Real story & How to tell if chicken is still alive?!

[Bryce Thomas]

I slaughtered 2 naked necks, and both experiences were horrible. All this happened within last week.
The first, I did the neck cutting method, where you cut deep and cut the arteries and veins. That bird lived for 2 minutes before finally dying.
The second, I did the same neck cutting method but with a much better knife. It lived 2 minute-ish

But let me give some background. I am in FFA and I am raising meat birds for my family. I bought 4 naked necks for meat. I bought them when they were chicks.

Then there is the Agriculture teacher, Who I will call 'Mr. AG'. He knows nothing about poultry, but I am very intelligent on it besides some things like slaughter and nutrition. Mr AG knows all about slaughter, though. I asked him a week ago how to slaughter a bird. He showed me the neck cut method. However, when I asked him to help me with it he gave me a firm no and said "I trust you can do it!"

I could not do it. At least not humanely.

I am a novice BTW, but my Agriculture teacher who slaughtered over 500 birds practically worshipped the neck cutting method, where you cut the veins on both side of the neck. He swore by this method.

2 days later, I finally get the courage to do it. I took the first bird, and put her in the killing cone. SHe could not tell what was about to happen, and it was probably for the better that she didn't. 2 hours before I did it, I told my dad I needed a "really sharp knife that cuts like butter through flesh" for the bird. He opened his old toolbox, tossed me a rusty, dull boxcutter and said "that'll do!". I protested, but he swore it would work. I knew it was going to be a bad death for her.

I followed the EXACT instruction Mr AG gave me.

So I cut her neck, and she instantly jumped out of the cone the moment the boxcutter barely grazed her neck. Because my reaction skills are slow, It took me until she was fully out of the cone by the time I stopped driving the boxcutter forward. It grazed the neck, went deep into the side of her face, slit an eye open, and cut open the tissue of the lower beak. She instantly landed and began screaming and thrashing around, I slam her back into the killing cone, I cut all of her arteries.

I also cut her trachea on accident, that is now flailing about an inch in all directions. I remember it pulsating as she breathed.

No blood came out, the arteries were not clogged or scabbed and healed, but open. But no blood came out. It still traumatized me seeing her what's left of an eye trying to look at me while it was gushing all out the vitreous humor, basically what the eye is made of. I decided to just rip her head off and that's what I did.

I threw it to the ground and it slammed into the concrete, her eyes slowly closed while looking at me with no expression, and that was it. It was very hard mentally doing the plucking and evisceration. But I got it done.


For the next one, I waited 2 days then did it. Only with an actual knife. It was the exact same experience. Only that I did not rip the head off, but left it on. I cut even deeper to where I could hear the knife slice against the vertebrae. Only a small amount of blood came out. She was still alive, screaming and breathing as the trachea is not cut. I cut everything off of her neck and head, except the vertebrae. Her head was moving, just a tiny amount. Still no blood.

Her tongue instantly fell out which was expected. As I cut deeper her whole lower beak just fell out. She was still alive, which I cannot explain. Just so it is known, this was not her going crazy like some birds do when it comes to slaughter. She was still alive and conscious, I shined a light into her eyes and they contracted which means the brain is still alive and sending signals.

Strangely, she did not seemed panicked, and barely moved, she just seemed very confused as to what happened.

I decided to not eat them, and my family who was observing all of this also decided to not eat them. I buried them both in the backyard, and decided to give the other 2 forever homes.

Mr AG still has the audacity to tell me that I "Did not cut deep enough". "Are you ####ing kidding me? You said you slaughtered 500 birds? They were probably alive and conscious as you boiled them if that's the way you slaughtered them." Is what I said. Mr AG just said "I'm sorry you had to experience that" then walked away.

I am still shaken up because of what happened.



But the question is how the hell do you even tell if a chicken is still alive? I know they were both alive and conscious because they were not unconscious and they still had senses, they were still alive because they were both attempting to raise their heads toward me and both did it with success. Dead birds don't do that.

 

[iwltfum]

Hate to agree with mr ag, but it sounds like you might bot have cut deep enough. Although two minutes is about how long a bird lives after cutting the arteries so maybe you just expected more blood? You will only see about a cup or two of blood.

