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

[Ozarkoak]

I use a very sharp knife and cones. We just did 40 Cornish cross a month or so ago. Pull the neck through the cone tight. One quick cut with a razor sharp knife and the chicken will drain out in about a minute or two. If you have ever used a hatchet to do the deed you see their reaction? Running flapping all that. They will do the same thing in the cone. Lots of kicking, thumping, then, nothing. Make sure you have a quality knife and a sharpener so you can keep it in shape. Its never easy to do. Just remember they are giving their life so you and your family can live. Give them the best life you can while they are here and thats all you can do.

 

[LilRedmamma]

Reassuring to know my first didn’t go exactly as planned either. I was nervous. Then my kitchen cleaver was not sharp enough to completely sever the head- I chopped 3 times! All this after I’d snapped its neck (supposed to render the bird unconscious?) It did not look unconscious to me.
Anyway, I’ll use the deer processing clever next time, and secure the bird better.
I do know the muscles twitch giving the ‘unnerving’ (no pun intended) appearance of it still being alive.
I smh it’s NOT the same as processing a wild turkey I shot - it’s already dead. When it flops around it’s exciting from the adrenaline rush of hunting.
Hopefully your next cull will go easier with a more appropriate knife.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Reassuring to know my first didn’t go exactly as planned either. I was nervous. Then my kitchen cleaver was not sharp enough to completely sever the head- I chopped 3 times!

I use the hatchet and stump method. One key to getting the head cut off is to cut into the grain of wood, not against it. If the blade sinks into the wood a bit you can cut the head off completely pretty easily. If you cut across the grain of the wood the blade can bounce back if it is hard wood instead of sinking in.

 

[plasma800]

You , or any reading in the future, might find this slaughter teaching presentation useful

 

[50-45-1]

I took several of my fall cockrells to an amish family to dress out for me once, and watched them work on birds as I dropped off mine.
They used cones, and dropped the head through and quickly cut it off... period. No pain for the bird.
My Mother hung them from there legs to a tree limb and cut several heads off and let the blood drain out before moving forward with the dressing.
Sorry this has been such a grewling and heartwrenching experience for you.
I myself tried the broomstick method once with disappointing results.
Sharp knife, one strong slash with neck extended for me next time.

 

[Anima 44]

Thanks for keeping the other ones as pets. Animals want to live as everyone.

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.

Thanks for keeping the other ones as pets! Animals want to live as everyone.

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.

Thanks for keeping

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.

Thanks for keeping the other ones as pets. ♥ Animals also don't want to die as everyone else.