Help With Slaughter! Desperate! He's dead now, Sankyoo

Next time, you should try pulling the neck first and then going with a machete. The neck pull kills them but they might still twitch and you'll be left wondering. When the head comes off with the machete (even if you do take a couple of swipes) there is no doubt.

You will definitely find that a lot less stressful, but well done for seeing it through and good for you for doing it by yourself.

I think the 'easier the second time' is actually the mental anguish rather than the technique.
 
Awww, I'm sorry you had such a rough time with it. But for me it really did get easier with each session, I hope that will eventually happen for you. We find that there is something new to learn with each session that makes the next one go faster & more efficiently.

Certainly you can just remove the entire head, either while it's in the cone or on a chopping block. I prefer how much cleaner the meat seems if I slice their arteries and let them bleed out. That way their heart continues to beat reflexively (the bird is officially dead) and pumps it all out.

I think a good sharp knife is better than any pair of scissors for this. I use a fillet knife I bought in the fishing supply dept of WalMart. I've also used utility knife blades (make sure you put them in a holder, or put a big piece of duct tape on it, so you don't lose the blade in your grass.

Hang the bird so his belly is facing towards you. Grab hold of his head and pull down & bend it to one side. You're aiming for a bare spot just behind the point of his jaw/beak. It's easier if you don't try to saw through feathers, but slice through the bare skin. When you get a thin but steady flow of blood you'll know you hit the right spot. Pulling & bending the head makes the skin taut for easier cutting. Slice in the same way on the other side.

Once the bird has lost that initial large amount of blood he has officially crossed over to The Other Side of the Road, though there will be some residual reflexive flapping.

Enjoy this butchered bird of yours, honor his life & death by appreciating & not wasting a morsel of him. He still had a better life & end than most commercially-raised chickens.
 
HAy - its hard to keep your head when all about you are lossing theres!
Cluck cluck cluck. !!!!!!! Well done!!!!!!!!!!!
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after snipping at the corners of his jaws repeatedly until he started to actually bleed (very very little) I gave up as doing this started to make me extremely dizzy and Ill I grabbed the machete... hit him - he screamed - hit him again - he did his death throes.... only to come to and I knew he was because storm is rolling in fast and wind was rocking his entire body yet he kept his eye glued on me - whacked him again and he screamed - again and death throes again.... this time he went completely limp after...

Oh my gosh, that's horrible! I am SO sorry!!!
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Well, if it's any consolation, you can be relitively certain that it can't get worse from here on out...

...what I have done is to make sure that my hatchet is RAZOR sharp, get a nice big, sturdy stump, wrap the bird in an old towel (to prevent flapping), tie a string or piece of baling twine around the neck (with a slip knot) have my husband hold the string out when I am ready (or you can tie it to something and pull back on the bird to extend the neck) and whack. Once I had to whack twice, but I'm pretty sure that the deed was done the first time. Maybe try something different next time, maybe it's having him hanging thats doing it...???

Thats what I tried the first time and it ended WORSE
I tried to lob my aggressive roo's head off with a heavy machete after whacking his head to stun him. Wound up splitting his head but with him still apparently conscious at the time... this one actually went better simply because he was strung up so I didn't need to hold him down or anything.... apparently because I flinch... my aim is completely off... I had better aim this time... it took far less swings than the first times... I might try the broomstick method if there even IS a third time...
 
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A bantie one though...
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I'm just so... darn squeamish... I feel sick, nauseated, all of the above... I don;t think I can go out in the rain and start yanking organs out... ugh...
 
Ok whos going to start instructions on how to sort this chicken for the oven!
I'm going to bed. - !!!!!! ITS STILL A CHICKEN! for goodness sake give it some respect and eat the darn thing!!!!!!!
 
Not everyone is cut out for the realities of killing your own food. I promise it will make you think twice about buying chicken in the store. Gosh knows I eat almost no chicken.... except the ones I kill myself, cuz now I know the value of that killing. The life our food comes from should be treated with respect. You should see if you can find someone local to show you a good kill. Especially if you plan on doing this again.

I've culled some banties too, not much worth eating on them, but they make good stew/chicken stock..
 
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I actually spent the entire time screaming about why is it so hard when I ate at least two whole chickens this week /alone/.

I went out to attempt to see if I could prep him... he was alive again... and clucked softly at me.. Might be cruel - but I finished him off by drowning him. I almost drowned before and after the initial "omg I can't get out of the water" struggle it really just feels like you're drifting off to sleep - he gave up quick. Passed away. Did some real death throes within' seconds and I clipped his head off to be sure... Might have been scary... but less scary than the situation he was in and when I walked away he was bleeding out but not as profusely as one might hope... Get mad at me if you must... but I tried all of my tools to end him and none of them worked. This was my last resort and it actually ended him QUITE peacefully much to my surprise. Much more peacefully than trying to figure out why my brand new store bought sharp machete wasn't able to do diddly for him.
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Next time, I will buy a new axe and cone for the deed.

EDIT: Ahaha, just realized someone moved my topic to Meat Birds... no wonder everyone keeps telling me about eating him...
 
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