Home made kill cone for a Delaware rooster

[rod5591]

Try putting a rooster in it and see if it is the right size before starting to harvest.

I am not sure how I am going to catch the chicken before I cull it. My chickens will come running to me whenever I show up, look for food, but I am not fast or agile, and any time I've tried to touch one of my chickens, they quickly move away. I was thinking of making a hoop net to which might work. Any thoughts?

 

[RUNuts]

Pull them off the roost. Put in a dog kennel carrier. Either before sunrise or before you get in bed.

Pellet guns work too. The net should be fine.

 

[trudyg]

If you don't have a dog carrier or other cage to put them in: get some zip ties and then can pluck them off the roost during the night (I usually have at least one who sets up an alarm, so I get the ones I can and come back in a little while to get some more after they settle down). Zip the legs together and put them on the floor of the coop for the rest of the night. They'll flap when you come in to get one but, with legs tied together, they can't get very far.

 

[Maeschak]

I am not sure how I am going to catch the chicken before I cull it. My chickens will come running to me whenever I show up, look for food, but I am not fast or agile, and any time I've tried to touch one of my chickens, they quickly move away. I was thinking of making a hoop net to which might work. Any thoughts?

I use a fishing net- one of those old large ones with a hollow aluminum handle and green netting. If you can't swipe him up in it you can actually 'float' the ring of the net towards and over him. (Gently toss the net over him). I've been able to toss the ring of the net over running roosters at least 10 feet away if not 15.
I've never hurt a chicken with the net, it sort of tangles them long enough for me to get a hold of them and carefully remove them. It is scary for them though but the 100 yard walk to the destination is usually plenty of time for him to calm down while carrying him more appropriately.
I have no clue how I'd catch one of my chickens without my net during the day.

 

[rod5591]

Thank you! great idea!

 

[Maeschak]

Thank you! great idea!

It's been a real life saver for me! Works on jerk roosters too.

 

[JiminyChristmas]

Jerk roosters and fishing nets!! Haha just another day at my house

 

[JiminyChristmas]

Rod, I made my cones out of a heavier aluminum and riveted the seam. If the duct tape fails, you might could try a quality pop rivet. Aluminum rivets should hold and are easier to pop by hand if you don't have access to a pneumatic gun. Mine I know will last my lifetime. I made three different sizes.

 

[rod5591]

I had mounted the kill cone to the opposite tree on the far side of the yard. I used a portable dog kennel built for for a small dog to capture the cockerels. I put the cage down in front of them, with the door open, and baited the inside with kernels of fresh corn. The bolder hens would go in first, then one by one the cockerels would go into the cage, and I would swing the door shut and they were caught. I did this one at a time, and only the 5th rooster refused to go into the cage--so he was the one I still have. Carrying the cage to the kill cone, I would open the cage, extract the bird, who would be squawking loudly, and put it upside down into the cone, which immediately silenced it. When its head dropped out of the bottom of the cone, I did a fast and very final thoracic dislocation with a Fat Max Bypass Lopper. The birds did not taste good to the wife and I (a strong gamy flavor), but our dogs loved the taste. I did 4 birds this way and now I am down to 1 rooster (I haven't seen it mount any of the hens but he crows every morning-does that make him a rooster?).

 

[Mosey2003]

That probably makes him a rooster, yes. Hens can crow, but it's not that common.

I find "real" chicken gamy as well, trying to teach myself to like it.