Broomstick Method done today - Thoughts

[Hopulence]

Hi all, (some graphic text below)

Processed 7 Cornish cross today. They were about a week after I like doing them (2 days short of 10 weeks). They were having a hard time "fitting" in my processing cone, meaning they would easily press against the sides and I couldn't fit my hand high enough to reach their head. In the case if the bigger roosters, I couldn't even pull their head down through the hole on the bottom without hurting them. After struggling 4 times I thought about trying the broomstick Method...

1st time I pulled the head right off. I didn't even think I pulled that hard but blood went everywhere. Ran to the cone to bleed out.

2nd one went perfectly. Little struggle with quick and painless process. Put in the cone and cut the vein to bleed out.

As I was processing these last 2, I noticed something. They didn't seem to bleed out nearly as much as the other ones (I use decapitation method). Even after Max 30 seconds before hanging upside down and cutting the artery (in case of the 2nd one), I noticed there was A LOT more blood in the neck area and in the cavity when I was removing feathers and guts. It seems like the meat is a darker tinge, as well, which I fear means the blood didn't properly drain out.

The last bird I went back to the old ways after realizing this.

My question is - is this normal with neck dislocation methods? Does the blood not drain as well since there are seconds where the muscles spasm without blood loss? I originally liked the idea of using the broomstick Method when the bird is bigger and struggles to fit in the cone. At this point, ill probably just get a larger come meant for turkey/ducks/geese.

Thanks for reading and any advice!

 

[MTKitty]

Thinking it through, cervical dislocation (broomstick method) shuts off signals between brain and body immediately. Without the nerve signals, the heart stops beating. So, there’s nothing pushing out blood but gravity.

Using a cone, the arteries in the neck are cut, but the spinal cord is still intact. The heart will continue to beat until there is no more blood to oxygenate it.

At least, that’s my understanding of the physiology of the two methods.

 

[Hopulence]

Thinking it through, cervical dislocation (broomstick method) shuts off signals between brain and body immediately. Without the nerve signals, the heart stops beating. So, there’s nothing pushing out blood but gravity.

Using a cone, the arteries in the neck are cut, but the spinal cord is still intact. The heart will continue to beat until there is no more blood to oxygenate it.

At least, that’s my understanding of the physiology of the two methods.

I agree with you, and thought of this originally, but dislocation methods seem popular here and hence my flummoxation

 

[MTKitty]

I’m not sure I’d go with cerv. dislocation. It’s a quick, clean kill; I’ve done it with mice when I had reptiles.

But given the importance of blood draining; and that consciousness is measured in seconds with the cone, that way makes more sense to me.

 

[Tre3hugger]

First off nice job getting your birds in the freezer!

I don't think the meat is ruined in any way. Or that the blood didn't "properly drain out." Perhaps a little darker/different, with some bruising/pooling in the neck area/cavity but still perfectly edible I would think. That being said I use a cone and arterial cuts whenever possible because I feel there is more control and I do prefer to bleed the bird with it's heart pumping if possible because I have read that makes for better meat.
I have been in your situation though where my cornish x was too big for the cone and I just could not get the head through without undue stress to the bird. When this happened I used a stump with a hatchet on the largest birds (about 2/3). I nailed two nails in the stump in a v shape to hold the head of the chicken and decapitated with hatchet then placed in cone. Once everyone was eviscerated and in the chill tank I couldn't tell the difference between birds I cut and birds I decapitated. All the meat seemed the same to me. Obviously this is purely anecdotal. Do you happen to have a pic of both carcasses for comparison purposes?

 

[MTKitty]

... a stump with a hatchet on the largest birds (about 2/3). I nailed two nails in the stump in a v shape to hold the head of the chicken ....

This method of dispatching is one I’ve considered (actual doing is still down the road a bit). I’m confident I can get the head off in one stroke, provided the chicken doesn’t move. So my question is: how to you ensure the chicken remains still for the killing blow?

The v-shape you describe may be the key, but I’m having trouble visualizing it.

 

[Tre3hugger]

I got this pic off the internet for reference, it isn't mine. But something like this. I put the nails a bit closer together though, with the bottoms closer together than the top (the V).

This method of dispatching is one I’ve considered (actual doing is still down the road a bit). I’m confident I can get the head off in one stroke, provided the chicken doesn’t move. So my question is: how to you ensure the chicken remains still for the killing blow?

The v-shape you describe may be the key, but I’m having trouble visualizing it.

So you put the chickens neck between the nails with the body over the stump, then pull gently on the legs until the head catches the nails, stretching out the neck. A helper could be useful the first couple times, a holder and a chopper. If you don't have a helper, hold the hatchet with dominant hand and the birds feet with the other hand

 

[Hopulence]

Thanks for the replies. I don't have any pictures, and I processed the birds this time so all parts are in the freezer already.

You are right though, most the blood seemed to sit by the neck and the cavity. The meat seemed the same throughout, thankfully.

For the hatchet method - how do you stop the flapping (after it's gone, of course) from getting everything incredibly messy?

 

[Tre3hugger]

Thanks for the replies. I don't have any pictures, and I processed the birds this time so all parts are in the freezer already.

You are right though, most the blood seemed to sit by the neck and the cavity. The meat seemed the same throughout, thankfully.

For the hatchet method - how do you stop the flapping (after it's gone, of course) from getting everything incredibly messy?

quickly deposit bird into cone or even a feed bag for bleed out to contain mess

 

[3KillerBs]

Thanks for the replies. I don't have any pictures, and I processed the birds this time so all parts are in the freezer already.

You are right though, most the blood seemed to sit by the neck and the cavity. The meat seemed the same throughout, thankfully.

For the hatchet method - how do you stop the flapping (after it's gone, of course) from getting everything incredibly messy?

I think this is why the cones were invented.

I suppose you could drop the bird neck down into a well-braced trash can.