Culling mean rooster

[aquaponics3712]

I have a mean rooster. He attacks everyone - my kids, my hubby, me....and now is is attacking our neighbors. He even has flown up and "flogged" my brother in the back of his head (and his wings are even cut!)

I can't with good conscience give him away. So my husband said he would cull him. However, even though he is mean, I still love him. I have looked into the best way to cull him (fast) and with as little pain as possible. I am not confident in the axe method because of potential user error - (a few bad youtube videos have tormented me.) So my son and my brother built a guillotine thinking that would be the "surest" method. However, when testing it on a green branch, it worked like a charm on a small one, but testing on a stick that was the size of what the neck looks like (with feathers) it only cut 3/4 of the way through. Granted the stick was green and probably bigger than the actual neck - but I just can't stand the thought of it not going completely through severing the head immediately.....So, the topic of ether being painless has gotten me interested. If I were to use ether to put him to sleep and then cut his head off, would we still be able to cook it?

 

[Ramblin Rooster]

I have a mean rooster.  He attacks everyone - my kids, my hubby, me....and now is is attacking our neighbors. He even has flown up and "flogged" my brother in the back of his head (and his wings are even cut!)

 I can't with good conscience give him away.  So my husband said he would cull him.  However, even though he is mean, I still love him.  I have looked into the best way to cull him (fast) and with as little pain as possible.  I am not confident in the axe method because of potential user error - (a few bad youtube videos have tormented me.)  So my son and my brother built a guillotine thinking that would be the "surest" method.  However, when testing it on a green branch, it worked like a charm on a small one, but testing on a stick that was the size of what the neck looks like (with feathers) it only cut 3/4 of the way through.  Granted the stick was green and probably bigger than the actual neck - but I just can't stand the thought of it not going completely through severing the head immediately.....So, the topic of ether being painless has gotten me interested.  If I were to use ether to put him to sleep and then cut his head off, would we still be able to cook it?

I never kill my chickens, but I have heard if you break their neck a certain way they die instantly. Cutting off their head doesn't always work, they will sometimes run around afterwards.

 

[bobbi-j]

Cutting off their head doesn't always work, they will sometimes run around afterwards.

They're still dead, even if they are "running around". It's just the nerves that are still firing. If you see anything die, there is usually some twitching going on .

The hatchet and stump method is what we use. Hubby has two nails in the stump, puts chicken's neck between the nails and gently stretches then lops the head off. It's quick and painless and over with in seconds. If you don't want them to flail and run around, put the carcass in a bucket, or use a killing cone. Sounds like this rooster needs to have been culled quite some time ago. He's a liability and a danger to your children if they're small. I would not eat something that has been suffocated with ether. I don't know if the chemical would get into the meat.

 

[Bullitt]

They're still dead, even if they are "running around". It's just the nerves that are still firing. If you see anything die, there is usually some twitching going on .

The hatchet and stump method is what we use. Hubby has two nails in the stump, puts chicken's neck between the nails and gently stretches then lops the head off. It's quick and painless and over with in seconds. If you don't want them to flail and run around, put the carcass in a bucket, or use a killing cone. Sounds like this rooster needs to have been culled quite some time ago. He's a liability and a danger to your children if they're small. I would not eat something that has been suffocated with ether. I don't know if the chemical would get into the meat.

I thought everyone had heard the saying "Running around like a chicken with its head cut off."

The brain is separated from the body. No blood to the brain, and no brain impulses to the body. That's what we call dead.

 

[DallasCriftins]

Get an old plastic Road cone cut off the end enough so his head will poke through I have several for various sizes of birds
Hang it up hold him by his feet and put him in it, he will not be able to struggle and being upside down they become very passive very quickly.

Put a bucket underneath for the blood.

Cut one side of his throat with a sharp knife even a Stanley blade will do he will bleed out and go to sleep it is by far the kindest way to do it imho

Using an axe gets the job done but is not so nice to do and can be very messy.

 

[bobbi-j]

Get an old plastic Road cone cut off the end enough so his head will poke through I have several for various sizes of birds
Hang it up hold him by his feet and put him in it, he will not be able to struggle and being upside down they become very passive very quickly.

Put a bucket underneath for the blood.

Cut one side of his throat with a sharp knife even a Stanley blade will do he will bleed out and go to sleep it is by far the kindest way to do it imho

Using an axe gets the job done but is not so nice to do and can be very messy.

Not sure what's "not so nice" except that it's more hands-on. And it can be messy if you're not careful, but IMHO, it's the quickest way. One lop, chicken is headless and dead. He's not hanging upside down until he passes out from blood loss waiting to finish bleeding to death. But we each have to find the way that works best for us, as long as it's humane.

 

[cassie]

Not everyone is strong enough to hold the chicken and wield an axe. I am not. I simply can't do it. The first chicken I killed I used a heavy duty pair of pruning shears. Regular limb loppers. I hung the chicken up at a convenient height and lopped off his head with the pruners. It was so fast it was done before either I or the chicken knew what had happened. Later I changed to a very sharp utility knife.

 

[bobbi-j]

Not everyone is strong enough to hold the chicken and wield an axe. I am not. I simply can't do it. The first chicken I killed I used a heavy duty pair of pruning shears. Regular limb loppers. I hung the chicken up at a convenient height and lopped off his head with the pruners. It was so fast it was done before either I or the chicken knew what had happened. Later I changed to a very sharp utility knife.

Also a very good method. My main point was, if the chicken is beheaded, it's dead right now. It doesn't look as nice and peaceful as a chicken bleeding to death and passing out from that blood loss, but it's over with instantly.

 

[LilyD]

All the methods that are above are fine methods for processing a chicken. If I were going to eat the bird afterwards I would not want to use ether as l would worry that it would taint the meat. The moving afterwards is not the chicken fighting and even though it can be shocking to watch the chicken is already dead while that is going on. What I do here for my roosters is use the kill cone and a razor blade knife that is very sharp. If you have ever cut yourself with a razor you know it takes a bit before you know you cut yourself. This knife works in the same way. I can tell you this because the first year I used it I cut myself with it and it took quite a while and someone else pointing it out before I noticed I had cut myself. I don't kid myself that the chicken feels nothing. I am sure that they will feel a little bit of pain but if they are raised with love for their entire life on the farm and then experience one quick moment of discomfort I am doing the best I possibly can for them no matter what method I am using to do the actual processing.

 

[DallasCriftins]

Nice was the wrong choice of words I meant easy