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

[goldnchocolate]

Quote:

This is my thought, also, because my roosters had a habit of pulling their heads back into the cone...as if they were shrugging their shoulders and I would have to get a hold of the head and pull down just a bit to keep the head extended.

I also think that a quick slice to the arteries is the most humane. I don't actually slice the "throat"....just the vein and let them bleed out. It seems like a fairly calm way to go. I talk softly to them while they are bleeding and they just fade away. The hardest part was actually finding the location of the veins and cutting enough with the first slice to ensure a good bleed. It took a few poor fella's for me to get pretty good at it.... :-(

 

[galanie]

I do the same and had the same experience with the first ones. I am astonished at how often this old thread is resurrected.

 

[goldnchocolate]

galanie: Is that a blue orp in your avatar? I have a pretty little blue marans hen but I wish I had more blue hens. I think the color is so pretty!

 

[galanie]

Yes it is. Thank you! She's actually a touch lighter than this looks but of course I think she's a cutie hehe.

 

[GardenStateFarm]

Hello, I am a farmer in NJ where I also slaughter our chickens at our processing unit. We are in Whole Foods with the highest possible rating according to their organic/animal welfare rating system. These audits, performed by their inspectors (whom are FAR more particular than your average USDA inspectors, just for reference) , on the ENTIRE operation.

TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION performing the slaughter in the dark is an improvement in achieving a more humane task. Better yet, if you tint a light red, so you may see, it has the same effect with the chickens. They cannot see red so they will be very calm. It is also important for personnel(s) present to physically stay calm.

After doing many years at turkey farm and now with chickens ALL of my experience points to the fact these animals truly sense our being/presence in ways we cannot fully understand but being CALM is key part to an honest dignified job well done.

Don't forget to pull any supplied feed from your flock at least 6 to 8 hours before operations begin.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Wow, GardenStateFarm, great first post!!!

 

[Erica]

I like GardenStateFarm's kind outlook and approach, however I think it's pretty clear that chickens see red.
http://www.livescience.com/8099-chickens-color-humans.html

 

[raacampbell]

Actually, chickens can see red and have better color vision than we do: http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0008992 http://colourware.wordpress.com/2010/02/23/chicken-colour-vision/ This is the case for most birds, reptiles, and fish. Most have four or five cone types in their retinae whereas we have only 3 and most other mammals have only 2.

The reason they remain calm in red light will be for a different reason. For example, probably the illumination is dimmer or appears dimmer to them. Chickens are generally calmer when it's dimmer.

 

[Yukonchick]

I ,m just starting a little chicken farm again and did raise some meaties and layers quite some years ago. I just hammered two nails close together in a slight V angle in the top of a big tree stump to hold the chicken;s head in place then with a sharp axe i lopped of the head. Then I very quickly plunged it in a bucket full of water to prevent bruising when the wings start to flap. Then I plunged them in a pot of hot water before taking feathers off. I think this is pretty humane. Maybe you could use this method???

. Its a tough thing for alot of people to do but after the chickens were all butchered and I looked inside my freezer all full up for winter, I felt better.

 

[LoneStarHen]

Since the last time I posted, I've really read up on the gas. I am considering applying for my Animal Welfare Approved certification. I've been working with their poultry specialist on getting all of my farming practices aligned with their standards. http://www.animalwelfareapproved.org/

According to their poultry specialist, Animal Welfare Approved prefers their certified farms to use the gas method also known as Controlled Atmosphere Killing. He said that the preferred gas to use is a mixture of Argon and CO2, or Argon, Nitrogen, and C02. You cannot use C02 alone. He said that they have the research to show that these gasses do not affect the quality of the meat, and that it is the most humane method of killing the birds. Now, you cannot use the volatile anesthetic gasses that are used in the medical field (isoflurane, sevoflurane, etc) as those will (from my understanding) affect the meat.

We haven't butchered birds in a long time, but I do have the setup to connect a tank to a box and use this method. We would do this at night or just before dawn when the birds are quiet. The argon, nitrogen, C02 tanks can be obtained from local welding suppliers.

I know that there are many folks out there who are dead set against the gas method. But from all of my discussions with the poultry expert at Animal Welfare Approved, it seems the most humane way to go. It's also very inexpensive to set up on your own farm.