Fasting before the slaughter...?

[Dragonmamma]

This hen is only 1-1/2 years old, but I have to cull her because she's viciously bullying the newer chickens. Right now I'm giving her a last chance: She's in an isolated pen all this week. On Saturday, we'll let her out to see if she behaves herself. If not...she's a goner on Sunday morning.

 

[CrazyTalk]

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

They tell you to fast for 12 hours before surgery so you don't vomit while you're tubed and under anesthesia, because you can choke to death. They make you fast for 24 hours for a colonoscopy, which if you're trying to cleanly gut a bird, is probably more relevant.

 

[offgridhermit]

I fed my birds morning and afternoon on a Saturday, only gave them plenty of water on Sunday, and butchered on a Monday morning. There were no poopy butts, crops and intestines were empty, no gross smells.
I will do the same next time I butcher.

 

[Dragonmamma]

Today was the day. After 5 days in solitary confinement, Red was still a vicious bully when we let her out yesterday, so she immediately went back to the confinement pen, now up-graded to death row. I didn't have the heart to starve her for her last day, so she still got scratch and mealworms as her last meal before bedtime.
I got up at 4:45 this morning to start heating up water.
5:30am: Hubby scooped her out of the coop and put her in my lap. We used a red headlamp, hoping this would not wake her up. Not sure if it helped or not; her eyes were open and she was awake, but quiet and docile. This is the first chicken of my own that I've killed, and it went pretty well, although I was still a bit tense from the time I cut her throat until she expired.
Because of not fasting her, she did some major pooping in my lap, but I had her wrapped up in a big rag towel, so it was no big deal. After dunking her in the scalding water, some more poop appeared at her vent, so I sort of squeezed it out and then dunked the butt area into another pail of clean, cool water, then rinsed it again with a hose.

Conclusion: Fasting not necessary, the poop adds a little extra work, but not enough to justify starving a chicken for the last day of its life, in my opinion.

 

[Elke Beck]

I just wait until dark the night before, put the birds I plan to butcher into a dog crate with plenty of water, and process early the next morning. Since I only do a few birds at a time, I separate the chosen few instead of withholding feed from everyone.

I prefer to have the intestines mostly empty because it leaves more room to maneuver in the cavity. It is not necessary, but it makes things a little easier.