I will say that you need to be holding the neck tight with your other hand as you make the cut. A strong downward pull and slightly curling the neck up so you can see what you are doing. The jaw bones and trachea should be facing up at you.

One sure way to make sure the bird is dead is poke it in the eye with a knife. If it reacts. Not dead.

Another slightly less brutal way is to watch the feathers around the vent. If there is any movement, besides wind movement, the bird is still alive. The movement will be subtle like shallow breathing.

 

[cassie]

I slaughtered 2 naked necks, and both experiences were horrible. All this happened within last week.
The first, I did the neck cutting method, where you cut deep and cut the arteries and veins. That bird lived for 2 minutes before finally dying.
The second, I did the same neck cutting method but with a much better knife. It lived 2 minute-ish

But let me give some background. I am in FFA and I am raising meat birds for my family. I bought 4 naked necks for meat. I bought them when they were chicks.

Then there is the Agriculture teacher, Who I will call 'Mr. AG'. He knows nothing about poultry, but I am very intelligent on it besides some things like slaughter and nutrition. Mr AG knows all about slaughter, though. I asked him a week ago how to slaughter a bird. He showed me the neck cut method. However, when I asked him to help me with it he gave me a firm no and said "I trust you can do it!"

I could not do it. At least not humanely.

I am a novice BTW, but my Agriculture teacher who slaughtered over 500 birds practically worshipped the neck cutting method, where you cut the veins on both side of the neck. He swore by this method.

2 days later, I finally get the courage to do it. I took the first bird, and put her in the killing cone. SHe could not tell what was about to happen, and it was probably for the better that she didn't. 2 hours before I did it, I told my dad I needed a "really sharp knife that cuts like butter through flesh" for the bird. He opened his old toolbox, tossed me a rusty, dull boxcutter and said "that'll do!". I protested, but he swore it would work. I knew it was going to be a bad death for her.

I followed the EXACT instruction Mr AG gave me.

So I cut her neck, and she instantly jumped out of the cone the moment the boxcutter barely grazed her neck. Because my reaction skills are slow, It took me until she was fully out of the cone by the time I stopped driving the boxcutter forward. It grazed the neck, went deep into the side of her face, slit an eye open, and cut open the tissue of the lower beak. She instantly landed and began screaming and thrashing around, I slam her back into the killing cone, I cut all of her arteries.

I also cut her trachea on accident, that is now flailing about an inch in all directions. I remember it pulsating as she breathed.

No blood came out, the arteries were not clogged or scabbed and healed, but open. But no blood came out. It still traumatized me seeing her what's left of an eye trying to look at me while it was gushing all out the vitreous humor, basically what the eye is made of. I decided to just rip her head off and that's what I did.

I threw it to the ground and it slammed into the concrete, her eyes slowly closed while looking at me with no expression, and that was it. It was very hard mentally doing the plucking and evisceration. But I got it done.


For the next one, I waited 2 days then did it. Only with an actual knife. It was the exact same experience. Only that I did not rip the head off, but left it on. I cut even deeper to where I could hear the knife slice against the vertebrae. Only a small amount of blood came out. She was still alive, screaming and breathing as the trachea is not cut. I cut everything off of her neck and head, except the vertebrae. Her head was moving, just a tiny amount. Still no blood.

Her tongue instantly fell out which was expected. As I cut deeper her whole lower beak just fell out. She was still alive, which I cannot explain. Just so it is known, this was not her going crazy like some birds do when it comes to slaughter. She was still alive and conscious, I shined a light into her eyes and they contracted which means the brain is still alive and sending signals.

Strangely, she did not seemed panicked, and barely moved, she just seemed very confused as to what happened.

I decided to not eat them, and my family who was observing all of this also decided to not eat them. I buried them both in the backyard, and decided to give the other 2 forever homes.

Mr AG still has the audacity to tell me that I "Did not cut deep enough". "Are you ####ing kidding me? You said you slaughtered 500 birds? They were probably alive and conscious as you boiled them if that's the way you slaughtered them." Is what I said. Mr AG just said "I'm sorry you had to experience that" then walked away.

