I was axing my first chickens, turkeys and ducks at age 10...it can be a hit or miss prospect, especially for glancing blows that do not land squarely on the birds with very thick, muscular necks. Then you have to put them back there, bleeding, squawking, flapping and with half their neck gashed and take another whack at it. That's why I so love the killing cones...two hands, quiet, precise, no blood spraying or drama with bodies flopping one way and heads laying there with mouths gaping and eyes still open.