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

[ESofVA]

I think it all comes down to attachment for most people. I can kill any "wild" animal. I can kill anything that is in the process of trying to injure something of mine (an opossum in my chicken house, a dog running my horses). Pets...I have had to, but it REALLY hurts. We had a litter of 10 Aussie puppies. 2 died early. At 8 1/2 weeks old we found out that one had a mortal heart condition and the verdict was maybe 6 months with pain. We rounded all of the puppies up and went to the vet. All but one had to be euthanized. It killed my family, it killed the veterinary Drs. and staff.
So...Don't think of those you are planning to eat as pets or family. I have only gotten close to 2 of my 24 chicks. so far. I know I can only keep 8-10 (maybe a few more if there is a greater proportion of bantams). I know I am going to keep those 2...I haven't made a decision on the others. I will wait to make certain which breeds they are and their sex,
That doesn't mean I don't play with them all...just more attention to those 2nd an affectation for them..

 

[keabler]

We raise meat and egg chickens, and I don't think anyone normal wants to hurt another living creature. I think that if you look at their cognitive functions and their lack of higher reasoning, it is simply a matter of instinctive fear. I have chickens that have been around for years (nearly all of my chickens have been hand raised, played with by my children, etc., and never abused) that run and hide scared to death when I bring a rake near them or their area. Their instincts tell them that it is scary, so they run around nervously. They get suspicious if I bring them oatmeal in a yellow bowl instead of putting it in their treat bowl, and they run from it (somewhat dependent on breed I think).

My point is that when you go to process them, they do not start lamenting all of the things they will never get a chance to do, nor do they look at a retrospective of life versus the life yet unlived. Instead, they get the same instinctive fear as when I rake the yard near them. When asked at school, my 8 year old daughter said, "It's simple, you pray and thank God for giving you that chicken, you bless the chicken, then you kill it and eat it. They die doing what they were hatched to do. I hope I end up doing what I was born to do. " This coming from a 2nd grader who still paints their toenails and makes chicken videos about hanging with her homeys LOL.

It's been my experience that if you use the method described here, wherein you use a scalpel (sharp = less painful), then lower them into the black back (dark = safe/secure/non-confusing), they just fall asleep due to the O2 deprivation.

Good luck,

keabler

 

[npbamboo]

Decapitation is not recommended on welfare grounds, as brain activity and therefore consciousness may continue for up to 2 minutes after decapitation.

Rather than use a sharp knife or axe to decapitate a chicken, I would suggest placing its body quietly into a cone to prevent flapping, then with its head on a block, immediately smashing it's skull accurately and from a good height, with a very heavy, wide-headed, short-handled hammer (such as one might use to knock small posts into the ground). This will produce instantaneous death, and be far more humane.

To prevent the brain going everywhere, the birds head should be first gently wrapped with a soft cloth. The main objective being to alleviate any suffering of the bird, rather than that of the person performing the instant kill.

This above is only my opinion, but is based on full consideration of all the information I can find on the internet after a prolonged and thorough research into the most quick and humane way to kill a chicken. It is even more humane than gassing, and is the method I will be adopting with a clear conscience for my own free-range, pampered birds, hopefully before the fox uses her method !

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Quote:

I'd like to hear how this ends up working for you. There seems to me to be too much scope for error, missing your target, whacking your cone, not getting an efficient kill, having inefficient drainage of the bird's blood, etc.

It's good to do a lot of research online, but it usually comes down to your own experiences, and eventually finding out what works best for YOU. Of course you know not to believe EVERYthing you read online. I have my doubts that a decapitated head has brain function for as long as 2 minutes. (Although if it were true that would explain a lot of what goes on in politics)

I have one method I use for dispatching meat birds (the Slice) but when I must cull dear pet hens I can't do anything so bloody, I break their necks instead. I don't think I could bring myself to kill one by blunt trauma to its head.

 

[galanie]

n

I have my doubts that a decapitated head has brain function for as long as 2 minutes.  (Although if it were true that would explain a lot of what goes on in politics)

I have one method I use for dispatching meat birds (the Slice) but when I must cull dear pet hens I can't do anything so bloody, I break their necks instead.  I don't think I could bring myself to kill one by blunt trauma to its head.

There is a sort of proof that humans are aware for up to 30 seconds but usually more like 10 seconds after decapitation. Eyes blink, mouths move as though trying to speak, etc. One was about to be done this way and told everyone that as a sort of experiment he would blink his eyes while he was still aware and was seen to do so for around 15 or more seconds. Two minutes? No way.

