Draining blood from a chicken that's already dead

[FunClucks]

I had one pinwheel across the yard about 30 ft spraying everywhere lol

Oh, yeah, I forgot about mentioning that. We try so hard as chicken keepers to contain the blood and mess from butchering, that it didn't occur to me to suggest that. But yeah, that's totally what would happen if a chicken escaped after being dispatched with a hatchet.

 

[FunClucks]

I recently dispatched 4 roosters using a new (for me) method and it made me think of this post, too. I can back up what the others have said, too - the blood coagulates way too quickly. A lot more quickly than I thought it would, in fact! I was quite shocked. My usual method is using a slaughter cone and cutting the head off while the bird is in it, then I walk away while it drains and come back a few minutes later to find minimal blood in the bucket (like a spoonful maybe). Because the blood drips down the sides of the plastic bag that's in the bucket, and dries there, it's hard to judge the speed of coagulation, so initially I wasn't sure how to answer your question. I knew it happened pretty quickly, but how quickly? Well, the new method I tried with these 4 latest roosters is cervical dislocation ("the broomstick method") where you snap the spine at the neck first, without breaking the skin, then you hang the bird upside down and cut the throat to drain the blood. There isn't much time that passes between the kill and the draining, so you'd think it doesn't matter... but oh man was I wrong! In the time it took me to maneuver the thrashing dead bird (muscle spasms post-kill, normal) into the cone, reach in underneath to find the head, and cut the throat, the blood had coagulated enough to make draining difficult - it had formed a gelatinous plug at the neck. With the first rooster, I waited until the body stopped flailing, so it would be easier for me to put him in the cone to drain - so, maybe a minute or two? No more than three. At that point the blood was too thick to drain. It was a glob at the neck, it wouldn't drain properly and gutting the chicken was really messy - blood everywhere inside the chicken, coming out of the heart, spilling into the organs. It was still liquid inside the chicken, but everything at the neck was a glob that was blocking the draining. So yeah, you literally have just a couple of short minutes to get liquid blood out of a cut on the chicken. But if you were to cut the whole bird open soon after, you could still get liquid blood from inside the body, it just wouldn't be enough to collect or pour anywhere - it would be smeared on the organs and all over your hands.

When I did the broomstick method, I understood that the blood was supposed to drain into the neck cavity, and collect there for later removal. I usually wrapped the bird in my arms in a bath towel, sat in a chair, and pulled on the neck just right to make things quick. Then I'd immediately hold the bird vertical in the towel to try and help the blood drain during the muscle spasms. It worked pretty well, and got most of the blood out of the body cavity, but yeah cleaning out the neck cavity was a bit of a mess. Once the spasms were over, I'd hang it on a tree by its feet and eventually cut off its head. I like to give a post-mortem bath with dish soap and a sprayer hose to clean it up before skinning or scalding.

Guess I'm saying if you get quicker with getting it vertical once the neck is broken, it should drain most of the blood into the neck cavity. Good luck!

 

[K0k0shka]

When I did the broomstick method, I understood that the blood was supposed to drain into the neck cavity, and collect there for later removal. I usually wrapped the bird in my arms in a bath towel, sat in a chair, and pulled on the neck just right to make things quick. Then I'd immediately hold the bird vertical in the towel to try and help the blood drain during the muscle spasms. It worked pretty well, and got most of the blood out of the body cavity, but yeah cleaning out the neck cavity was a bit of a mess. Once the spasms were over, I'd hang it on a tree by its feet and eventually cut off its head. I like to give a post-mortem bath with dish soap and a sprayer hose to clean it up before skinning or scalding.

Guess I'm saying if you get quicker with getting it vertical once the neck is broken, it should drain most of the blood into the neck cavity. Good luck!

I got it vertical right away, it’s the cutting that didn’t happen as quickly as I’d wanted. On the first rooster, where I cut only after the kicking stopped, and waited 5-10 minutes for the blood to drain, that wasn’t enough to get the blood out of the rest of the body and into the neck. Waiting for the kicking to stop was enough for the blood pooled in the neck to coagulate and, since it had nowhere to go without a cut, the rest of it didn’t come down. The neck was a globby mess, yeah, but what was more annoying was the blood inside the rest of the body. Maybe the neck cavity isn’t big enough to hold all the blood, and some stays in the body despite the bird being held/hung vertically right away…

 

[FunClucks]

I got it vertical right away, it’s the cutting that didn’t happen as quickly as I’d wanted. On the first rooster, where I cut only after the kicking stopped, and waited 5-10 minutes for the blood to drain, that wasn’t enough to get the blood out of the rest of the body and into the neck. Waiting for the kicking to stop was enough for the blood pooled in the neck to coagulate and, since it had nowhere to go without a cut, the rest of it didn’t come down. The neck was a globby mess, yeah, but what was more annoying was the blood inside the rest of the body. Maybe the neck cavity isn’t big enough to hold all the blood, and some stays in the body despite the bird being held/hung vertically right away…

Huh. Did you make sure there was about 4" of loose skin between the neck and the head right after the break? That's where the blood is supposed to drain into. If there was, I don't know what to tell you to help get the blood out better. One of the reasons I started doing cone and knife method was because it drained the blood better than the broomstick or English method - I was finding a small amount of blood in the bird also. I do my cone method a little differently though, I wrap the bird in a bath towel, place it on my lap, and then cut and hold the head over the bucket between my legs to drain. So the neck is almost straight down, but the body is probably at a 45 degree angle, with most of the weight resting on my leg. It drains great and only takes a minute or two. I prefer the English method, but I'm not strong enough to do it on CX that are older than 6 wks. Good luck figuring it out!

