Axe/hatchet method of chicken dispatch - is it the most humane and cost-efficient method?

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

We will be processing our first meatbirds in the fall (6 Cornish X from Meyer Hatchery). My fiance grew up in Europe and remembers killing the meat chickens on his grandparents' farm by chopping off the heads, so originally we just planned to do that. But the more I research, the more I'm unsure about this method. It seems the most humane to me because they barely get a chance to feel pain, but it also seems like it could be messy or hold the risk of the meat getting bruised. Our main concerns are preventing suffering in the chicken, and preserving the quality of the meat. We also want to remain cost-efficient. We already have a good hatchet that could do the job, but no cone.

For any of you who use the axe method, are there ways to prevent the messiness and the risk of bruising? Do you feel it is the most humane? What are other advantages and disadvantages?

For those of you who use a different method, what is it, and why do you feel it is more humane? I've considered the kill cone, but it seems the chicken will suffer for a few minutes as it dies, and it requires me to buy a cone. Let me know why you think it's worth it anyway.

Thank you!

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I hang them upside down from the scale, hold the head in my off hand, and take if off with a very SHARP! knife in my primary. There is no bruising. Its as humane as any other method, when done correctly. Its inexpensive, requiring only the time investment to sharpen the knife, and a way to hang the bird so it can't smash into anything in its death throws.

That's the positives.

Negatives. It takes a certain kind of person to hold the head in one hand and slice it clean off with the other. Most people aren't wired that way, which may be a good thing. You WILL get blood on you - wear a bathing suit. If you don't position the knife right, so it slides clean thru the vertebrae, it will likely require a second cut. Practice makes perfect, but if the bird does move when you position the knife, requiring a second cut, whatever you do, DO NOT hesitate. It is no kindness to you, and more important, it is no kindness to the bird.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I use the hatchet and stump method and consider it as humane as any other method. The bird will flop around but the head is gone. I don't see how it can be suffering. It is possible that it can bruise while flopping around but I hardly ever see that. I figure there is some risk no matter what you do.

To me the main thing no matter which method you use is that you can do it right. You don't want to flinch or close your eyes at the wrong time, you could only wound the bird or possibly injure yourself.

 

[Molpet]

Cut up Kitty litter jug as kill cone.
Electrical tape around feet.

PVC cutter for decapitation

 

[Ridgerunner]

Thanks! So when you do this, do you hold the chicken over a bucket or tub when it is bleeding out? How do you collect the blood?

I don't collect the blood. I drive two large nails in a stump on one side to form a Vee, about 3/4" apart at the bottom going to about 1-1/2" apart higher up. I hold the bird by both legs and gently lower its neck in that Vee. Gently, take your time. Then gently stretch out the neck, it does not have to be tight. The nails hold it in place while you swing the axe or hatchet. After the head is off I just turn loose of the legs and let it flop around.

One trick to the hatchet method and why you use a stump. You want to cut into the grain of the wood so the blade sinks into the wood a bit. You get a cleaner cut that way. If you cut across the grain (say you try to use a 2x12) the blade can bounce back instead of going on through. You might get a clean kill but the head often doesn't come off.

I've never tried to put the bird in any kind of cone after removing the head, with the flapping wings I don't know how that would work. Might be a problem unless you wrap the wings so they can't flap. If you want to collect the blood you might want to look into the killing cone and removing the head with a knife, pipe cutters, or a pruning loppers (the scissors type, not the anvil type).







+6

 

[Molpet]

If you're doing dispatch in a garage I would tape up leaf size garbage bags around the kill site. Blood does splatter.

Maybe one day, but unfortunately right now where I live, butchering must be done in a garage or other enclosed space. I live in the city.

 

[Molpet]

Thanks for the advice! Maybe I'll just throw a tarp down.

Also about 4ft up.

 

[Karasu]

I've done the pipe cutters, broomstick method, and manual cervical dislocation for meat birds. Pipe cutters work alright, but it takes some coordination and is messy. I use the broomstick for larger birds, and manual CD for smaller hens. (Roosters are tougher). I don't get a perfect bleed with a broomstick, but it's good enough for consumption.

You do have to be careful with how much force you use with the broomstick, or you'll rip their head off entirely and make a mess. Additionally, a broomstick makes it (in my experience) easier to botch than manual CD. I've accidentally dislocated their neck after the first vertebrae before which results in a slightly slower death as to the best of my knowledge based on the studies I read it doesn't cause the same recoil and damage to the back of the brain. However, when I tested their corneas immediately after, they still were gone pretty darn fast. Still, I have never done this with manual CD, as that doesn't rely on placing a stick exactly right.

All this to say - there are many ways to skin a cat, er, chicken, and I wouldn't brand one as 'the best way'. Whatever you can carry out confidently and humanely is the best. Especially for anything involving cervical dislocation, whether manual or via broomstick, watching a lot of videos helps with figuring out how to position yourself and the bird so that the job is done properly.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

We use branch trimmers. It doesn't remove the head, which can make it seem alarming even if you've made a good cut. Ours don't remove the head, but they do break the neck the first round. If it bothers you (and it did us at first), you can then remove the head with scissors during the twitches.

It takes some practice though to get comfortable doing it, so in the beginning, an ax may be better. I use a cone for large/with birds and simply lay the smaller/calmer/weaker birds inside the jaws and then push the lever down.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Cut up Kitty litter jug as kill cone.
Electrical tape around feet.
View attachment 3174949

PVC cutter for decapitation

View attachment 3174951

Wow, that homemade cone is genius!

You guys are giving me so many ideas and I appreciate it! I'm not sure how confident I am with that pipe cutter, but I wonder if I could use an axe to decapitate, and then put the headless chicken in the homemade cone to bleed out into a bucket or bin of some sort.