What I’m I doing wrong when processing my meat birds?

[natyvidal]

Hi everyone! Lease forgive me if I am being to graphic in this post!

So I decided to experiment in growing my own chickens for the table. I am using Cornish cross breed, which are easy to get around here as chicks. Raising them no problem, processing them humanly, big problem.

I grab the chicken, tie their legs and hang them upside down in a tall bucket. Then with a very sharp knife I feel around their neck just before the head and grab the loose skin around there and slice, right? Just as if they where in a cone but in a bucket.

I must be slicing wrong because they are not dying fast enough. Today, a big rooster took half an hour to die. For me that is not humane. It’s cruel. I kept slicing but it would not die.

I’ve tried the butcher block method but they flap all over without a head spattering blood which is not good for me and I can’t swing an ax that well anymore.

My hands are not strong enough to twist their necks like I remember my father and mother do decades ago.

The question is how do I know I am cutting the blood vein so they bleed fast and die fast?

A neighbor that raises the same kind of bird and is certified to process and sell to the public, showed me this system. She had the cone a sharp slit in the neck and the bird dies peacefully. No messes, no spattering, no flapping around!

Help! . I need to be able to humanly kill my birds or no meat bird for me.. Thank you ahead for your advise and help.

 

[rjohns39]

A good cone is worth its weight in gold. I like featherman the best. You want the process to be as stress free for both of you as possible. I hold the bird by the feet and let it calm down naturally, then fold the wings and lower it into the cone. I extend the neck and gently rub the feathers away from the artery area by the esophagus. If I do it right, the bird will close its eyes and actually go to sleep. Then one swift and deep cut through the artery. There should be a steady stream of blood rushing out. When I do it right, the bird never wakes up. They will thrash in the cone but that's just nervous reaction.

I have a friend who lacks the strength to get the cut deep enough with a knife. He uses pvc tubing cutters and takes the head off. If you would like a good instructional video, I'd be happy to post it for you. It's what I used to learn the process, but I did follow-up and go watch it done live during one of the processing days.

 

[Tre3hugger]

You will know if your cut is correct by the freshet of blood that comes out. I find that for bout 30 seconds the bird doesn't even react after the cut with a very sharp knife. Then once the bird is about 70% bled out, it starts thrashing as the nervous system shuts down. Looks a bit violent, but virtually painless for the bird. I have never had a bird take more than three minutes to die. If it took a half hour, you are probably missing the jugular. I make the cut directly below the wattles and a slight angle. If you don't see the jet of blood, you missed. Try the other side. If you miss that side too(no blood jet) just remove the head. And try again on the next bird.

I recommend an interchangeable scalpel blade knife. Medical sharp, EVERY TIME. This is the one I use.

https://www.amazon.com/Outdoor-Edge...0&sr=1-1-791c2399-d602-4248-afbb-8a79de2d236f

 

[U_Stormcrow]

@HFFFluvmychicksandchicken I appreciate that you are emotionally invested in your birds, and have strong beliefs about how they should be treated. Not all of us view the world as you do, and I'm not certain all of us can afford to view the world as you do.

The posters here at BackyardChickens tend to be experienced owners looking to give their birds a good (and productive) life in humane conditions, and when the time comes, a humane ending. Or, they are members who endeavor to become those things. An appeal to your own authority "i am a chicken expert". supra before offering a moral/emotional argument is unlikely to change many (if any) minds. Those who share your belief structure likely already agree with you, and those that don't, well...

I'm in the practical/pragmatic camp myself, and would much rather a fellow member get good advice on sharp knives for dispatching birds (the synthetic handle Fibrox/Victorinox, BTW - easier to bleach clean than the nicer wood handled version!) than be attacked via a "How could you...?" posting about an event many first timers already approach with trepidation. Fast and sure, with a SHARP knife is the humane way - I'm supporting that effort, that the bird not suffer.

/EDIT and if you feel it necessary to report this post, though I have tried to be respectful, so be it. Sometimes, I need to take a step back, too. Perspective can make a huge difference.

