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

[bobbi-j]

DH uses the tried and true hatchet and stump method. Once the head is off, the bird goes into a 5-gallon bucket until it’s done flopping. I don’t have to chase it around the yard that way, and the meat doesn’t bruise. I’ve never had to kill my chickens because DH does it, but if I did, I would use a cone and a sharp instrument to lop the head off. I am not strong enough or coordinated enough to attempt the hatchet method. I’d likely injure or remove some of my own parts.

 

[canbelmil]

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.

I use a heavy, very sharp axe (HAS TO BE VERY SHARP). Hold the legs of the bird. Lay head on stump. Twist bird a little to keep it still. Drop axe. No chopping. Just dropping. Hang by legs on cloths line. Seems way more humane and quick to me. Really quick. Don't have to stuff birds head a cone and pull it through causing bird stress.
Edit: Also never had birds flop much. Bucket ideas sounds great as does the homemade cone to use after.

 

[Kmccalib]

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!

I use poultry shears it's more accurate than an axe and is also instant. The kill cone is a must for me but we made one easily. I still have to tie the legs together so they don't fly out running after removing the head. But the kill cone keeps them in a calm position, helps more blood drain, keeps them from flopping around making a bigger mess, and makes it so I don't have to hold it in it's last minutes of muscle spasms which is awful. There is a "humane" "guillotine" but I'm not sure about either. They consider it more humane because it breaks the neck rather than cutting, this is probably the least messy method. I'm not sure it's more humane. For quail, some just pull the head off. I'm not sure if that's possible with a chicken and to me sounds awful. As for the most humane method, I have tried looking into this. Such a difficult subject. Some beliefs is disabling the brain first is better because that way they are unconscious. They use electricity, a type of nail gun, or more aggressive smashing methods. In my personal experience, yet most people's fears, is that when you are drowning (which I nearly did) while scary at first as soon as a breath of water happens there is no pain just instant fading of consciousness, so I have wondered if that would be better but have no intention of trying it because I feel like that would be on another level and just can't. Even though I know what it feels like just feels like it would be wrong maybe. I have been trying to find out if there was ever an herb or something safe for using to sedate an animal prior to culling without lasting in the blood. I would love to see how it is dealt with in tribes currently in the Amazon! It's hard raising and harvesting food, but when you get it passed the point of being chicken and to the point of being meat it gets easier, especially the first time you get to feed your family the best food that you raised it is the most rewarding and comforting feeling but with a little sorrow and way more appreciation for our food than ever.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

I use poultry shears it's more accurate than an axe and is also instant. The kill cone is a must for me but we made one easily. I still have to tie the legs together so they don't fly out running after removing the head. But the kill cone keeps them in a calm position, helps more blood drain, keeps them from flopping around making a bigger mess, and makes it so I don't have to hold it in it's last minutes of muscle spasms which is awful. There is a "humane" "guillotine" but I'm not sure about either. They consider it more humane because it breaks the neck rather than cutting, this is probably the least messy method. I'm not sure it's more humane. For quail, some just pull the head off. I'm not sure if that's possible with a chicken and to me sounds awful. As for the most humane method, I have tried looking into this. Such a difficult subject. Some beliefs is disabling the brain first is better because that way they are unconscious. They use electricity, a type of nail gun, or more aggressive smashing methods. In my personal experience, yet most people's fears, is that when you are drowning (which I nearly did) while scary at first as soon as a breath of water happens there is no pain just instant fading of consciousness, so I have wondered if that would be better but have no intention of trying it because I feel like that would be on another level and just can't. Even though I know what it feels like just feels like it would be wrong maybe. I have been trying to find out if there was ever an herb or something safe for using to sedate an animal prior to culling without lasting in the blood. I would love to see how it is dealt with in tribes currently in the Amazon! It's hard raising and harvesting food, but when you get it passed the point of being chicken and to the point of being meat it gets easier, especially the first time you get to feed your family the best food that you raised it is the most rewarding and comforting feeling but with a little sorrow and way more appreciation for our food than ever.

