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

It has been a while since I've read this thread. I avoid this thread because of the rudeness I experienced while posting here.

I am glad to see that some other folks are exploring the controlled atmosphere killing method. It works well. For those of you researching the gas method - there are lots of resources out there. The initial set up is a little more costly than a knife and a cone. But don't worry about all the folks who are chastising you for thinking outside of the "box" (lol) or who think that you are weak for wanting to find a better method. I've used knives, limb loppers and CAK. One method is not necessarily superior to the other. A lot of the humane-ness of a method depends on the skill of the person doing the butchering.

I've worked at animal research facilities in the animal welfare regulatory role for a long time. I will continue to make the argument that we treat lab animals way better than food animals. The same species as a lab animal has a different set of pain and distress regulations than that species as a food animal.

When lab animals are killed there are many considerations on the methods and how humane they are. Not only is the animal considered, so are the workers. We have to make sure that the workers in a laboratory handle the task of killing animals mentally.

Here is my point - people come to this thread asking for opinions and trying to research methods to make the slaughter process less stressful for their animals. GOOD FOR THEM! I applaud them for trying to continually improve processes. But then they post here and so many people attack them and accuse them of being weak, or tell them that they should get rid of their chickens and go cry somewhere else, or tell them how stupid their idea is. Not only should we think of the animals, we need to think about the people too. Shame on those of you who are being ugly.

Killing your own food isn't for everyone - and I think that everyone should have to do it at least once. I can guarantee that most of you struggled with your first bird, but the process became easier and you became more skilled at it. But good grief people - be nice to those who come here asking questions and looking for better solutions. Teach them - don't belittle them.
 
Well said Lonestar! Looks like we have a similar background (research). Given some PMs I've received, posts like yours are helpful to those interested in gassing. Thanks for putting the info up even if people new to all of this are understandably hesitant to post here.
 
When I see that this old thread has once again been resurrected, I expect to see someone defending a very complicated scheme of theirs for offing a chicken. Refreshing that I don't see one this time.
 
Send them to a butcher or processing plant!
Unfortunately, that's not an option for everyone. There are at least 5 processing plants in the area where I live, and not one of them will process chickens. They will do large animals, of course, but not chickens. The closest one that did is 75 miles away, and just this year they also quit processing birds.
 
I see that this is an old thread. I think the OP just had a problem with death in general (like a lot of us). I think most of us (who didn't grow up on a farm) have been so separated
from death, that we don't understand it. Our meat came on a bun or in a packet. Animals have to die for folks to eat meat. It' s that simple. It is unusual to most folks.
I too wanted to find the most humane way to do it. But, in the end, a perfectly viable animal is killed by my own hands. I think that is something that we need to think
through and decide if we can do it or not, long before we get any animals. I don't really agree with gassing, because you don't get all of the blood out that way. I agree with a lot
of folks about once you do it, it gets easier. I think there should be a great thankfulness and appreciation for the animal and the killing should not be done in a trivial way.
 
Maybe you should find someone else to do it for you. My husband and I are facing the same dilemma, but I really think that I will be able to do it when the time comes. I pray alot for forgiveness when I clean any fish or animal. I know its silly, but I feel alot better about it after wards.
 
Maybe you should find someone else to do it for you. My husband and I are facing the same dilemma, but I really think that I will be able to do it when the time comes. I pray alot for forgiveness when I clean any fish or animal. I know its silly, but I feel alot better about it after wards.

That's exactly what native/primitive/"old" people do... It's not that we're killing for fun, but to feed ourselves and our family. The old traditions are right in that we should thank our food for presenting themselves to us (as in a deer crossing a hunter's path) and I think they - the animals - know. My first rooster, Bricktop, somehow knew when it was his day, it was so weird... like, no crowing, a look of knowing in his eyes, it was downright creepy! But we're all part of the great circle of life and we all, animals included, know where we stand. Giving thanks lets them know that their lives served a purpose and our job is just to make it as painless as possible :)
 
Your post was helpful and thoughtful LeeBrad, and I don't mean to disregard the whole of your post by addressing only a small sentence from it.

Gassing is used to stun/kill poultry, and the bird is bled out. Stunning a bird with gas means it bleeds out to the same extent as birds stunned using other methods (be it a hammer to the head or electricity) and will bleed out the same as a fully conscious bird with slit arteries. Inducing cardiac arrest in a bird with gas means the bird bleeds out to the same extent as birds killed using methods such as cervical dislocation or death by hammer before bleeding. All of these methods and more yield an acceptable carcass, with some yielding an exceptional carcass quality.
 

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