easiest way to put down a chicken.

[birdface]

Ive got two chickens i need to put down. Whats the easiest/fastest/ least painful way to do it....with out axeing their heads off?

 

[chicmom]

So sorry. It's axeing their heads off. I know....I know......But that's the quickest way. Oh, unless you can shoot them with complete accuracy.

Sharon

 

[birdface]

isnt there a quick way to snap their necks....im not trying to get blood everywhere

 

[magicsaddlebred]

My grandmother used to tell me that in Cuba, they would buy a chicken from the market and grab it by the neck and swing it to break the neck. I personally could never do that but that's the way they used to I guess.

 

[lswatson111304]

Thats what they did on man woman wild. Held it by the head and swung it around. I've never killed one yet. I hope you can find a quick easy way.

 

[birdface]

I think thats what im gonna try, hopefully theres no crazy screams from them.

 

[OmyChickens]

To wring the neck
hold the chickens feet in your left hand letting it dangle upside down. slide your right hand down the neck to just below the head and grasp the neck firmly. now jerk the head down and sharply back up while twisting at the same time.. if you do this too hard you will pull off the head.. which doesnt mean much.. but it can be upsetting...

to kill with a knife:
stretch the neck out and cut from front of the neck to the back right below the head. USE A VERY SHARP KNIFE!!!!! dull knives can tear skin and be painful and messy.. use a firm steady hand and dont stab.. slice instead.

you can also kill with a stick.. but i dont like that method so i wont mention it...

DO NOT USE:
stun guns or things like them... often doesnt kill the bird...
gas- contaminates meat..
shooting- senseless waste and hard to do...
drowning- INHUMANE...
power tools.. HUGE MESS.. and they rip and shread instead of making nice clean kills...

hope this helps..

edited to add: if you are worried about getting blood everywhere you can use the chicken cone method... which is basically a traffic cone turned upside down with the chickens head poking out of the skinny end of the cone.. from there, slicing the neck is easiest. (at least i think so) mount your cone over a lined trash bin or other blood catching receptacle and after the slice, they bleed neatly out and there is very little cleanup...

i dont know how big your chickens are that need to be put down but if they are large enough, you risk pulling their heads off while swinging them around. you have to get the perfect amount of force to pull the chickens head slightly away from the neck while twisting it at the same time.. its the same motion as the wringing of the neck i described earlier.. just a little more dramatic and pretty scary..

 

[ozark_chickies]

Good luck. We always chop off thier heads, and hold them over a large garbage can with a contractor bag in it. There is very little mess this way, and it doesn't take them long to bleed out. What blood doesn't make it into the bag is easy to spay off with a water hose.

 

[HollyBird24]

I use an old broomstick. Just put the neck underneath and pull up on their feed while stepping down on the broomstick. Breaks the neck without pulling the head off (unless you pull too hard on the feet)

 

[diggerthechickenman]

cut the corner out of a feed bag and put the chicken in the bag, when it sticks his head out the corner wack it off with a sharp hatchet, knife etc... the bag keeps them from flailing around and making huge mess , and they are stationary so you always know where your cutting.