Culled my first quail. Debrief thread.

[Dragons4u]

If you wring their necks properly, it snaps the spine, euthanizing the bird instantly. There isn't any pain with the spinal cord severed.
Either snipping or wringing, the nerves in the rest of the body will still cause the flopping. Kind of like a short circuit, the impulses can't reach the brain. And the brain is what interprets the signals as pain.

 

[CrazyQuailLady]

I'm glad to see the videos help people. I wasn't sure how many people would ever see them, but I figured if I made it easier for anyone, it would be a good thing. I have to admit  that helping people was actually not my primary goal. I had the idea that if I let people see the act and showed them quick easy ways to do it, it would make them more comfortable, thereby making it easier on their livestock. It's a terrible feeling when you half kill something and have to watch it suffer. 

I started helping out processing livestock and game as a kid and my family was very strict about husbandry of the animals we were processing. Every animal was cared for the same as a pet would be, regarding health regiment and general care. Despite having plenty of experienced oversight I still made a lot of mistakes in learning the proper way to handle animals you are butchering. Honestly fowl are the hardest because it isn't sensible to just shoot them. You have to do it with your hands which leaves plenty of extra room for murphy. I'll never forget the first chicken I failed at. It got up and ran blindly around with me crying, chasing it trying to finish the job, it was pretty awful for an 8-9 year old. Since then and even still, it's happened on occasion. Human error is unavoidable. Knowing all that, I wanted to spare you brave souls jumping into processing, as much grief as possible. As a kid I thought it was pretty tough but, you guys have a much harder hill to climb than i ever did. Someone made me do it until it just became a normal part of my life. You guys chose to get closer to your food out of intelligent design or curiosity or lack of extra cages lol. I think that's pretty cool. 

Where feelings are concerned, I do not feel bad about processing livestock in any way. I do however have a deep respect for the process and feel that it should always be done quickly and humanely, but I have no guilt to associate with it. At first you will probably be upset by it. This is actually a good thing, it means you aren't likely to become a serial killer anytime soon. After a while it becomes more natural and you begin to treat it only as a job that has to be done. 

As far as what method I use; I practice the stone age method of wringing. I believe I mention it but I neglect to show in the processing video how I actually do it, it requires practiced hands, and I didn't want any beginners experimenting. QJ is the only person I'm aware of who's noticed. In the processing video you'll see the birds are all dead but their heads are still attached. After you practice enough you can be sure you are humanely killing the bird and at the same time not remove the head. I do it that way because people help me clean the carcasses and they react much better when I hand them an intact bird vs. a decapitated bloody carcass. 

It's great to finally meet DC! JQ has mentioned you at least two or three times already. It's nice you shared some of your background raising and processing livestock and to see how it all began.

 

[CrazyQuailLady]

If you wring their necks properly, it snaps the spine, euthanizing the bird instantly. There isn't any pain with the spinal cord severed.
Either snipping or wringing, the nerves in the rest of the body will still cause the flopping. Kind of like a short circuit, the impulses can't reach the brain. And the brain is what interprets the signals as pain.

So in regards to the earlier comments about newborns being killed by cutting the spine (that made me shudder), if done properly, would you say they would not have felt it? Oh gawd the idea of murdering newborns makes me sick...

 

[CrazyQuailLady]

In one of the YouTube clips I watched, the bird's throat was slit and then it was bled out, and then the head was snipped off completely afterwards. I vaguely remember it was to improve the taste of the bird and the bird would still die instantly no matter. What do you think of that?

 

[Quail Jailer]

In one of the YouTube clips I watched, the bird's throat was slit and then it was bled out, and then the head was snipped off completely afterwards. I vaguely remember it was to improve the taste of the bird and the bird would still die instantly no matter. What do you think of that?

Personally I think its inhumane, with the spinal cord intact the bird can still feel.

Thats why I snip their heads, its as quick as I can make it, and as soon as the spine is severed

the pain ends.

 

[Pinkaboo]

You all seem so brave, I think because of the USA being so different to UK its slightly different here
You are never too far from a slaughter house, that would process ant animal even chickens
Although they would think you are crazy!
We don't need to kill anything, the farmers may hunt foxes but usually done with a shot gun
I guess there are a lot of small holdings in the USA that have to be self sufficient and do it all themselves
Hunting is a hobby in the USA like fishing is here

We just don't have that many animals to hunt!!
Pheasants are a sport, but not really a challenge
Fox hunting was done with horses and dogs but now banned
Deer hunting on some private estates in Scotland but only for the rich!
Rabbit hunting is possibly the most popular and accessible

We had a local farmer shot down a hand glider that was scaring his cattle( got prison)
I'm hoping keeping chickens will toughen me up a bit to life and death

 

[FossilPeak]

We really take for granted the opportunities we have. Whether a person enjoys hunting or not we have the option to choose. Some of the best days I've spent hunting had nothing to do with killing an animal. Sitting in a duck blind with my son and my dog watching the sun come up...hearing the air off the ducks wings as they come streaking in like an F16. Sitting on the side of a hill watching deer sparring and chasing each other around. Watching a bird dog work to perfection. Spending time in God's world with best friends and family....the joy of hunting has nothing to do with killing in my opinion.

 

[FossilPeak]

Completely off topic but I'm reminded of a story. Several years ago I was having one of those days where the world seems to be aligned against you...nothing was going right. About 2:00 I gave up and thought 'forget this I'm going hunting'. It was way too early in the afternoon for deer to be moving but I needed quiet time. About 3:00 I found a spot under a low hanging cedar tree on the edge of a wheat field. It was a beautiful day, no wind, 65 degrees, and downright pleasant. I crawled under the tree into the cedar cave of sorts, balled up my jacket and laid down. I slept like a rock for an unknown amount of time. I was gently woken from the REM stages of under bush ground napping by the rustling of leaves. I opened my eyes and much to my dismay I was literally nose to nose with the great Beelzebub himself. My perimeter had been breached and my demise was imminent! I woke up nose to nose with an armadillo who was going about his day doing armadillo things and rooted his way up to literally 6" from my face. Waking up to see a scaly head and beady eyes peering at me I shrieked like a woman and pawed furiously at my attacker. Sharing my surprise he jumped 4 feet into the air doing backflips as I pawed and clawed for my life. He hit the ground running and disappeared into the brush leaving me panting with my heart beating out of my chest. After a couple minutes I finally looked around then started laughing uncontrollably. I couldn't quit. I woke up twice that night cracking up. Oddly enough I never saw a deer...suppose they were off I the sticks laughing at me as well.

 

[CrazyQuailLady]

Personally I think its inhumane, with the spinal cord intact the bird can still feel.

Thats why I snip their heads, its as quick as I can make it, and as soon as the spine is severed

the pain ends.

Yes I wasn't sure about if the quail could still feel it done that way, which is why I chose to just cut the entire head off too to be on the safe side. I did see a clip of a chicken in a killing cone having its throat cut though and it seemed to just go calmly.

I'm glad I do have people to ask on this forum rather than only relying on YouTube videos and reading articles, which is what I've been doing until now, because I just don't know anyone who is into raising quails and the whole idea of being more self sufficient in the backyard. It's good to get opinions and advice. My friends think I'm a bit nutso for doing all this when I can simply go to the supermarket for meat and eggs.

I have this idea though that is hard for me to describe to them. Killing isn't easy for me but I also like to eat meat, so rather than turn a blind eye I'm trying to accept the reality of how meat goes from animal being born, how it is raised and how it then gets on the dinner plate.

 

[subhanalah]

Woke up to about 50 quail in the living room this morning...*facepalm*