 

[K0k0shka]

Thanks!

Did you make sure there was about 4" of loose skin between the neck and the head right after the break? That's where the blood is supposed to drain into.

I don't know... the neck was snapped all the way and the head was dangling loosely, only attached to the body by soft tissue, so the amount of loose skin was I guess however much there would be with the head completely detached from the spine...

One of the reasons I started doing cone and knife method was because it drained the blood better than the broomstick or English method - I was finding a small amount of blood in the bird also.

Yeah, that's been my method up until I decided to try the broomstick - cone and I cut the head off (with the shears in my case) and the draining starts instantly, the bird is vertical from the start. That was my method for years and I never found blood in the body when dispatching like this. I'm leaning towards going back to that method... The broomstick was just an experiment out of curiosity - I wanted to try it.

 

[FunClucks]

I don't know... the neck was snapped all the way and the head was dangling loosely, only attached to the body by soft tissue, so the amount of loose skin was I guess however much there would be with the head completely detached from the spine...

About 4 fingers worth I'd guess... ~2-3"... If it was completely detached that's the correct method.

 

[GGx]

Dude, in the move "The Deep" the Voo Doo doctor kills a live chicken ang uses it blood on Jacqueline Bisset.

Maybe I worry too much about being accurate! But man, readers tear you a new one if you get anything wrong. They expect us to be experts in absolutely everything from clinical psychology to brain surgery to dispatching chickens!!

 

[Robinator]

By the time the owners get home and see what the dog has done, no blood is going anywhere. It's all dried and congealed. You barely get a tablespoon or two out of a live chicken that is passing on in a kill cone. It coagulates almost immediately in the bucket you collect the scraps in. I wouldn't recommend revenge of any type, as it's not the dog's fault the owner is irresponsible and allowed it out. Most chicken keepers use hot wire (electric fence) to deter dogs during the day, and a very secure coop they shut up at night. If that doesn't work, you have to either build the chickens a more sturdy enclosure for daytime roaming, or the dog must be removed from the area. If you have your chickens free-ranging in an insecurely fenced location, that's on you if a dog gets to them. Dogs and other roaming/flying predators are part of the risks of free-ranging chickens. Most owners expect some amount of attrition per year due to predation. Also, if the chickens are decent at free-ranging (some breeds are better at it and some chickens are better at it than others), a single dog will never be able to kill the entire flock at once. He may get one or two, but the others will scatter and fly up into trees or hide behind things or under things where the dog can't get to them. The rooster or head hen (if they don't have a rooster) will sound the alarm and everyone will fly away. The only time you have a dog kill an entire flock is if the chickens are kept confined, like in an aviary or hoop-coop, or other fenced/ceilinged enclosure. If you keep your chickens confined, it's on you as an owner to make sure the confinement is strong enough to deter all predators, otherwise the chickens are sitting ducks inside the confinement if a predator gets inside cause they can't easily escape.

A dog may come back multiple times and try again if he's successful in getting a chicken once, or even if he thinks he can get a chicken. Where it is legal, the dog may eventually get shot once the farmer looses patience with continual deaths and owners not confining their dogs (as in many localities they are required by law to keep them on their own property). No revenge on the dog owners, just disappearance of the dog. In certain locations in the USA, and in some other countries (I don't know details) it's legal to shoot dogs that are killing your livestock. But you have to check the laws for the area you live in.

If a chicken has been injured by a dog at all, unless the chicken survives and heals from its injuries, you would not eat that chicken. Only eat healthy chickens. Dead chickens are useful for compost and for baiting traps to catch animals that are coming to kill your chickens (usually predators other than dogs). You can also feed dead chickens to other chickens, although I'd have to be sure the dog was healthy before I fed a chicken it killed to the other chickens. And you'd have to feed while the chicken was fresh, like within an hour or two of death. Haven't done it myself, so there may be other considerations. You may find different opinions on here about what to do with the dead chickens. I've been known to have a funeral for and bury a dead favorite chicken. They can have quite the personality and be engaging pets.

There are real-life stories on here of people who try to get revenge on each other over chickens and/or dogs, and it never goes well for anyone. I recommend moving.

If you must write a scene involving blood, I'd recommend a blood substitute. Because the chickens' blood will not be usable. If it's not immediately drained while the chicken is alive and passing away, it solidifies inside the chicken almost instantly after death. And any blood you do get out (few tablespoons) will be solidified in less than 5 minutes.

Very well outlined and expressed.