Culling - Break Neck Method - BEWARE - NOT A PC JOKE - NOT KIDDING

[hcammack]

missprissy is right we had to cull some sick old hens at camp and this is what we did.

Henry

 

[Kitsune]

I wish I'd been told about how the method actually works before trying it on standards - I've heard so much hearsay and I'm sure old posts about 'twinst and pull' that I wondered what the hell I was doing wrong! Now I know - almost everything!

Those who have experience with both, do you think the stick over the neck and pull up or the twirly method works best?

 

[PurpleChicken]

Where is that cringing smilie??? After my bad experience I'm still sold on chopping
but this will wear off.

The cranking like a meat grinder thing makes sense. Will this work on a full size bird?
Is it worth it? Does the bird still flop? Do you hang it to bleed it out?


Thanks everyone for turning my bad experience into a very educational thread!!!

 

[Buster]

PC, I've done the swing around by the neck thing with a duck I shot hunting that didn't die. It worked well and I didn't hang it, I just cleaned it immediately. Don't know if that helps but that's what I did.

 

[MissPrissy]

Yes, it works for a standard chicken. It is the weight of the chicken that is behind the force of the propell that rings the neck. I have never seen a chicken not flop when dispatched. The same as with snakes and other stuff. The nervous system takes a bit longer to shut down and the force of the heart bleeding out is powerful resulting in the convulsize jerks.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
Did you feel the neck break? Was it obvious? (cringing again)

 

[Buster]

It's been a couple of years so I'm trying to remember. I don't think I felt it, but when the flopping set in it was obvious (in hindsight). At the time I didn't know about the flopping so I kept swinging for a while. If I were to do it again I'd have just dropped it when I had the job done.

 

[d.k]

* Gotta tell ya tho, I read all the posts and all I find myself able to think is: " there's gotta be a better way . . ", ya know??

 

[silkiechicken]

The only bird I ever had that did not twitch when I let it go was one who ended up with a very bad case of acities. Filled up like a balloon and lost all her weight in just a few days. She was just 4 years old and I think she knew what was coming and didn't even move before or after the fact. Think she had shut down by then.

 

[Atlann]

I did my first this week. Slit the neck and it was screeching. I couldn't bear it. I cut the rest of the way through the neck. I had to saw! It was awful. The body thrashed so hard that it pulled the cone off it's screws and the body flapped/ran 20 feet away before dropping dead. I realized the severed head was still in my hand . It was blinking and the mouth was gaping open and shut. Total nightmare and I still have six more grown out.