How to humanely kill a rooster

[Bryce Thomas]

So I have this aggressive rooster that I don't want and I'm wanting to eat it but I just don't know how I should kill it? Yes I know about putting it upside down in a cone then cutting the head but some say to cut off the head directly, others say make 2 slits on the side and let it bleed out. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[Isadora]

So I have this aggressive rooster that I don't want and I'm wanting to eat it but I just don't know how I should kill it? Yes I know about putting it upside down in a cone then cutting the head but some say to cut off the head directly, others say make 2 slits on the side and let it bleed out. Any help would be appreciated!

I assume by humanly you mean that the rooster feels as little pain as possible. If you haven't killed a chicken before, I think chopping the head off is the most simple.
People recommend cutting veins if you plan on using the birds for meat. They bleed out better that way.
The broomstick method works well, as far as being a humane tactic, but I haven't personally used it myself. I feel like it might be a little more tricky to learn, so beheading may be easiest for you.
If you cut the corner of a feed bag and put his head through the little hole so he's inside the bag, he'll be contained. That way after you cut off his head and he's jerking around with the after spasms, he won't flop all over the place.

 

[MysteryChicken]

What methods we use are:

A .22 Rifle.

A Sharp Knife for beheading. (Got my dad a Hatchet to replace the old knife, since it dulls quickly, but he claims the hatchet is dull. It was pre sharpened)

Cervical Dislocation/Snapping the spinal cord at the base of the brain.

 

[LizzzyJo]

I am proud of you for getting to this point! Too many people avoid humane dispatch and keep the animal confined or continue to beat it to try to subdue it. Or they make it someone else's problem. You're doing it right! Go you!

No matter which method you choose, I would to tie the wings to the body with either twine or the sleeve of an old sweater (like a tube). The twitching can be a bit much for your first time, so I would try to keep everything as calm as possible.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Which way can you do it? People use many different ways to kill a rooster to eat it. You would like to think that there is one way that is far and above any other so that is the way you need to do it. The real world doesn't work that way. There are many different ways to achieve a good result.

We can come up with rationalizations as to why our specific method is "best", but different people come up with different ways. Your goal is to be humane and efficient. That means you need to be quick and sure. What you do not want is to flinch or close your eyes at a critical point, you might injure yourself or just injure the rooster instead of being sure. How can you do that? If you can be quick and sure it will be efficient and humane.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I completely decapitate with a SHARP! chef's knife. While it hangs from a scale, no cone involved. One hand holds the head, the other, the knife.

I do NOT recommend the technique to those new to the process, its very important that the blade be laid between vertebrae and drawn surely across the neck. Placement matters.

I will say, whatever method you use, that the chicken will move. Quite a lot actually. After it is dead. As in, I'm holding its head in my hand, the body is several feet away, and yet the wings are flapping, the blood is pumping out, and the beak appears to open and gasp. Completely normal, think nothing of it - no different than a lizard's tail. Closely related, chickens and lizards... Not cousins by any means, but more like the relationship between an ox cart and a Ford Model T.

Whatever you do, be swift and certain - hesitation does no one any favors. If a mistake happens, and it may, finish the job, THEN take a deep breath.

 

[Molpet]

The method you are most comfortable with will be the best.
I use a PVC pipe cutter and lop off the head while it's in a homemade cone.

Electrical tape around ankles

 

[LizzzyJo]

I use very sharp, very clean shears.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Ours is a 3 step process, but it works and we have only had one this season that was questionable.

1) we use branch cutters to break the neck [the blade will not cut despite being a new blade and not dull at all, but it definitely breaks the neck and the bird almost always is immediately lights out minus the reflexes]
2) we use either scissors or a blade to slice the neck and bleed the bird as soon as possible
3) we remove the head, bury it and then take the bird up to the table.

We're planning to test out a machete or something similar next season (think it will work better for bantams and obviously ill birds that are too small for the cones).

 

[Molpet]

a machete

I seen a video with a machete bolted between wood to lop heads