I'm thinking a somewhat automated killing device made affordable for the average backyard flock owner would find many takers. I was planning one years ago, just a restraining 'box' (vague use of the term there) that stops flapping, struggling, jumping etc, and something like a guillotine attached, in an enclosed segment so there's very little risk to the human.I think for myself, a killing cone, a bleed immediately followed by pithing, might work best for me at first. I watched a video of a woman who slaughtered her chicken by placing the hen on her back in her lap, calming her and then quickly decapitated her by pulling off the head. It looked quite humane, but I think it would require more confidence and experience than I possess.
I've pulled off chook heads before, if anything it's even quicker and more humane than chopping them off, far less messy too, and often there's absolutely no reaction from the chook. I think the blunt trauma injury to the spinal cord caused by an axe or knife blow produces all that flapping in many cases, but even chickens that die of old age or chronic illness tend to go into spasms and struggle and backflip too, so doubtless you couldn't eradicate it completely whatever your methods, short of sedative overdose. Restraining the animal would help.
Best wishes.
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