Yeah we ended up using a hatchet and then placing the bird into a Home Depot bucket to flap. It worked out for us mostly, but one bird did have a broken wing, although we're not sure at what point in the process that happened (we know it wasn't before death though). We felt this method worked well for us because it seemed humane. Besides the flapping, it seemed the chicken was unconscious instantly. We wanted a quick death.

What are poultry shears?

 

[Ridgerunner]

What are poultry shears?

Do an online search. They are essentially scissors that can cut through joints and small bones. I use them for certain cuts to keep from dulling my knife.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Do an online search. They are essentially scissors that can cut through joints and small bones. I use them for certain cuts to keep from dulling my knife.

Oh, I see. So these will cut off the entire head as well if the chicken is in a cone?

Looks risky to me because they look so small. I expected something bigger. Not sure I would trust those to give me a clean beheading in one try. They look excellent for butchering though.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I do not use poultry shears to kill the chicken but they will cut through the neck after they have been skinned. I do that all the time. They should work with enough hand strength to kill the chicken, I've just never tried. Thinking on it, I don't remember the neck (after skinning) to be any harder than most other joints I cut with them.

I find them very good for butchering, that's what they were designed for.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

... when you are drowning (which I nearly did) while scary at first as soon as a breath of water happens there is no pain just instant fading of consciousness.....

First, let me say I'm sorry for what you endured, and so glad you survived!
At a younger and much more naive age, I had to put down a rabbit. I'd seen my husband do it by bashing it in the head with a brick (!) but I could not bring myself to do such a violent act. So I chose to drown the poor thing. I held it under water while it blew bubbles, thrashed, kicked, and suffered for what seemed like several minutes. But once started, I knew I could not stop or that would be worse. So... are you saying that the thrashing happens AFTER unconsciousness? Have I been having nightmares for the past 30 years, of what that rabbit suffered at my hands, for nothing?

 

[NatJ]

Oh, I see. So these will cut off the entire head as well if the chicken is in a cone?

Looks risky to me because they look so small. I expected something bigger. Not sure I would trust those to give me a clean beheading in one try. They look excellent for butchering though.

You could test them on the neck of an already-dead chicken (killed by whatever other method you like). Then you would know how well it works with your size of chickens, and your hand strength. I would test it on a neck that still has feathers, rather than after plucking, because sometimes the feathers make things cut differently.

 

[Kmccalib]

First, let me say I'm sorry for what you endured, and so glad you survived!
At a younger and much more naive age, I had to put down a rabbit. I'd seen my husband do it by bashing it in the head with a brick (!) but I could not bring myself to do such a violent act. So I chose to drown the poor thing. I held it under water while it blew bubbles, thrashed, kicked, and suffered for what seemed like several minutes. But once started, I knew I could not stop or that would be worse. So... are you saying that the thrashing happens AFTER unconsciousness? Have I been having nightmares for the past 30 years, of what that rabbit suffered at my hands, for nothing?

Thank you! I was certainly blessed, and it has proven to be helpful. Someone very close to me spent years fearing the pain her son went through when he drowned and she was also relieved to know my experience. I'm not familiar with rabbits, but with poultry they do thrash afterwards because of the nerves. For me, I first tried to find the top of the water and was just doing somersaults before the first breath. First breath is absolutely unconsciousness and not painful like one would expect. So it could have been fighting before breathing too. It's hard to say with another species because even though we are in so many ways the same, we are very different too. Especially rabbits, one's I've had would die and you could see it in their eyes but go on moving like they were alive for longer. I'm not sure what it's called or the reasoning behind it. I am sorry you had that experience. I think it's okay to let the nightmares go too. It very likely didn't suffer as much as you worry and as you said it had to be put down in some way. It might have even felt like longer than it really was too when something so surreal happens everything usually slows down likely because of the adrenaline response we have allows our brain to process quicker. There are always a lot of regrets and traumas on a farm. The other animals and new life help me find peace, providing for my family gives me peace, and learning from these experiences to have better outcomes for my animals and such is a blessing too.