I'm not overly keen on giving my chickens sedetives... I processed a few chickens 3 weeks ago, I held them by their feet, hubby sliced their throats as far back as he could, they bled out quickly and that was the end. Not an overy pleasant experience (it was my first time killing anything but fish) but I plucked them, gutted them and it was done.
Crazy Idea for a Calmer Death
- Thread starter punk-a-doodle
- Start date
Muscles spasm when they die because they are no longer receiving neural input from the brain. If you dissect out a single muscle with its attached nerve and put a small voltage across it, the muscle will contract until it runs out of ATP. If you keep it in a ringers solution with added ATP, it will just keep contracting with stimulation.
But, go ahead and try it and report back.
But, go ahead and try it and report back.
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- Apr 15, 2011
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Won't be trying much of anything for another 1-4 years myself. X)
Quote:
The 'bleeding out method' is that you cleanly sever the carotid artery leading to the brain while the chicken is hanging upside down in a kill cone. The carotid is at the back of the lower jaw of the beak. A single firm stroke with a sharp knife is all this is required. There is no discernible pain caused, the chicken is unconscious within five seconds, and the heart continues to beat and pumps the blood out of the carcass. The chicken is dead within 30 seconds.
If you're drugging a bird so it won't twitch, you're doing that for you, not the bird. It is natural for dead birds to twitch a while with the random firing of muscle nerves.
My advice is practice this technique until it becomes automatic and surgically precise. After a while you become accustomed to what is fundamentally a natural process. Remember, all meat was once the muscle of a living creature. It doesn't arrive on your plate without that creature having died. Drugs cannot change that reality.
The 'bleeding out method' is that you cleanly sever the carotid artery leading to the brain while the chicken is hanging upside down in a kill cone. The carotid is at the back of the lower jaw of the beak. A single firm stroke with a sharp knife is all this is required. There is no discernible pain caused, the chicken is unconscious within five seconds, and the heart continues to beat and pumps the blood out of the carcass. The chicken is dead within 30 seconds.
If you're drugging a bird so it won't twitch, you're doing that for you, not the bird. It is natural for dead birds to twitch a while with the random firing of muscle nerves.
My advice is practice this technique until it becomes automatic and surgically precise. After a while you become accustomed to what is fundamentally a natural process. Remember, all meat was once the muscle of a living creature. It doesn't arrive on your plate without that creature having died. Drugs cannot change that reality.
Quote:
The 'bleeding out method' is that you cleanly sever the carotid artery leading to the brain while the chicken is hanging upside down in a kill cone. The carotid is at the back of the lower jaw of the beak. A single firm stroke with a sharp knife is all this is required. There is no discernible pain caused, the chicken is unconscious within five seconds, and the heart continues to beat and pumps the blood out of the carcass. The chicken is dead within 30 seconds.
If you're drugging a bird so it won't twitch, you're doing that for you, not the bird. It is natural for dead birds to twitch a while with the random firing of muscle nerves.
My advice is practice this technique until it becomes automatic and surgically precise. After a while you become accustomed to what is fundamentally a natural process. Remember, all meat was once the muscle of a living creature. It doesn't arrive on your plate without that creature having died. Drugs cannot change that reality.
This is why there are ideas like this in the first place. Seriously. People think they are trying to make it better on the chicken but really, deep down, they're making it easier on themselves. I hold the bird and stroke it's ears and talk softly to it, thanking it for what it's about to give me, very calmly. Then it goes in the cone and it if struggles, I wait till it stops and is calm. Then SLICE that's the end.
The 'bleeding out method' is that you cleanly sever the carotid artery leading to the brain while the chicken is hanging upside down in a kill cone. The carotid is at the back of the lower jaw of the beak. A single firm stroke with a sharp knife is all this is required. There is no discernible pain caused, the chicken is unconscious within five seconds, and the heart continues to beat and pumps the blood out of the carcass. The chicken is dead within 30 seconds.
If you're drugging a bird so it won't twitch, you're doing that for you, not the bird. It is natural for dead birds to twitch a while with the random firing of muscle nerves.
My advice is practice this technique until it becomes automatic and surgically precise. After a while you become accustomed to what is fundamentally a natural process. Remember, all meat was once the muscle of a living creature. It doesn't arrive on your plate without that creature having died. Drugs cannot change that reality.
