Can i use an axe to slaughter meat birds?

[AHappychick]

yes Jaku here at BYC makes Killing cones and they are very well made and perfect and much cheaper than those in the stores. Contact him if you are looking you wont be unhappy

A hatchett would be better like PC said no need for a huge tree cutting axe, you can even use big loppers for tree branches if you wanted.

 

[CARS]

When I do the occasional butchering (I take the majority in for processing) I used an axe, railroad tie and a couple nails. It works.

However I talked to the guys that process my birds and watched them in action. They hang the birds and slit the jugular.

They further explained that when you chop off the head all of the brain activity stops (ya think?). When you cut the jugular the brain is telling the heart to speed up to compensate for the loss of blood. This makes for a more complete bleed out.

 

[Bossroo]

Quote:
I worked at a Veterinary Pathology Dept. and can attest first hand that the heart will continue to beat in a headless body even after all of the blood has been pumped out. When there is no blood to transport oxygen to the heart , it will then stop pumping. Also, the heart in a brain dead organism will continue to pump untill there is no more nurishment to support it.

 

[skeeter]

Quote:
I worked at a Veterinary Pathology Dept. and can attest first hand that the heart will continue to beat in a headless body even after all of the blood has been pumped out. When there is no blood to transport oxygen to the heart , it will then stop pumping. Also, the heart in a brain dead organism will continue to pump untill there is no more nurishment to support it.

I agree with bossroo,ive butchered several hundred chickens and I always used an axe or hatchet and never had a problem with them not bleeding out completely

 

[Kim_NC]

We use an axe. We hold them upside down by the feet for a minute or two. This makes them kinda groggy. Then lay the head & neck down on a solid wood surface, whack with the axe.

We put them in a traffic cone (tip cut off) to reduce the flopping around and mess making.

 

[obsessed]

I just did 25 meaties using a gallon milk jug for a kill cone. It worked perfectly!!!!!!

I cut the bottom out and enlarged the spout and then nailed to a tree. Cheap and no flayling bloody sprinkler.

 

[TimG]

When you use the nail method, do you need anything over the nails (strong or rubber band for instance) to keep the head in place, or will gentle tension on the legs keep the bird in place?

About how far apart should the nails be? I'm figuring about an inch and would like to know if I am wildly off before testing it with a chicken neck.

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

My hubby used a very sharp axe. It worked well, but he only had to do two sick birds...not a bunch of meat birds. We took those in for processing

 

[Katy]

That's how my dad always did it.

 

[TimG]

Yeah, I'm getting ready to process two unneeded cockerels, so I'm not worried about keeping the axe sharp.

I've killed a chicken with a hatchet and tree stump sans nails and although that went OK, I like the idea of the head being immobilized and knowing just where in the bunch of feathers the (surprisingly small) neck really is.