5 gallon buckets to control flapping.

[Mrs. K]

What most of us think is the hardest part of processing birds, is the flapping at the point of death. A 5 gallon bucket helps immensely. I do the deed and drop them in the bucket. The bucket contains the bird, and while there is movement, it does not get as violent. Your birds stay much cleaner.

Mrs K

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

What most of us think is the hardest part of processing birds, is the flapping at the point of death. A 5 gallon bucket helps immensely. I do the deed and drop them in the bucket. The bucket contains the bird, and while there is movement, it does not get as violent. Your birds stay much cleaner.

Mrs K

Does this keep them from breaking their wings?
We had a couple that broke their wings from the flapping.

 

[Mrs. K]

Yes, it does...mostly. the CX sometimes the joints are weak. But I have had much better luck in the buckets. Put them in head first.

 

[3KillerBs]

Good to know. I was about to ask about bruising on the wings.

The other day the Chicken Kitchen cook was carrying around a badly bruised chicken wing asking if we thought the processing plant people were kicking the birds (they're not -- I've known several people who worked at different plants and cruelty isn't tolerated).

Her eyes kept getting bigger and bigger as I explained that I raise chickens have have killed my own and that they flap when they die and sometimes bang into things and get bruised.

 

[Ozarkoak]

We use restraint cones.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

We use restraint cones.

We have one and it's not large enough for a Cornish Cross, my husband is thinking of making one himself. Cornish Cross breasts are too big to fit well in a cone.

 

[Mrs. K]

Today, I did leghorn cockerels - but I have Cornish cross in a few weeks. I think I read it here, and if so I apologize for not giving credit.

But it really works well. For the Cornish cross - just one or two birds will fit. I don't do a whole bunch at a time for 3-4 buckets works for me. On a ranch one always has 5 gallon buckets.

 

[NatJ]

I do the deed and drop them in the bucket. The bucket contains the bird, and while there is movement, it does not get as violent. Your birds stay much cleaner.

Does it stay in the bucket with no top?
Do you need a certain size of bird to fit right in that size bucket?

I've put a bucket upside down over a freshly-killed chicken, but I think the chicken would knock the bucket over unless I put my foot on top of the bucket.

A few times, I've stuck the chicken in a boothole in deep snow. That was a nice fit, and worked really well. (That's what inspired me to try a bucket the next summer. At the time, I had not heard of a cone.)

 

[Ozarkoak]

We have one and it's not large enough for a Cornish Cross, my husband is thinking of making one himself. Cornish Cross breasts are too big to fit well in a cone.

Just did 40 cornish X in large cones. Fit no problem. Need to get the large cones. These are what we use. https://www.amazon.com/Miller-Poult.../B076ZVZ9XP/ref=psdc_3238155011_t1_B009S9EZ3M

 

[3KillerBs]

A few times, I've stuck the chicken in a boothole in deep snow. That was a nice fit, and worked really well.

I don't think I'd want to be butchering in deep snow, but that's a great idea.