Do you slaughter your birds in front of the flock?

[galanie]

Well, I butchered a few in front of the flock today. If I had to assign a human emotion to the chickens as I butchered their flock-mates, it would be the same exact emotion that I feel as I dig in to an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet.

 

[Greasydog26]

I have never killed a chicken before so...What is a cone?

 

[booker81]

I don't butcher in front of the whole flock due to the logistics of where I butcher (in the garage and then finish in the house). However, I usually do batches of 4-12 birds at a time, so I take the ones I plan to butcher from the coop and put in a dog crate in the garage. They are a few feet from where I do the killing, and they don't really seem to care unless I get one that's extra feisty and tries to escape from me before I can truss it upside down. For the actual killing part, no one cares, and I try to keep it calm and quiet, and have taken to holding the bird (don't have a cone), to keep flapping down.

I think they only react to the vocalizing of stress, but not to the actual dying or blood or anything.

 

[centrarchid]

Chickens respond to stress calls of other chickens, Simply handling a bird prior to dispatching can stress balance of flock back in coop. I have never attempted to measure effects with respect to production of meat and eggs but with respect to latter it does not take much to get hens off for a day or two. Hearing is key sense.

For comparison, I work with fishes in tanks. Many of the tanks are connected with respect to waterflow but fish in adjacent tanks can not see or hear each other and when I work on some tanks, fish in some of the other tanks can not see me either. When fish in one tank are handled with a net, then fish in all tanks very quickly loose interest in feed with loss most marked in tanks that can see me. This effect is reduced when handling is frequent or I make effort to handle fish gently. Olfaction is key sense.


To be considerate of mental state of animals being so used, I effort to minimize stress and process away from balance of stock.

 

[triplepurpose]

I was once concerned about slaughtering in view of the other chickens, until I realized they couldn't care less. Now I have no qualms about dispatching them in full view of the rest of the flock. Most don't react at all. The only thing that sometimes alarms them is the commotion of the reflexive flapping and kicking, but then they also squawk when I hammer nails in the yard, or when a car next door backfires--and then they are over it in a few seconds and go on about their business. For all their many intelligent traits, my observations have convinced me that they don't have a real sense of empathy, at least not in the way we do--I think I was finally convinced of this the day I saw some of them pecking curiously at the blood on the ground beneath one of their slaughtered flockmates.

BTW I've heard that pigs freak out if they see their comrades slaughtered, but my neighbors shot and cleaned a pig right in front of it's sibling and the other pig didn't even look up from eating!

But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't do everything you can to minimize stress and alarm when handling your birds.

 

[Henery Hawk]

I wonder how many of the 'no' votes are from folks who don't slaughter birds at all?

 

[sargent spurs]

I just butchered a attack rooster from a Friends flock in front of my chickens, it didn't bother them at all but my rooster liked it.

 

[trifecta]

I don't butcher my birds in front of the flock but its not intentional, just the set up of our home/yard. However, all birds destined for freezer camp can see what's going on. I put all of my dinner guests in a dog crate next to my cone, and they don't seem to worry until I actually hang them (that initial complaint about being upside down- but then they settle).

Last time, I think the left overs in my coop were stressed, but I wonder a bit if its because they can hear the comotion but can't see what's going on... maybe its actually WORSE for them if they can't see it! They may also have been stressed because their breakfast was delayed due to processing. Who knows?

With that said, we often butcher steers in front of their comrades and they don't worry either. Temple Grandin has some excellent research about reducing stress at slaughter- that blood smell, even in mammals, does not cause stress, but that things like excessive noise, visual stimulus, and aggressive handling can significantly effect the welfare of the animal. So at home, I try to keep my waiting birds in a comfortable, quiet, cool/dark environment while they are waiting to reduce their stress and handle them as gently as possible. I think that goes a lot further to help reduce stress than whether or not their friends can see them.

 

[Appylover]

I try not to butcher in front of the flock. But the size of my little suburban yard at least one or more will see it. They do not seem stressed unless the one being killed makes a fuss. But then I have only killed two so not sure I am really the one to judge if they are feeling fear or not. But when I found my favorite pullet killed by a friends dog her insides fell out when i removed her from the dog pen they were more than happy to clean up after me.

 

[triplepurpose]

Temple Grandin has some excellent research about reducing stress at slaughter- that blood smell, even in mammals, does not cause stress, but that things like excessive noise, visual stimulus, and aggressive handling can significantly effect the welfare of the animal. So at home, I try to keep my waiting birds in a comfortable, quiet, cool/dark environment while they are waiting to reduce their stress and handle them as gently as possible. I think that goes a lot further to help reduce stress than whether or not their friends can see them.

Very well put. I think this sums up the subject nicely...