The way you can. There are several different methods you can use, but not everyone can use them. What you do not want is to close your eyes or flinch at the wrong time. You can injure yourself or injure the bird. You want a method that you can do and have confidence you can do. I use the hatchet and stump method. The head is severed immediately so it is as quick as you can get. The bird will flop around afterwards but that's just nervous reaction, it is not feeling a thing. I grew up using an ax, a hammer, and such so I have confidence I can hit the target and get a clean cut without injuring myself. I use two large nails in a Vee to hold the head so the bird doesn't move, there are often little tricks with any of these basic methods. If you are not comfortable swinging a hatchet or an axe I do not recommend this method. You need to find a method you are comfortable with.
It'll never truly be easy. My first kill was a little duckling with heart problems that likely would of killed it painfully. At the time I didn't know how to do it, it didn't die at first, so I had to do it again before it died. Still makes me sick to the stomach thinking about it. Especially since I had personally fallen in love with that baby. But after doing chickens for the last 6 or so yes, you get better at it. I find that if you think of these few things, it helps.
Terminology helps some people handle the process better. I "harvest" my meat animals. Freezer camp is a tongue in cheek way of saying butcher, that can slip by people who would take offense. And its just fun to say.I have a farmer down the road that has about 100 egg layers and also raises meat birds. He uses a processor and they call it "freezer camp" as well.
Try a killing cone, I use old detergent bottles, wide mouth, put the bird upside down ( head thru hole, wings are constricted so they don't run around like a chicken with their head cut off) then use a box cutter to slit their throats. They bleed out, quite calmly without damage to bones or meat.For me there was nothing to rationalize. If people eat meat from the store, it comes from somewhere more cruel than you raising it yourself and processing it yourself. Factory animals have terrible miserable short lives.
If people have not grown up around other people slaughtering their own animals for consumption or doing it themselves, it can be a bit of a shock to the system at first. I did grow up on a farm with many animals but we didn't really process our own chickens. We just had them for eggs.
If it's something you're going to do, you have to decide in advance not to worry about what other people are going to think / say to you. You're an adult (presumably!) And can make your own decisions and stick by them.
I would get a few meat birds and take care of them well but keep yourself at a distance. There's no need to get overly attached and get all emotional with them if you know they're going to end up in your freezer.
When it comes time to actually do the butchering, pick a method that you know you can handle. For me it was an ax chop to completely sever the head. Yes, the bird flails but I know that they are dead instantly and feel no pain. The first animal I ever killed was a guinea that had perosis that I attempted to treat but couldn't fix. I knew he wasn't going to have a good life if I let him just hobble around so I decided to end it. Yes, it was hard and definitely a shock to my system to actually kill him, but I took a lot of comfort in the fact that he was no longer in pain and that his death was swift and not painful.
My husband and I raised over 300 meat birds last year and this year are doing just under 200. When you are working around that many, you get desensitized to the killing pretty quick. I think it will be a little bit of a slower process for you, but you can definitely do it.
We're all here for you if you have questions and need moral support.
