Eyes opening during slaughter? GRAPHIC

[ItsWolfeh]

I slaughtered my first roo a few days ago and tried slitting the jugular first but found my knife wasn't sharp enough and opted for wringing the neck. I pulled until I felt the head disconnect from the spine but when it did the chicken opened its eyes and then closed them again, then when I was cutting the head off with scissors I saw the eyes open until I cut through something (either the spinal cord, the trachea, or a tendon) and they closed. I found this to be rather horrific and I'm concerned as to if it was conscious, though I even flopped it on the ground after wringing and saw no movement, and during the death spasms there was absolutely no strength in the neck (the neck was limp as it should be), I'm still concerned about it. I might go for a meat cleaver and chopping block next time....

Has anyone else had this happen?

 

[happydog]

Yes. Sorry. I agree with you it's rather disconcerting having someone watch you as you kill them. All sorts of dialogue plays in your head.

My very first turkey injured himself and had to be dispatched in a hurry. I did the axe and chopping block and it was pretty horrific for all concerned. I'll never do it that way again.

I've found a killing cone to be indispensable when killing chickens. I was taught to very carefully slice the jugular, but I've since switched to using a sharp pair of loppers and simply cutting off the head. Very fast. Easier for me and, I think, more humane for the chicken.

And don't feel bad. The first time is the hardest. It does get better as you learn what works and refine your technique.

 

[Elke Beck]

I processed a Cornish X last month that really fought to stay alive, and at one point as she was bleeding out, she craned her neck and looked up at me. Things like this do not make for a serene soul. That is all I can tell you.

 

[Mingming]

I have to think if you rung it's neck there's no way it was still alive - could it just have been a muscle spasm? My husband reminds me all the time to be careful of anthropomorphism (attribution of humancharacteristics to anything other than a human being). In my head I know he's right, but sometimes my heart doesn't listen to well....

 

[BCMaraniac]

I slaughtered my first roo a few days ago and tried slitting the jugular first but found my knife wasn't sharp enough and opted for wringing the neck. I pulled until I felt the head disconnect from the spine but when it did the chicken opened its eyes and then closed them again, then when I was cutting the head off with scissors I saw the eyes open until I cut through something (either the spinal cord, the trachea, or a tendon) and they closed. I found this to be rather horrific and I'm concerned as to if it was conscious, though I even flopped it on the ground after wringing and saw no movement, and during the death spasms there was absolutely no strength in the neck (the neck was limp as it should be), I'm still concerned about it. I might go for a meat cleaver and chopping block next time....

Has anyone else had this happen?

In humans, there are nerves that connect directly from the brain to different parts of the head, so they bypass the spinal cord and are not affected(not cut) when the spinal cord is severed. They are called the crainial nerves.....and one of them goes to the eyes. It is reasonable to assume that this could be the case in chickens. If that is true, there could still be random nerve impulses that cause the eyes to open and close, just like those that cause the flapping in the body.

I know this kind of thing is unsettling....and that isn't a bad thing...it simply means that you are not indifferent to the taking of a life.

 

[ItsWolfeh]

Whew that makes me relieved then... Though it is still unsettling at the same time, a dead chicken randomly staring at you because the nervous system is still firing, bleh. If it crowed I think I'd start splashing holy water on it.

Thanks guys (and gals), with my next roo I'll cut the head off quicker, this one I kept pausing to make sure I had wringed it properly and that it was dying, before cutting it off, but I think cutting the head off quicker will give me more assurance that there is no way it is conscious or feeling anything... I was mostly concerned that I might have a Mike on my hands, and just, no, I refuse to have a Mike. For some reason at the time I was only thinking of cutting the head off for processing and not for killing the bird, I think I have my thoughts in order now, lol.

 

[anorwood]

I could have sworn I read that if you hang the birds upside down for a few minutes they go to sleep. No way! We did our first 12 birds yesturday, and every one had their eyes open. They were quiet, and except for the first one (horrible) things went well. But those eyes were really disturbing. Hardest thing we've ever done. And we have 25 more to do today

 

[BCMaraniac]

I could have sworn I read that if you hang the birds upside down for a few minutes they go to sleep. No way! We did our first 12 birds yesturday, and every one had their eyes open. They were quiet, and except for the first one (horrible) things went well. But those eyes were really disturbing. Hardest thing we've ever done. And we have 25 more to do today

What I have heard described is that the go into sort of a "trance". And no, they don't close their eyes....often until the final wing flapping has subsided....at least that has been my experience. This may sound terrible, but when I know that they are bleeding out well, I just try not to look. My mind knows that it is a reflexive sort of thing, but the rest of me doesn't like it.

 

[MelissaTXRn]

I have not done this yet, but have horrible memories of slaughtering our chickens, when I was a teenager. I remember them clucking and running around with their heads missing. Not sure I would be able to do it.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

... have horrible memories of slaughtering our chickens, when I was a teenager. I remember them clucking and running around with their heads missing....

Even though they are warm blooded chickens are not that far removed from reptiles on the evolutionary scale. Dead reptiles like snakes, turtles and others continue moving sometimes for hours after death. This is just one indication that their nervous system is not as advanced as say a humans' nervous systems are.

However there is one small thing that I do find troubling and I hope that you will take the time to enlightened us. Pray tell us how the chickens you remembered from your teenage hood went on clucking with their cluckers, not to mention "...with their heads missing?" That is a good trick. How is it possible