Culling methods

[BantyChooks]

Can't say I've ever had a bird pass out no matter how long it was upside-down. Were they CX?

You can’t loose sleep thinking a headless chicken is thinking??

Fast and humane , off with the head while in the cone , the part you missed is that we hold them upside down til they pass out first .... they are not panicked and scared since they are unconscious.....

It’s never easy , but it must be done when you have animals ,

Good luck on your research

 

[BreanneRN]

All true. I have not attempted cervical dislocation because I am afraid I will only harm the bird, not kill it, while attempting. I really don't know the "best way". Thank you for your response. But now I feel like I'm a chicken torturer! I'll have to keep researching...

Sorry, I really didn't mean to destroy your illusions or cause you distress... Just point out that there IS no perfect way, and that your "off with the head" is not really any different than cutting the carotid arteries. Either way, the bird's brain dies from loss of oxygen, and consciousness can be maintained for up to about 30 seconds. You may think that the bird is still alive all the while it is bleeding, but that is not the case. Blood flow to the brain is lost at the moment when the 2 carotid arteries are cut (which is really what causes death to the decapitated bird as well). There is sufficient documentation in human decapitation cases to convince me, some from the reign of terror, in France, and some as recent as 1989 (2 people involved in car accident). I'll spare you the links to all that unless you ask... When you think about it, CPR would not work if brain death were immediate upon loss of circulation (and it does work). You have a window of time to get things going again before brain death occurs. Which for us at least, is a good thing!

 

[BantyChooks]

Sorry, I really didn't mean to destroy your illusions or cause you distress... Just point out that there IS no perfect way, and that your "off with the head" is not really any different than cutting the carotid arteries. Either way, the bird's brain dies from loss of oxygen, and consciousness can be maintained for up to about 30 seconds. You may think that the bird is still alive all the while it is bleeding, but that is not the case. Blood flow to the brain is lost at the moment when the 2 carotid arteries are cut (which is really what causes death to the decapitated bird as well). There is sufficient documentation in human decapitation cases to convince me, some from the reign of terror, in France, and some as recent as 1989 (2 people involved in car accident). I'll spare you the links to all that unless you ask... When you think about it, CPR would not work if brain death were immediate upon loss of circulation (and it does work). You have a window of time to get things going again before brain death occurs. Which for us at least, is a good thing!

I'd love the links!
From the videos I have seen of cutting the artery, the birds don't move at all until death throes. I had someone else process some roosters of mine earlier this year, and he botched my big tough one a bit... took several seconds of sawing to get the head off... the rooster didn't notice or seem to care; there was no flapping or struggle until he was headless. I felt really bad for him still, but I'm doing all my own processing now so hopefully it won't happen again.
Some people say that their chickens seem to 'know when they're about to die', but in my experience they're more ticked off about being picked up than anything else, even when their siblings are running around with no head.

No , we don’t do Cornish cross . We’ve had a variety of breeds, maybe you don’t hold them upside down long enough ... they calm right down , close their eyes and don’t react at all to going in the cone . Hubby holds them as he walks across the field ... by the time he gets to the cone , it’s lights out

Maybe. They definitely stop moving around, but I wouldn't call them unconscious, at all. I'll have to try it for longer next time.

 

[BreanneRN]

https://www.damninteresting.com/lucid-decapitation/ Here's one. I'll post a few others. It is actually kind of interesting. In addition, in the comments section (not for the faint of heart) it recommends a book by Mary Roach that would be interesting for some that are bent in that direction. I haven't ever had any chickens become unconscious from being upside down either, and for some it has been as long as 30 minutes, while I boiled water to defeather. Calm or sleeping is not the same as unconscious. Unconscious is unresponsive to painful stimuli. Anyway, (this is directed @BantyChooks), if this isn't enough, just google "consciousness after decapitation" for a plethora of morbid research opportunities. Some are repetitive, and I don't want to weed through them. The one listed gives the best accounts. Mind you, not saying that every chicken will be conscious for 30 seconds after decapitation, but even 8 seconds can be a long time. Cervical dislocation is said to disrupt brain function and is now used to kill lab rats, I believe.

