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

[Beekissed]

Hence the reason most of the experienced folks don't chop off heads any longer.

They use a killing cone and a sharp knife to bleed the bird out...calm, sure, quick, no mess.

 

[Phoenixxx]

A sharp knife in MY house?

But yeah, that cone idea does sound more practical. We'll see how my next couple chicken dinners go, maybe I'll get the hang of performing a clean lop, you never know

 

[Beekissed]

We've all been there...the botched chops. It is distressing and ugly and sad....and then we practice and learn a better way for the chicken and for us. It's all about that learning and it makes the difference between humane and not quite so humane when it comes to processing.

 

[galanie]

We've all been there...the botched chops.  It is distressing and ugly and sad....and then we practice and learn a better way for the chicken and for us.  It's all about that learning and it makes the difference between humane and not quite so humane when it comes to processing. 

 

Absolutely! And if your house has no sharp knives, you can get disposable scalpels from Amazon and many other places pretty cheaply. That is, if you go the route Bee and I have. Cones and slice the jugular.

Yep, I've screwed up too. At least the poor thing did pass over and helped many others do so in a better way.

 

[Phoenixxx]

I'm pretty sure my husband has an exacto knife set floating around somewhere... Our kitchen knives are pathetic, though; none are high-quality enough to hold a sharp edge for very long. And I can''t ever seem to get the tips sharp.

 

[galanie]

Exacto knives would work too so long as they are still very sharp. Most people really don't know how to sharpen a knife. I was lucky enough to have taken a woodworking course from an old fella that knew his stuff when it came to sharpening plane blades and chisels. And the same techniques work with other knives. It's an art, really. And requires the right technique as well as the right sharpening tools. My best knives are carbon steel, which means they'll take a real good edge and keep it, but need to be washed and dried right after using as they do rust!

I've also used a utility knife with a brand new blade. They aren't as sharp as the scalpels and a well sharpened carbon steel knife but they'll do the job.

 

[LilyD]

I purchased a knife from Havalon. It's called a Piranta Edge and it is a knife with razor blades for the knife blade. The blade is replaceable and the knife comes with 12 replacements. It takes me two or 3 processings to actually need to replace the blade on the knife. It cost about $40.00 but was worth every penny of it because it has the thickness of a knife and yet the sharpness of a razor blade. I wouldn't use anything else now.

 

[galanie]

That looks like an excellent knife to use. It is, in effect, a large folding scalpel. So rather than use one knife for the kill and others for processing, you can use the one knife for the whole thing and just replace the blade when you need to. Great idea!

 

[LilyD]

That looks like an excellent knife to use. It is, in effect, a large folding scalpel. So rather than use one knife for the kill and others for processing, you can use the one knife for the whole thing and just replace the blade when you need to. Great idea!

That's exactly what it does and the blade doesn't really seem to get dull even after processing a few times. I just tend to get nervous so I change out the blade to be on the safe side. It's definitely my go to knife. It is also safe to put in the dishwasher after processing and has a belt pouch so that you can keep it handy in between birds.

 

[muttsrbest]

Well I have to say you guys have made me feel a lot better. My husband just left with 8 of our chickens including one gorgeous rooster to take to his sister's and process with a bunch of their chickens. I am a city girl and my husband was raised in the country. I have learned to love fresh vegetables and fresh eggs. I even managed to eat the chickens we processed last year. I'm trying to get tougher about this because I do like chicken but I really, really dislike the way the ones are treated who end up in the grocery. I know my birds have a wonderful life. They are never hungry or thirsty and they get to run around in real grass and roost in a nice coop that they like. The only one I've ever gotten sort of close to is my sweet lavender Orpington and didn't even think about keeping him until he was over a year old and I knew he was a really good guy. He was so upset when we took his ladies away. I managed to make him feel a little better with some crack corn, which also made all the rest of the hens come around him. He has been crowing and crowing out there with his beautiful crow. Breaks my heart. I know my husband and in laws use the slicing the jugular method. I have always thought that was so inhumane. After reading and reading, I've decided it's not any worse than chopping their heads off. Someone said something about that once you cut the artery, blood can't get to the brain anyway. That is very logical. Id just not thought of that. My husband always makes sure his knife is real sharp. I happen to be a nurse and understand a lot about the nervous system and brain death. One thing I am pretty confident of in humans is that if someone suffers a huge injury, like a crushing injury or limb severed, etc , they will tell you they didn't really feel it right that second. I know that when you know pain is coming, you definitely feel it but its because our senses are all connected. If it is an accident that happens before you have time to think about it, you are blessed with internal pain "medicine". It doesn't last long but I would venture to guess it would last long enough that a chicken could pass out before it really hurt. I know for a fact that reflexes come from our spinal nerves. Pain sensation has to enter the brain. So, unless God made them different, it is not possible for a chicken to feel anything from their body after their brain is not connected. If they feel pain in their head, it would be very short lived and hopefully internal pain control covers that very short period. Anyway, thanks for the psychology session!