I am still shaken up because of what happened.



But the question is how the hell do you even tell if a chicken is still alive? I know they were both alive and conscious because they were not unconscious and they still had senses, they were still alive because they were both attempting to raise their heads toward me and both did it with success. Dead birds don't do that.

I used a box cutter to cut the throats on mine. I have no idea what you did wrong but you did something wrong. I did not use a cone because to me that was more trouble than it was worth. I tied the legs together with baling twine and hung them up at a convenient height. I then cut the throat. Before I started using the box cutter, after I hung up the chicken I lopped off its head with a very sharp pair of very heavy duty pruning shears. I called them limb loppers and they did the job. The loppers might be easier for you to use. No skill needed.

 

[Battlepants]

I think the best piece of advice that I received about the method of dispatching your birds is to do the one you are most confident with.

I don't trust myself to do the throat cut method as I think I will panic and hold back, resulting in a cut not deep enough and additional suffering, so I am planning on doing the axe method - one strong swing right through the neck and into the stump. In my eyes, this will guarantee a death without additional work and with very little risk of mistake.

 

[3KillerBs]

I have used the broomstick method myself so far.

I know they are dead because they end up with a gap in the spine as wide as my hand. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/one-cull-cockerel.1512131/

You see in that thread that I considered using other methods, but went back to the one I was sure of.

I do want to say that it's irresponsible for your teacher to not ACTUALLY TEACH you how to do the job rather than just describe it. I was taught to use the broomstick method in person by a knowledgeable and experienced teacher.

 

[Torinik]

I do want to say that it's irresponsible for your teacher to not ACTUALLY TEACH you how to do the job rather than just describe it.

I have to fully agree with this, a teacher teaches and does not describe or quote out of a book.

As to the amount of blood, it just covers the bottom of a bucket. Maybe you were expecting too much blood, something you would have learned with one showing if your teacher was willing.
I cut one artery and usually there's no reaction from the chicken when I cut, small cut with sharp knife just severing the artery, sometimes there's a sound but no panic or wing flapping. It bleeds out quietly and that could well be a minute or maybe two, never timed it. Then the spasms come and with it wing flapping. With me most fold their wings back peacefully and then I know there will be no more spasms. Rarely they leave their wings to hang so I hold on to them a little longer because that's a sign that another unexpected spasm may occur. Why that is, I don't know. They're all completely bled and practically dead when the first spasms occur. Maybe this is what happened to you.

When I was a kid the preferred method around here was stump and hatchet. Chickens took off running without heads and would spasm somewhere for well over a minute sometimes. But those chickens were headless and lost most of their blood, so certainly dead even though they still looked alive.

Hang in there, you will see the difference soon enough, and, of course, it's a huge help if someone can show you first.

It doesn't really get any easier with time, I still have a hard time doing the deed, but one certainly becomes more efficient with experience.

 

[cassie]

I think the best piece of advice that I received about the method of dispatching your birds is to do the one you are most confident with.

I don't trust myself to do the throat cut method as I think I will panic and hold back, resulting in a cut not deep enough and additional suffering, so I am planning on doing the axe method - one strong swing right through the neck and into the stump. In my eyes, this will guarantee a death without additional work and with very little risk of mistake.

The axe is the time-honored method of dispatching chickens. It is not an option for me because I do not have the upper body strength necessary. There is no way I could ever hold the chicken with one hand and wield the axe with the other. Hence the limb loppers. One good WHACK and it's done.

 

[Mgeorge]

Thank you for this thread! I experienced a similar thing last weekend with 2 rabbits I butchered and it was my first time to dispatch anything. I totally could relate to every painful word. Now I have a rooster to dispatch so this is so helpful.

 

[Coops Dad]

I use a pellet pistol and shoot a .177 caliber airgun pellet into the brainpan from behind. Brain death is instant and it allows me to use a really sharp knife to slice the neck arteries.

There's still some thrashing and carrying on but it ends quickly.

 

[Ais]

I use a pellet gun too.