Cervical dislocation fail

[SarahGfa]

I had to cull a 4 month old cockerel today, and I tried to use the cervical dislocation method described here . But it seemed like no matter how hard I pulled, the chicken was still alive and breathing. It felt sort of like his legs were pulling out of their sockets instead of disconnecting the head. Finally I gave up and went with the broomstick method, and accidentally pulled the whole head off with very little force.

Has anyone had this happen? I have used cervical dislocation on older birds before and never had this problem, but it has been years and maybe my technique has gotten stale.

 

[Folly's place]

I found out the hard way that male chickens have much better neck musculature than females, after having an awful experience trying to kill a large breed cockerel. More strength was needed than I have, and using a knife was much better.
Next time use a cone and a knife, don't attempt the 'by hand' cervical dislocation method.
Mary

 

[SarahGfa]

I found out the hard way that male chickens have much better neck musculature than females, after having an awful experience trying to kill a large breed cockerel. More strength was needed than I have, and using a knife was much better.
Next time use a cone and a knife, don't attempt the 'by hand' cervical dislocation method.
Mary

I have done cervical dislocation on older roosters and it didn't take much strength once the head was tipped back. With this younger one, it felt like other parts of his body were separating instead of the head. I have enough strength, but it wasn't working.

I don't own a cone nor a knife (besides my kitchen knives). Plus I want to learn if my technique was wrong.

 

[Mosey2003]

I have done cervical dislocation on older roosters and it didn't take much strength once the head was tipped back. With this younger one, it felt like other parts of his body were separating instead of the head. I have enough strength, but it wasn't working.

I don't own a cone nor a knife (besides my kitchen knives). Plus I want to learn if my technique was wrong.

If you can normally do it your way on grown roosters (and kudos for that! I can't manage it) then I would say something about your technique had to be off to not be able to get a 4mo done. Perhaps a bad angle? Maybe were holding the legs further down than normal?Actually, that could be it - on a grown bird the tendons in the legs would be tighter than a juvenile, maybe next time try gripping them just above the hocks rather than on the lower legs. Hard telling.

This is why I always use a round or flat-back 4qt feed bucket for the younger ones. The handle follows the rim, so it's easy to put the head in between, hold the handle down, and pull straight up.

 

[SarahGfa]

Bucket handle seems like a good idea. That way if I accidentally pull the head off, it won't be so messy.