing some dogs when we went to adopt our dog. Even in a commercially made, vet approved chamber it took about 5 minutes for the screaming to stop. That's a chamber made for this. Not all of the shelters who still do gas chamber euthanasia use commercially made chambers. There was one we saw that in a smaller town....they had what looked like a big cooler. There were no air locks, and no seal to ensure the chamber was air tight. In that situation it took 24 minutes for the dogs to stop screaming. I timed it. We decided not to adopt there, because we didn't want to support them.
 
Hi. I've done the come (homemade) and a horrible failed attempt at the jerking feet up while foot on neck. The come is easiest.BUT when one is a long time pet....sort of ....would a high powered pellet gun to the back of the head pointed down do the trick? Too close to neighbors for the 22
 
Hi. I've done the come (homemade) and a horrible failed attempt at the jerking feet up while foot on neck. The come is easiest.BUT when one is a long time pet....sort of ....would a high powered pellet gun to the back of the head pointed down do the trick? Too close to neighbors for the 22

One of the ladies on here do all her birds that way and says it works like a charm! I'd say, do it and see how you like it.
 
Hi. I've done the come (homemade) and a horrible failed attempt at the jerking feet up while foot on neck. The come is easiest.BUT when one is a long time pet....sort of ....would a high powered pellet gun to the back of the head pointed down do the trick? Too close to neighbors for the 22

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Fiskars-...UNl_T_oipmSUrs_cnYezFRoCe1Pw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Last year I bought a pair of this style loppers to manage some large turkeys and I'd vouch for it being fast and easy. No worry about aiming with an axe. I used it on a dozen broilers this year already and it is fast and foolproof.

My largest turkey last year was too big to constrain for this method so I shot him in the back of the head with a 9mm. He went down but you may find the problem is that they won't hold their head still long enough to get a clean shot though. Of course they also still thrash around and bleed with a headshot, so I'd really suggest the loppers. Personally I'd consider shooting as a last resort only if the bird is too big to handle. Seems to me like a low power low caliber projectile would be far too easy to get wrong and you will feel awful if that happens.
 
yes, imho (and i have certainly killed my share of chickens) its a lot easier to just remove the chickens head than to try to aim for a brain the size of a pea with a firearm and hope for a clean kill. maybe theres a reason why hardly anyone uses a gun to dispatch poultry even tho firearms were invented some thousand years ago...

the simpler you keep it the least the chance of screwing it up, which = most humane. you can in many cases (young birds and hens) pop the chickens head off with just your own hands for crissakes which is just about as fast as anything, as well as potentially "bloodless," since its possible to dislocate the neck completely and sever the blood vessels to allow bleed out without tearing the neck skin apart. for a demo, see video below (note that he takes some time to show the proper grip and get situated but the actially killing is done in like half a second--and also that he doesnt need an apron or even shoes because theres no mess--tho it still bleeds out):


you can read harvey ussery's description in his slaughter tutorial on the modern homestead website for a better explaination of the mechanics, or reference the book Keeping Chickens and Rabbits on Scraps.

but if you are more comfortable with an axe or shears thats cool too, (and may work better with larger birds or for people with weaker hands/arms or limited mobilty)--just dont make the mistake of thinking a more complicated set up is somehow more "scientific" ot more "clinical" thus somehow more humane. distancing yourself from the action and complicating the process usually winds up making it somewhat less, not more, humane.
 
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I don't like it but I put them in a cone made from a water jug. I would like to chop their heads off but I'm not that good with the axe. They don't just lie still for you and I don't like to chop at them 2 or 3 times (gross!) so I do slit their throats. Sad but true.
 
Hi All, I'm new! But I know a bit about slaughtering animals (lamb I've done... turkey I haven't, but I've watched, and chickens I haven't done but I've watched.) When I was in Vermont, the mobile processing unit guys seemed to borrow their method from the kosher/halal method of slaughter where the neck is cut to drain the blood. It is intended to be the most humane, as you're not hitting any large nerves in the neck (and the draining of the blood is better for us as far as health goes). The chicken will writhe a bit, but they actually writhe way less when you use this method vs. the method of chopping/lopping/axing the head. Once the writhing stops, then proceed to chop the head and go onto processing (de-feathering/plucking etc.). If I find a video/infographic, I'll post!
 
I haven't read this entire thread so forgive me if this is redundant. I've spent many hours researching the best way to slaughter as I plan to raise meat chickens myself, and hate the idea of putting a chicken through any pain or terror.
I plan to make a gas chamber using helium. From what I understand helium gives no feeling of suffocation, just makes you really high and knocks you out in a matter of a couple breaths. Co2 will definitely cause panic as you feel suffocation and takes a lot longer.
Not to mention tanks of helium are incredibly easy to find for party balloons.;)
 
We've killed probably over 20 roosters/cockrells and while we chose slitting the throat, over chopping off the head- which caused a lot of flapping, I cant say anything seems as painfree as I would hope. My friend who started me raising chickens was able to snap the neck holding it under her left arm and tractioning the neck, push with her thumb against the base of the neck/skull and snap back, and that was very calm. She demonstrated that on a cockrell but we tried it once on a full grown Brahma who deserved a much better death- traumatic all around.

The reason I'm researching opinions of fellow feathered friend raisers is my pet chicken has been suffering too long in my view and I think what I've been doing to help hasn't helped enough to heal, maybe only prolong. She can't eat on her own due to bad thrush/sour crop. Monostat was one persons suggestion - it sort of helped, but that may not be all she's suffering from. She's only 3, but now one eye is shut and she really doesnt want me to feed her- I cant bare to see her wasting away so. It sounds as if most people think chopping off the head is less traumatic for the chicken.

Bleeding out is definitely frightening to them. They struggle to get away but become too weak as the blood drains into a water filled bucket. We use the greatly diluted blood on our trees.
 
We've killed probably over 20 roosters/cockrells and while we chose slitting the throat, over chopping off the head- which caused a lot of flapping, I cant say anything seems as painfree as I would hope. My friend who started me raising chickens was able to snap the neck holding it under her left arm and tractioning the neck, push with her thumb against the base of the neck/skull and snap back, and that was very calm. She demonstrated that on a cockrell but we tried it once on a full grown Brahma who deserved a much better death- traumatic all around.

The reason I'm researching opinions of fellow feathered friend raisers is my pet chicken has been suffering too long in my view and I think what I've been doing to help hasn't helped enough to heal, maybe only prolong. She can't eat on her own due to bad thrush/sour crop. Monostat was one persons suggestion - it sort of helped, but that may not be all she's suffering from. She's only 3, but now one eye is shut and she really doesnt want me to feed her- I cant bare to see her wasting away so. It sounds as if most people think chopping off the head is less traumatic for the chicken.

Bleeding out is definitely frightening to them. They struggle to get away but become too weak as the blood drains into a water filled bucket. We use the greatly diluted blood on our trees.

It's been a long time since having to cull any of ours. But........I have about 10 roos now, maybe a few more and won't feed them through the Winter when they can feed us...........
Last time it was necessary, I used a scalpel. Night and day from a razor or knife as long as there are no feathers in the way. No issues at all. I hate doing any of it but there comes a point and time there's just no other way around it. With too many broody's, there's going to be too many roos. One thing that has helped is there are so many chickens now, only the old favorites stand out and......and........having geese have really helped. They're as spoiled as our dogs are!
If you can get your hands on a scalpel to use with a cone, it was actually very peaceful.
 

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