 

[De Bauer]

I Hope you dont buthcer egg laying hens because egg layers can live long and for taht to lay an eggg it pain they work so hard and lose nutrition because of it you Should keep old hens to ur flock they also make great pets older hens are more nicer and docile than younger hens they also keep the pest down and eat rats and mice a laying hen can live up to 11 to 15 years. Now I can understand if you kill Cornish cross because the have no chance even tho they suffer from it so there is no better. But laying hen a sick hen desserves to surive and tooken to vet ALSO old hens do lay egg 5 year old 8 year old lay egg but not as often there also good with protecting young hens and have more experince with a hen they also tend to go even tho there 8 years old if the do they make great mothers because they have more experience

How could you do that i am an chicken expert i have been learning and working with them Chicken loss there nutrition and get muscle pain while laying the eggs why could you do that hens can live 11 to 15 years no animals deserve to lose there after there old or stop laying eggs chicken suffer by laying eggs they feel pain by doing some chicken die because of eggs and you kill them thats so horrible even tho they don't lay eggs dose not mean you can kill them if you want meat chickens by broilers/ cronish cross do NOT use egg chickens they suffer at the end they die why a chicken is a period accept they have more pain as a human also old hens can make great pets in fact if you don't want there many things to do with them than INSTEAD of killing sending them to a sanctuary keeping as pet they are great with killing pest and rats they can be use to brood old hens tend to go broody than young hens

.never mind.. deleted.

I will just say if the killing of chickens for meat disturbs you so much maybe not reading and commenting in the MEAT CHICKEN forum and a post specifically focused on detailed info on the dispatching of chickens.

 

[Tre3hugger]

Tree loopers? Never of them. I’ll look it up. But, I read that it’s important for the animal to bleed out? Thank you.

It is important for the animal to die humanely. It is secondary to have a complete proper bleed. If you chop the head off, and it s hanging upside down, it will still bleed out sufficiently. It will just take a bit longer since the heart is no longer pumping.
Lopper: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bond-337...=sem&msclkid=5feabd74f8361310cf9ee2d701dea174

 

[Floof]

I use a traffic cone that I cut the narrow end off until it was the right size, and then screwed it to a tree. I added a screw below my cone that I use to hang a bucket to catch the blood and the head for the compost pile. I collect a rooster, put him upside down in the cone, position the tree/limb loppers around his neck and make sure that I can feel the tree behind him (to ensure I cut all the way through), and then just draw the lopper arms together and it slices clean through and the head plops into the bucket. He bleeds out in about 2 or 3 minutes and then I move on to the next one. I've tried other methods and this one is the fastest, the most humane, the cleanest, requires the least amount of effort/strength, and removes all guesswork or worry about "...is it dead yet?"

Most importantly: it is the least traumatic! I tried the broomstick method when I first started out and I think I yelled I'M SO SORRY loud enough that my neighbors probably heard. It did not go well

 

[B-Goock]

I just made a kill cone fastened to a sacrificial board and use either a small machete or hatchet. Its quick and they don't flop but only a minute or so.

 

[casportpony]

The question is how do I know I am cutting the blood vein so they bleed fast and die fast?

Source:
https://www.hsa.org.uk/downloads/hsatipeffneckcutpoultry14oct2015.pdf

 

[Molpet]

I Hope you dont buthcer egg laying hens because egg layers can live long and for taht to lay an eggg it pain they work so hard and lose nutrition because of it you Should keep old hens to ur flock they also make great pets older hens are more nicer and docile than younger hens they also keep the pest down and eat rats and mice a laying hen can live up to 11 to 15 years. Now I can understand if you kill Cornish cross because the have no chance even tho they suffer from it so there is no better. But laying hen a sick hen desserves to surive and tooken to vet ALSO old hens do lay egg 5 year old 8 year old lay egg but not as often there also good with protecting young hens and have more experince with a hen they also tend to go even tho there 8 years old if the do they make great mothers because they have more experience

If they are just a few as pets that's doable. I have 40+ hens and couldn't afford to keep all of them and 40 new layers....plus they make good soup.
I keep them 2 to 4 x as long as commercial laying houses, and they have a good life. Better than commercial eggs