California - Northern

[attimus]

Hi from Sonora. If you don't mind my asking, what is the preferred method of killing a chicken?

hello from mariposa, some people use a hatchet and block to sever the head, others put their chickens in a cone and cut the jugular.

 

[caychris]

Hi from Sonora. If you don't mind my asking, what is the preferred method of killing a chicken?

I think the kill cone method is probably the best in general it gets a good bleed out and you dont have a headless chicken running around. Having them upside down to begin with calms them down quite a bit. If you go that way just be sure to use a very sharp knife and make the cuts quick and sure. You don't want the bird suffering through a bunch of non-lethal cuts. Whichever method you choose is should be a respectful process.

 

[curious chickee]

I wrap mine in a towel, sit in a chair, but between my legs and cut jugular holding head over a 5 gallon bucket lined with a trash bag.

 

[h2oratt]

I have my husband do it. I am a wimp.

 

[Sylvester017]

Yes, We are not sure, we want Autosexing, meat/Egg Chicks, That Are attractive, So far we are at barred rocks, Not sure though, I want marans even though they are not autosexing or nessisarily meats

Just a personal note -- I've had BRs and Dominiques both and prefer the Doms both for their lighterweight size, curious outgoing friendliness, and their auto-sexing feature - also a breed that will brood her own chicks and be a decent flockmate. The BRs broke away from Dominiques last century and Malay and Cornish Game birds were crossed to make them meatier and more dual purpose than the original Doms. I found the more aggressive game bird temperament showing in my folks' BRs where the Doms seemed more consistently even tempered.

My friend and I had Marans - I had Cuckoo, she had BCM - and both types of these Marans were the bossiest/meanest hens in our flocks. Our birds were from different private breeders and my Cuckoo was handled by 4H kids but was still aloof toward humans and mean to flockmates. Don't know if it's because they were the heaviest birds in the flock and could get away with being mean on the gentler or smaller breeds? Our feisty no-frills White Leghorn at 4.5-lb was the only hen that could keep our 7-lb Cuckoo in line. But then the Cuckoo turned to outright attacking or sneakily plucking the more docile Silkies so we just re-homed the Cuckoo. My friend re-homed her BCMs. If you like the Marans for either their eggs or their looks I would suggest keeping them separate from smaller docile breeds or in a separate breed pen of their own just as a precaution. Some birds can be nice I suppose and many do like their Marans but as a whole I and my friend didn't find them very good tempered with other breeds. Maybe we'll try Welsummer or Barnevelders for our darker eggs next time.

This is what the Cuckoo did to our Silkie before dumb me realized the poor thing was not molting but being eaten alive by the Cuckoo!


The little Silkie kept losing her outer fluff and started going bald and the comb was chewed off and not having Silkies before I didn't know it was being chewed on by the Cuckoo. It took almost a year of re-growing her feathers before the little Silkie started to lay eggs again!


This kind of thing doesn't happen to everyone but just sharing what happened to us.

 

[prizepete]

Just a personal note -- I've had BRs and Dominiques both and prefer the Doms both for their lighterweight size, curious outgoing friendliness, and their auto-sexing feature - also a breed that will brood her own chicks and be a decent flockmate. The BRs broke away from Dominiques last century and Malay and Cornish Game birds were crossed to make them meatier and more dual purpose than the original Doms. I found the more aggressive game bird temperament showing in my folks' BRs where the Doms seemed more consistently even tempered.

My friend and I had Marans - I had Cuckoo, she had BCM - and both types of these Marans were the bossiest/meanest hens in our flocks. Our birds were from different private breeders and my Cuckoo was handled by 4H kids but was still aloof toward humans and mean to flockmates. Don't know if it's because they were the heaviest birds in the flock and could get away with being mean on the gentler or smaller breeds? Our feisty no-frills White Leghorn at 4.5-lb was the only hen that could keep our 7-lb Cuckoo in line. But then the Cuckoo turned to outright attacking or sneakily plucking the more docile Silkies so we just re-homed the Cuckoo. My friend re-homed her BCMs. If you like the Marans for either their eggs or their looks I would suggest keeping them separate from smaller docile breeds or in a separate breed pen of their own just as a precaution. Some birds can be nice I suppose and many do like their Marans but as a whole I and my friend didn't find them very good tempered with other breeds. Maybe we'll try Welsummer or Barnevelders for our darker eggs next time.

This is what the Cuckoo did to our Silkie before dumb me realized the poor thing was not molting but being eaten alive by the Cuckoo!


The little Silkie kept losing her outer fluff and started going bald and the comb was chewed off and not having Silkies before I didn't know it was being chewed on by the Cuckoo. It took almost a year of re-growing her feathers before the little Silkie started to lay eggs again!


This kind of thing doesn't happen to everyone but just sharing what happened to us.

hmmm.... Have you butchered any birds? Thanks for the input... we are still a few monthes away from doing it... but we will get there.

 

[Sylvester017]

hmmm.... Have you butchered any birds? Thanks for the input... we are still a few monthes away from doing it... but we will get there.

Our birds are hens/layers so we don't process them. Our friend had to find someone to process/pkg her Marans cockerels at $5 each bird w/feet, neck, & giblets returned in the pkg because we'd be in mega-trouble trying to butcher our own birds in a city neighborhood. We find ourselves lucky to be zoned for 5 laying hens, and no roos - so we won't push it trying to keep a roo or butchering meat in the yard. My friend brined her Maran cockerels for 24 hours before pressure-cooking and said it was delicious but said her CornishX were much bigger. She liked the experience of raising CornishX for a couple months before butchering but said it was a lot of trouble keeping the growing chicks healthy - she lost half before they were 2-months-old. For large meat and egg breeds the Niederrheiner and Bielefelder owners have been happy w/them and I think they are auto-sexing too. They keep writing how mellow the birds are. Too big for my backyard but for meat people these breeds sound pretty good.

 

[OR4-hmom]

Found the camera cord finally, checked every usual place at least twice.

Her sister is co-parenting with her. Sadly the white didn't make it.

My chicken like pigeons, Mr & Mrs Grumpy Donuts, Modenas

 

[ronott1]

Found the camera cord finally, checked every usual place at least twice.


Her sister is co-parenting with her. Sadly the white didn't make it.

My chicken like pigeons, Mr & Mrs Grumpy Donuts, Modenas

Those pigeons look amazing!

 

[OR4-hmom]

These are DD's favorites, Rory & Amy. Since they don't fly they are great for kids just learning pigeon.