Ninjapoodles, I was the one who posted yesterday about my surprising experiences with pithing. I had read your post previously, and that's what gave me the idea. I am familiar with the slot on the roof of the birds' mouths, it's where I apply medicine for eye ailments in other chickens. (But those are nice clear photos you got! What a beautiful blue fall sky!)
I expected the birds to quickly become lifeless & hang limply. Which they did at first, but then surprisingly began to move again. Someone else posted that pithing actually doesn't kill the animal, just scrambles their brains...? That it's a method used for students doing animal dissections, to keep its organs functioning while they're being examined.
After my birds began moving again, I again stuck the knife in the heads & twisted, trying a few slightly different angles. I'll remember your husband's instructions for the next time, they seem clear. It seems that it was the angle I was using, but perhaps not...? My birds didn't gasp or squawk when I did it. They began to bleed out of their mouth when I stuck them, then I sliced the veins on the sides of their necks.
I'm thinking that perhaps I should construct some cones for our next session. I know many folks use traffic cones, but does anyone have pictures to post of
cones made of milk/vinegar/bleach jugs?
I don't mind the flipping/flapping the birds do when they've been chopped, I know that it's just a reflex and that they're not really in distress. We put a washtub over them to keep them confined until they become still. But I am looking for a better way to dispatch the birds quickly & humanely, and have them bleed out completely. Should I try again with pithing? Or just make cones and slice the veins?
I'm so glad we have this forum for discussing this and to learn these skills that were once so common but have been lost to much of our society.