This is why there are ideas like this in the first place. Seriously. People think they are trying to make it better on the chicken but really, deep down, they're making it easier on themselves. I hold the bird and stroke it's ears and talk softly to it, thanking it for what it's about to give me, very calmly. Then it goes in the cone and it if struggles, I wait till it stops and is calm. Then SLICE that's the end.
Quote:
The 'bleeding out method' is that you cleanly sever the carotid artery leading to the brain while the chicken is hanging upside down in a kill cone. The carotid is at the back of the lower jaw of the beak. A single firm stroke with a sharp knife is all this is required. There is no discernible pain caused, the chicken is unconscious within five seconds, and the heart continues to beat and pumps the blood out of the carcass. The chicken is dead within 30 seconds.
If you're drugging a bird so it won't twitch, you're doing that for you, not the bird. It is natural for dead birds to twitch a while with the random firing of muscle nerves.
My advice is practice this technique until it becomes automatic and surgically precise. After a while you become accustomed to what is fundamentally a natural process. Remember, all meat was once the muscle of a living creature. It doesn't arrive on your plate without that creature having died. Drugs cannot change that reality.
Very well put. I also use the killing cone method, the chicken (if not treated harshly) will remain calm and will 'just go to sleep' and there is little mess as well. The surge of adrenaline does not occur. This works great for us.
The 'bleeding out method' is that you cleanly sever the carotid artery leading to the brain while the chicken is hanging upside down in a kill cone. The carotid is at the back of the lower jaw of the beak. A single firm stroke with a sharp knife is all this is required. There is no discernible pain caused, the chicken is unconscious within five seconds, and the heart continues to beat and pumps the blood out of the carcass. The chicken is dead within 30 seconds.
If you're drugging a bird so it won't twitch, you're doing that for you, not the bird. It is natural for dead birds to twitch a while with the random firing of muscle nerves.
My advice is practice this technique until it becomes automatic and surgically precise. After a while you become accustomed to what is fundamentally a natural process. Remember, all meat was once the muscle of a living creature. It doesn't arrive on your plate without that creature having died. Drugs cannot change that reality.
Very well put. I also use the killing cone method, the chicken (if not treated harshly) will remain calm and will 'just go to sleep' and there is little mess as well. The surge of adrenaline does not occur. This works great for us.
- Thread starter
- #27
- Apr 15, 2011
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Seems like it is both to me. I just have to assume that a sedate/sleepy animal may help with calmness of an animal that must be plucked up and handled. For instance, in the lab I work in, when it is time to kill the rodents, we have a policy where it must be done in their home cage, as the handling itself is stressful to them. This is a new change, and even though it makes it harder on us workers, I know I personally was very happy with the change as the difference was noticable in the rodents.
(Misuse of a lagomorph icon)
I'm all for making the process easier on the people as well as the animals, as I would personally rather see more people involved with their food and meat than the current situation. Including us hand wringers.
Never meant to imply any differently. I'm into both the non-human animal *and* the human aspect of pretty much anything.
I'm all for making the process easier on the people as well as the animals, as I would personally rather see more people involved with their food and meat than the current situation. Including us hand wringers.
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I do understand the ATP issue but I do think that trauma plays a discernible part in tough meat. As Punka-Doodle was saying it is a noticeable difference in a stressful death and a peaceful one. Maybe when I slaughter again I will just let them all go to sleep after their kava kava night cap go out into the field and do the deed. I have enjoyed my meaties much more since I have started free ranging them. Now that they are laying if this hatch turns out like I hope it will in about 12-16 weeks it will be offing time and I will give it a try. I mean heck what is the worst that is gonna happen maybe one of the freaking 7 teenagers in my house might ingest a smidgen of kava kava that might chill them out.. hmmmm... maybe they will have more than a small dose of kava kava
Christal
Christal
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- Thread starter
- #29
- Apr 15, 2011
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Last edited:
Quote:
Holy crap that is funny, as we make homemade pizza every Friday and the timer just went off. I think I shall go make some pizza now...
going to find the Kava Kava now think I have some in the medicine chest..
Holy crap that is funny, as we make homemade pizza every Friday and the timer just went off. I think I shall go make some pizza now...
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