Electric chicken stunner

[chooks4life]

I think for myself, a killing cone, a bleed immediately followed by pithing, might work best for me at first. I watched a video of a woman who slaughtered her chicken by placing the hen on her back in her lap, calming her and then quickly decapitated her by pulling off the head. It looked quite humane, but I think it would require more confidence and experience than I possess.

I'm thinking a somewhat automated killing device made affordable for the average backyard flock owner would find many takers. I was planning one years ago, just a restraining 'box' (vague use of the term there) that stops flapping, struggling, jumping etc, and something like a guillotine attached, in an enclosed segment so there's very little risk to the human.

I've pulled off chook heads before, if anything it's even quicker and more humane than chopping them off, far less messy too, and often there's absolutely no reaction from the chook. I think the blunt trauma injury to the spinal cord caused by an axe or knife blow produces all that flapping in many cases, but even chickens that die of old age or chronic illness tend to go into spasms and struggle and backflip too, so doubtless you couldn't eradicate it completely whatever your methods, short of sedative overdose. Restraining the animal would help.

Best wishes.

 

[kapunalani]

hmmm... was looking for an electric chicken stunner and this thread came up...

what had me be looking for one...??

http://www.petmd.com/blogs/fullyvetted/2010/nov/decaps_not_best-10542

and then... it seems they are used quite a bit in the UK and the stunner charge is focused on the brain.. with a very quick 'bleed' for the actual kill...???


http://www.hsa.org.uk/introduction-1/introduction-3

 

[SvenskSvarthona]

This article is worth the read for those interested in the difference between "no stun and bleed" vs "no stun and decap" vs. "stun and bleed" vs. "stun and decap".

https://pubag.nal.usda.gov/pubag/downloadPDF.xhtml?id=12258&content=PDF

 

[abycinnamon]

I was thinking of processing my meat birds this year but I'm not sure if I can dispatch with a knife. I was watching a Gordon Ramsey show where his birds were stunned with a electric stunner then dispatched with a knife, I feel like it's more humane for the chicken...and probably a bit easier on me. Does anyone use a stunner, where do you get them, and is it even common practice here in the states? thanks for the info, ~Anthony

https://www.nationalchickencouncil.org/national-chicken-council-brief-on-stunning-of-chickens/

 

[egf2022]

https://agreenerworld.org/wp-conten...hter-Stunning-is-Important-for-Poultry-v3.pdf

 

[RiverOtter]

https://agreenerworld.org/wp-conten...hter-Stunning-is-Important-for-Poultry-v3.pdf

Ok, read the article. Basically, no. If you are comparing it to a conveyor line process where the birds throats are cut, stunning first is more humane.

For an at home situation, the article lists the MANY things you have to make sure of to get a proper stun. The chances of someone who processes 50 birds a year messing up a step (is the bird's head wet? Does the stun go right to the brain and nowhere else? Is the birds whole body grounded? Do you test voltage between every bird?, Etc) is HIGH and any mis-step can cause a lot of suffering. Basically it is only humane when done in a high-production environment that can automate the process, as compared to throat slitting alone.

The article discusses other methods of stunning, and specifically says a captive bolt to the skull causes instant death without suffering. Very few of us have a captive bolt gun, but a pellet gun or hammer have the same effect.

 

[Always Right]

Beware of things that merely look more humane, many of them simply are not. Just because an animal is 'frozen' or stunned does not mean it isn't suffering, it merely means it cannot express its suffering.

For example over here we have a 12-inch stainless steel dildo you insert into a bovine's anus, and it delivers enough voltage to immobilize the animal on the spot; this is advertized as 'humane' and that's just outright poppycock, excuse me. It's NOT humane. Trust me, I've had doses of electricity that immobilized me too, and just because I couldn't express the pain doesn't mean it didn't hurt! You've got to see photos of the cattle having that tool used on them --- they may not be moving but they are certainly suffering.

Cutting the throat or beheading them looks inhumane, but can often be the more humane out of most cull methods. I've read accounts from humans who had their throats cut (and survived, obviously) and they didn't feel it. No pain because the nerves were cut, which prevented them from feeling the pain. Sure, it looks terribly gory, but done right, it's humane. Very unpopular opinion, I know. Still, a guillotine is an ideal tool for making sure they're dead the first time, and cleanly, too.

A stun-gun to the forehead prevents animals expressing their pain which is nice and soothing and tidy for us, but means many of them experience the whole terrible ordeal of being eviscerated, having their guts and skins removed, etc, while looking like they're unconscious even though they're not. They're just stunned. Please, don't confuse what looks nice with what actually is nice. What looks gory is more distressing for most but can be the least distressing for the animal as long as it's done right.

I'd rather know from the animal's reaction whether I've done it wrong or not, than stun them and never be any the wiser as I repeat an inhumane procedure regularly, inflicting untold amounts of torture and agony on victims that cannot express their suffering.

Best wishes.

You are partly correct. That's if the animal is only stunned. Enough voltage is used though that renders the animal unconscious. That's why a corneal reflex test is performed. Normal or conscious animals will blink when the eyeball is touched. Absence of a corneal reflex, proves the animal is unconscious.