DIY HUMANE way to Kill Slaughter Chicken (Stun-kill, Gas)

[swilson@b2xonline]

I would think that to get a chicken drunk, you would just feed it fermented greens. I have seen raccoons quite inebriated on silage!
I shoot my meat chickens in the head; quick, fast, cheap with a .22 and, as a hunter, the method to which I am accustomed. I use the melted parraffin wax on hot water, followed by an ice water dunk to aid in plucking. The feathers are bound by the hardened wax and makes the process less messy.

 

[gg706]

Look up gassing animals at the humane society! Several states still allow animal shelters to gas the animals to death instead of euthanizing them. Must be cheaper...they dont feed them the day before to cut down on the mess, put as many dogs and cats in the chamber as possible. Turn on the gas and the cats and dogs all fight each other as the oxygen runs out!!!! This would be an AWFUL way to die! Cutting the throat would be way more humane than gassing the chickens! Not to mention YOU ARE GOING TO EAT THIS BIRD! WHY would you want to gas your food source? I saw on the internet a woman who holds the chicken by its legs and swings it up over her head and brings the head down on a tree stump, board, etc. knocking the bird out.....then put it in the killing cone and slit the throat. No flapping, sqwauking, struggling etc. I feel your pain, I want to raise my own meat birds, not sure if I can kill them....However I am pretty determined about making it happen. Get the book The joy of keeping chickens by Jennifer Megyesi. She puts alot in perspective. Unless you are not going to eat meat-chickens are going to be killed so you can eat- wether you do it yourself or not.

 

[MareeZoCool]

Thank you for your post! You have helped me with my decision of handling my first culling decisions. Now I need to find the materials to make a cone. I have seen videos of a farmer using a cone for the culling. I was impressed with the calm and peaceful end to the bird's life.

 

[cupman]

Ok so just a thought about the whole electrocution thing... what if you filled up a metal barrel half way, stuck your birds in it, got some jumper cables and hooked it up to your car and then put the clamps on the metal barrel? I don't know, on second thought that sounds dangerous. Anyways this is a thread from 2007.

 

[Roccomanchickens]

Quote:
x2

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Remember, you're just trying to gently send a chicken to The Other Side of the Road. Not blow up the neighborhood, with yourself in it. You're talking overkill, in the literal sense of the word!

 

[jdopler]

Wow.. I understand the fear about taking a life, but thinking too much about it only makes it worse.
When I first processed a bird (not my own, made it easier) there were some anxious thoughts but they quickly passed as I reflected on how much better of a life that bird had than commercial birds. I resolved that its death would be quick and as lacking in trauma as I could make it.
Gas, electrocution and beating its head on a blunt object seem so much more traumatic/violent than a simple cut with a sharp knife.
Chickens get quite calm being held close or upside down for just a moment. Then its only 5 seconds til they are bleeding out. Just my opinion I know but seems more respectful of the animal's life as well.

 

[Erebus]

I tend to agree with you jdopler.

I know it's probably not the most safety conscious way to do it but I wait till the rest of my birds have gone in for the night and so I am only working in half light . I can shut them in and they don't have to watch what I do.

My 3½year old insists on being part of the process and I use a [tie them upside down and bleed them at the neck with a sharp knife] method. Some call it Biblical, but mine is a secular version

Because it's only half light you don't get the fuss of loads of red because it looks black in the dark, and the chicken is half asleep when it starts.

Last time I did this my little boy had his 8-year-old aunty with him and he told her to stand back a few more meters so she didn't get blood on her if it flapped. It's a learning process for the whole family but my son understands where his food is coming from, knows that our birds live a much better life than supermarket ones, and he doesn't have to eat it if he doesn't want to.

I also read somewhere that they did some study on the brains of birds and found that with a sharp enough knife the bird is pretty much already passed out from blood loss before it starts feeling the pain of the cut, as opposed to electrocution which stuns the body but causes quite a bit of pain. I don't know how true this is because most defences I have seen of blood letting slaughter techniques seems to be in defence of Biblical and Halal kill techniques which makes me question the bias of the publications.

 

[Saltysteele]

cut its head off, there is no suffering, there is missing (we used to knock our hogs in the heads with a sledge hammer before killing them, and almost always missed, because of them moving around)(besides, would you like to be hit in the head several times before being killed?)

if you cut its head off, it will be dead before it even realizes it's in any sort of pain.

put it in a cone, though, to prevent it from hurting itself. we use old road cones with the end cut off a bit so the hole is larger. well, i should say, we normally would but my uncle has ours. i hate when someone borrows something, doesn't bring it back, and then can't be reached when you need it.

anyway, we did the last batch without cones, and a couple had dislodged wing joints. my dad held the feet, i held the head, he cut and then tossed in the grass (the tossing in the grass is optional, but you will get bloody if they are not restrained in a cone or sac, as they will jump around whilst bleeding.

also, just cut the head totally off. don't slit the throat. cut the head off, you are sure to get the artery the first shot, and the animal doesn't have to feel anything (no brain connected to the body, instant death, as opposed to brain still connected to body while blood drains).

gas it, and you're going to be eating the gas (the gas will go everywhere the blood goes, including into the meat).

shock it, try knocking it out, and you'll just make the bird suffer before you actually kill it. i would rather die without knowing i was dying, than to be beat up first

 

[Avalon1984]

We found an interesting way by accident. It was our plan to cut off the head as well. I was going to use (newly bought) garden sheers while hubby held the chicken but for one reason or another, it did not cut the head off, rather just broke their neck. They seemed to have been gone instantly, no breathing or anything. I ran to the other station, grabbed the knife and bled them right away so everything was said and done in less than 5min. No thrashing at all, just a few nerve twitches. My husband held them the entire time and as soon as they stopped bleeding we went to the next one. I must say that it was much less disturbing than what I was worried about. We did the 2nd one the same way and he went just as quietly. The only thing I would have done differently was that we should have kept them closer to the other chickens as they were upset to be isolated (to take off feed).