 

[aart]

I use carotid/jugular slit in a cone for bleed out when slaughtering for meat.
Cervical Dislocation when euthanizing from disease.

The CD is tricky.... this video shows how it's done without removing head, I found it very helpful and 'easy' to do....it takes some finesse.
Cervical Dislocation is shown in this video at about 1:00,

it's the only CD video I've found that doesn't remove the head.

-Notice the slight divot in the ground under the stick and neck, this will keep the bird from being choked.

-Notice that she slowly stretches out the neck and legs before giving the short sharp jerk that breaks the neck close to the skull, this is key to success IMO.

I've found this technique to be very effective.

 

[True Patriot]

Without immediate destruction of the conscious parts of the brain consciousness will endure until function ceases due to hypoxia. The method matters little. As barbaric as it sounds an instantaneous blow to the brain from a mallet would be far quicker. In the end we choose our methods in accordance with our views and beliefs. I personally use a manual CD. There is nothing to prepare and if needed can be done under any circumstances.

 

[BreanneRN]

Without immediate destruction of the conscious parts of the brain consciousness will endure until function ceases due to hypoxia. The method matters little. As barbaric as it sounds an instantaneous blow to the brain from a mallet would be far quicker. In the end we choose our methods in accordance with our views and beliefs. I personally use a manual CD. There is nothing to prepare and if needed can be done under any circumstances.

Very true. I might add that after CD, it is way easier to take off the head after brain death, as there is only soft tissue to cut through... Oh, and just as an advisement, there are a ton of these culling threads on here, and this one offers nothing new, really. A simple search of the forums will give you all the information you need and quite a bit more...

 

[BantyChooks]

https://www.damninteresting.com/lucid-decapitation/ Here's one. I'll post a few others. It is actually kind of interesting. In addition, in the comments section (not for the faint of heart) it recommends a book by Mary Roach that would be interesting for some that are bent in that direction. I haven't ever had any chickens become unconscious from being upside down either, and for some it has been as long as 30 minutes, while I boiled water to defeather. Calm or sleeping is not the same as unconscious. Unconscious is unresponsive to painful stimuli. Anyway, (this is directed @BantyChooks), if this isn't enough, just google "consciousness after decapitation" for a plethora of morbid research opportunities. Some are repetitive, and I don't want to weed through them. The one listed gives the best accounts. Mind you, not saying that every chicken will be conscious for 30 seconds after decapitation, but even 8 seconds can be a long time. Cervical dislocation is said to disrupt brain function and is now used to kill lab rats, I believe.

Thanks!!

 

[snow5164]

Ok I get it , unconscious wasnt the correct word for the extremely unusual group here that enjoy picking apart every word and apparently also enjoy killing things .... good bye! I choose to believe my hens are not conscious when I kill them , they are relaxed and unresponsive , it’s what gets me threw it , I don’t enjoy it and it kind of turns my stomach .. bye bye I’m not reading this anymore ....good night to all

 

[BantyChooks]

I use carotid/jugular slit in a cone for bleed out when slaughtering for meat.
Cervical Dislocation when euthanizing from disease.

The CD is tricky.... this video shows how it's done without removing head, I found it very helpful and 'easy' to do....it takes some finesse.
Cervical Dislocation is shown in this video at about 1:00,

it's the only CD video I've found that doesn't remove the head.

-Notice the slight divot in the ground under the stick and neck, this will keep the bird from being choked.

-Notice that she slowly stretches out the neck and legs before giving the short sharp jerk that breaks the neck close to the skull, this is key to success IMO.

I've found this technique to be very effective.

I found a really good video on manual CD a few months ago, but I'm not sure if I remember where I put the link. Remind me to look for it tomorrow.