Fasting before the slaughter...?

[redneckmedic]

Is it appropriate to fast your broilers 24hrs (or less) prior to butchering? And I used appropriate vs nesseccary as I know that you can kill on a full stomach, but does it make the eviseration easier (bowl fullness) cleaner (less chance of cross contamination from the bird having a BM)? It just kinda makes sense to me. Any use this kind of fasting practice?

Thx
RNM

 

[bigredfeather]

I think 24 hours is the extreme. If you cut-off their feed at 12 hours prior, they will have empty crops, which makes pulling it thru the cavity much easier, but they will still have a fair amount of "stuff" in their digestive track. I have found that after 18 hours w/ no feed, most of the digestive track is cleared. If your good at processing, 12 hours is sufficient, but you need to be very careful you don't puncture the intestines. Make sure they still have access to water until close to the end.

 

[wsmoak]

I just take their food away the evening before, and then move the ones I want to process to a separate cage before I feed the others in the morning.

A full 24 hours is too long IMO, they will be pretty uncomfortable. Consider that you only have to fast for 6-12 hours before you have surgery (they usually say not to eat after 10pm or midnight the night before your surgery.) I think that's plenty.

-Wendy

 

[BigSkyChickens]

I'm such a softie, I never have the heart to take away their food before slaughter. I am just extra careful during the evisceration process to NOT poke the intestine. Sometimes, "#%$!" happens, so it's good to have a water source handy for thorough rinsing.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

I just take their food away the evening before, and then move the ones I want to process to a separate cage before I feed the others in the morning.

A full 24 hours is too long IMO, they will be pretty uncomfortable.  Consider that you only have to fast for 6-12 hours before you have surgery (they usually say not to eat after 10pm or midnight the night before your surgery.)  I think that's plenty.

-Wendy

I agree.12hrs is plenty.

 

[Beekissed]

I think these CX would chaw off their own legs if they went without food for that long!

They've already started on their own toes by the time I let them out to forage each morning.....

Nah...just funnin'.

I just do 12-16 hours also.... there will always be times with a little sugar in the tubes and, as was stated previously, that's why we have water handy.

 

[Dragonmamma]

Resurrecting this old thread because I'll be doing it for the first time at home this weekend. (Have killed before at other people's homes, but they did the preparation.)
Strange: I'm not bothered by the killing, but it does bother me to starve her ahead of time!
Related question: Does it matter what time of day the deed gets done? I'm thinking of nabbing her off the perch about 5 o'clock in the morning while she's still mostly asleep to minimize the trauma.

 

[cmchickens]

Resurrecting this old thread because I'll be doing it for the first time at home this weekend. (Have killed before at other people's homes, but they did the preparation.)
Strange: I'm not bothered by the killing, but it does bother me to starve her ahead of time!
Related question: Does it matter what time of day the deed gets done? I'm thinking of nabbing her off the perch about 5 o'clock in the morning while she's still mostly asleep to minimize the trauma.

When I plan on processing birds, I feed them their evening meal, don't give them breakfast, and start processing in the morning. I have on occasion grabbed a cockerel out of the yard and processed them without withholding feed. A little harder in my opinion, but not impossible, just make sure to rinse off anything that leaks onto the meat. I think the time is less important than the catching. If catching her is going to be a big ordeal later in the day, than grab her in the morning. If you can walk up to her and grab her with out causing her much distress, do it when ever you would like.

 

[Dragonmamma]

Thanks. Yeah, none of my birds are too happy about being grabbed. I usually only do it for stuff they don't like, such as wing-clipping or washing poop-encrusted butts! I'm doing the method where I swaddle her in a big towel head-downward in my lap with the head sticking out, and cut the throat to bleed out. I figure this might be easier before sunrise. I'm going to wear one of those red head-lights like nurses use in some hospitals that don't wake up the patients. Once the chicken is expired, I can turn on the porch light so I can see what the heck I'm doing.

 

[cmchickens]

The swaddle in a towel method is what I do for old laying hens and injured meat chickens too small to fit in my cones. Doing it before sunrise sounds like a good idea. The other night I had to cull a meat chick with a broken wing. I hate culling babies.