Box cutter?

kmpcfp

Songster
9 Years
Mar 24, 2014
328
308
211
Southern Maryland
Who uses the box cutter method? I only need to cull two 10 month old cockerels, so I don't want to go out and get a fresh set of "gear".

The last time I culled cockerels about 5 years ago, I used a hatchet, but I am looking for a different method. It seemed like their meat was very iron-y tasting, probably from not bleeding out enough.

I have fresh blades for the box cutter and was going to hang them in a feed bag cone. Split the feathers and aim for the carotids.

Does anyone find that the roosters especially still struggle in the cone beforehand and have also blindfolded them? They are very testy cockerels, so I don't feel like they will go limp upside down like a lot of chickens do.
 
When you say box cutter method, I assume you just mean slicing the artery while using a box cutter? We do slice the throat when we process our meat birds but we don't use a box cutter.
We found that as long as the birds were the right size for the cones we were using, it didn't matter if they were "feisty' or not, it worked out fine. We had a couple small hens we processed and didn't have a cone small enough and they were able to flip out of them.
It could help if you zip tied the legs together so they don't have a way to thrash around as much.
 
I use cheap electric tape around the ankles...in a cut up kitty litter jug. They do pull their head up into the jug. I use a PVC pipe cutter or sharp limb lopper to remove the head.
KIMG0330_01.JPG
 
Does anyone find that the roosters especially still struggle in the cone beforehand and have also blindfolded them? They are very testy cockerels, so I don't feel like they will go limp upside down like a lot of chickens do.
After I slit the chicken's jugular, I hold its head until it stops struggling. Then I pull off its head while it is still in the cone. My cone is mounted right above a 5 gallon bucket with a plastic liner. I freeze the blood and head together with the guts and take it out on rubbish day. I prefer to use a hunter's knife for this job.
 
Last edited:
Who uses the box cutter method? I only need to cull two 10 month old cockerels, so I don't want to go out and get a fresh set of "gear".

The last time I culled cockerels about 5 years ago, I used a hatchet, but I am looking for a different method. It seemed like their meat was very iron-y tasting, probably from not bleeding out enough.

I have fresh blades for the box cutter and was going to hang them in a feed bag cone. Split the feathers and aim for the carotids.

Does anyone find that the roosters especially still struggle in the cone beforehand and have also blindfolded them? They are very testy cockerels, so I don't feel like they will go limp upside down like a lot of chickens do.
Idk how humane this is, but my friend uses the shake method. He just grabs its head and “Throws it” while holding the neck
 
After watching videos of blood flailing everywhere with kill cones and knives, I decided to do the "broomstick method". After the cervical vertebrae snapped, I quickly grabbed the box cutter and slit the jugular/carotid while they were upside down. A good amount of blood drained and it didn't spray everywhere.

Overall I think it was pretty successful. We will see how the meat turns out. They were 10 month old Welsummer and Sussex cockerels, so they were definitely older than most people butcher for meat birds.
 
After watching videos of blood flailing everywhere with kill cones and knives, I decided to do the "broomstick method". After the cervical vertebrae snapped, I quickly grabbed the box cutter and slit the jugular/carotid while they were upside down. A good amount of blood drained and it didn't spray everywhere.

Overall I think it was pretty successful. We will see how the meat turns out. They were 10 month old Welsummer and Sussex cockerels, so they were definitely older than most people butcher for meat birds.
Make sure you rest them until rigor mortis has passed, 1 to 3 days.
Don't fry them
Screenshot_20201124-175957.png
 
We will see how the meat turns out. They were 10 month old Welsummer and Sussex cockerels, so they were definitely older than most people butcher for meat birds.
I think you have to stew them until the meat gets soft.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom