How to humanely kill a rooster

[JacinLarkwell]

I seen a video with a machete bolted between wood to lop heads
View attachment 2848337

Oh I like that idea. Then you don't risk missing either!

 

[3KillerBs]

I use the broomstick method.

Getting the pull right -- quick and forceful enough to do the job, not so hard that the head pops clear off -- takes a little practice but I take comfort in the idea that when I did an incomplete job my first couple tries the birds were certainly unconscious even if not dead yet.

I find that the quicker and cleaner the kill the stronger the resulting flapping is.

The flapping is alarming and disconcerting for sure, but it's just the natural reaction to the nerves being severed. With a 3-finger space between it's neck vertebrae it's dead just as surely as if I'd taken the head clear off.

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.

KEY POINT!

I used the broomstick method because,

A. It's what I was taught.

B. The blood is confined to that gap in the neck rather than sprayed all over the yard -- which was an important consideration given the fact that I was butchering in a suburban backyard on a corner lot with a clear line of sight into said yard from a moderately-busy street.