What this person is describing is about one of the bloodiest, goriest, messiest horrors I can possibly imagine. Better to make a gas chamber in a tupperware bowl, however ridiculous that is.

 

[Yukonchick]

Years ago my teacher in school told us that in France they used to behead people and one apparently ran off without his head and would have kept running if it weren't for running straight into a horse and carriage. I dunno if thats a true story or not, Sheeesh. Can you imagine???

 

[npbamboo]

Yes, Sunny Side Up, I did think about the possibility of missing the target (head) with the hammer. I'm looking for a heavy cylindrical weight (perhaps will make one out of lead) that I can drop down a piece of drainpipe instead, so that once everything is lined up and held firmly in place, there's no chance of a miss. I think I will also decapitate, but after the skull has been smashed. I know this all sounds very gruesome, but I'm sure you understand that it's based on being as kind as is humanly and humanely possible. I'll let you know how it works in practice when I've plucked up the courage to start reducing the number of cockerels taht I've accumulated through hatching eggs. The cocks are all very beautiful, and I will find it hard to say goodbye to any one of them, but my backyard chicken keeping has to be a practical concern, and not just a petting zoo. Kind regards, Neal.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I had to learn how to process chickens by myself soon after having broody hens hatch clutches of chicks and finding myself with an excess of cockerels. Certainly it's a shame to have to do away with these handsome birds, but I try to put a positive spin on it and think how nice it is to have my meat wrapped in such attractive packaging! I care for these chickens as well as I do all the others, admire their natural beauty, take pride in their growth, and enjoy their antics.

So I consider it the final kindness I can bestow on them to give them an ending that is humane, gentle, and stress-free as possible. You may be able to provide that for your young roos using the methods you described, but I still think there is so much room for inefficiency & error, that the birds will have to be restrained somehow waiting for the hit, that they will feel more stress than necessary.

I can dispatch my birds all by myself, it goes very quickly & calmly. They are confined in a crate the night before, so it's easy to reach in and pick up the next candidate, no chasing or grabbing. I stroke them gently and speak to them soothingly the whole time. They are placed into the cone, and their heads gently pulled down through the opening. They are calm and unafraid, looking around at familiar surroundings. Then I hold their heads and with a very sharp knife make a deep & decisive cut in the jugular and with that first outflow of blood they have completely Crossed The Road. By using a very sharp knife they are dead almost before they feel the pain of the cut.

I recommend that you continue to research this method, I think it's very efficient & effective, and therefore, very humane.

 

[npbamboo]

Thanks very much for your comments Sunny Side Up! It's the "almost" in "almost before they feel the pain" that disturbes me. Maybe I should invest in a shotgun, as you can't get much more instant than that. I've spent another 5 hours researching the euthanasia of chickens today, and find that even the most civilised countries (e.g. US, UK, NZ) disagree on the best way to do it, and are still looking into it!

Carbon dioxide (CO2) gassing is definitely not acceptable to me, but carbon monoxide (CO) seems a good possibility, as CO is tasteless and odourless, and induces coma before death without any noticeable trauma or asphyxiation panic. There are of course anaesthetic gasses that will do this too, but they can contaminate the flesh, whereas, carbon monoxide does not.

. . .to be continued I expect !

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Quote: When you make that first deep cut, there is a whole lot of blood loss in those first few seconds. That amount of blood loss puts the bird On The Other Side, the blood pressure drops drastically, there is no more conscious brain function. That's why you use a veryveryvery sharp knife, so that it cuts deep without pulling or dragging across the skin & muscles, so that there isn't much pain to feel. The same way you can cut yourself with a razor or very sharp knife and may not feel it until you notice that you're bleeding.

I can understand how some folks are concerned that their chickens would feel even a few seconds of pain before they die, and try to devise methods to put them to sleep before dispatching them. But I wonder if all that kind of handling and gassing, while reducing the feelings of pain, may also increase the feelings of stress or anxiety.

I feel assured that I am providing a compassionate and humane end for my meat birds by calmly placing them in a holding cage the night before (no running around chasing and catching, just a simple lifting from the roost), by gently picking them up out of that cage when it's their turn to Go (again, no chasing around the cage, just a reach & grab), by stroking them and speaking to them soothingly before putting them into the cone, giving them a moment to grow more calm inverted in the cone, still speaking to them soothingly, and then making that deep decisive cut that makes them Cross The Road in an instant.

I was looking for a good video on YouTube that shows the Slice method, and how efficient & effective it can be. There sure are a whole lot of choices when you search for "chicken processing" and variations on that! Some of them are worth watching, others could cause you to eat tofu for the rest of your life. Here's a few I thought showed the Slice method done fairly well: