Humane ways of killing our meat birds

[mountainpridefarm]

By request,

We were discussing humane ways of butchering chickens.

My next question is....
when using the stump and axe method how do you "stretch the neck" when no one is holding the other side of their neck. I know my birds would be getting the he11 outta' their if their was no restraint!

 

[dbcooper02]

A couple of nails set in the stump far enough apart to fit the neck, but close enough so the head won't slip through. Hold the feet with one hand and the axe in the other. You can guess the rest.

 

[mountainpridefarm]

Quote:
OK, I suppose I could have thought about it a bit more

After the chopping are the wings still flapping. Do you immediately grab it to hang for the rest of the bleeding?

 

[Buster52]

When you hold a bird upside down by its feet, it seems to relax it after a bit and it will let you do pretty much as you wish. Try it. Grab one of your birds by the legs and hold it upside down. Sometimes it will struggle, but only intermittently and only for a few seconds.

Holding the legs, place the head on one side of the nails and stretch the neck between them. The nails should be close enough together for the head not to slip through, but for the neck to fit between. Gently stretch the bird out until the neck is fully exposed. I have found that the bird will often close its eyes at this point. Feel through the feathers with your fingers of your axe hand to find exactly where the neck is for better aim, and then swing at that point.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
OK, I suppose I could have thought about it a bit more

After the chopping are the wings still flapping. Do you immediately grab it to hang for the rest of the bleeding?

Yep the wings still flap. That used to be my job to go get them after they stopped flapping

 

[Buster52]

I wire my bird's legs together before I chop, then hang the long wire from a hook once the chopping is done to bleed out. A nail on a post would work fine for that as well.

 

[becky3086]

My father used to chop and then throw the bird--doesn't get blood all over you that way. I cut the throat, let them bleed and set them in a bucket or just hold them down.

 

[HEChicken]

I saw a video on YouTube once, where they took a rake (one of the metal type rakes, NOT a leaf rake) and the width of the rake tines was just perfect to hold the neck. One person laid the chicken on the stump, while the second secured the head between rake tines, and then used the hatchet to chop off the head. Here - I'll see if I saved it in my favorites and can give you the link....yep, here you go:

 

[HLAC]

If I want to kill some very quickly (no carrying them around, tying up... other possibly stressful things) I just grab them by the head and quickly spin them which uses the birds own weight to quickly break the neck. If you know what you're doing, it's very fast and efficient.

When I chop off heads, I just use a big stump and while holding the bird by the feet, I let the front of the chicken rest on the stump. The bird will usually relax it's neck out enough to get a clean chop in. Using a machete is easier for me than an axe. Having a person hold the chicken while somebody else chops works good too. (need to have some trust on that one)
After the chop, I let the bird flap about in the yard until it's done. I usually hide the other birds from the scene until it's their turn but I seriously doubt they have any idea what's going on.

 

[mountainpridefarm]

Quote:
Just for kicks I went to the coop and held my RIR's upside down, they flapped about three times and just hung there. My banty hen is nuts and flapped like for a minute and then just hung there as well.