Humane ways of killing our meat birds

[Elite Silkies]

I wish I could do it, but I just can't. I just sent 3 roo's to my BIL, because I just couldn't bring myself to kill them. My husband pulled the head off of one of my Quail the other night and I couldn't watch, but my 8 year old DD did.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I found it helps to have a way to hang/hold the bird with its head down about chest high. You can use a variety of materials to make a cone, or simply bind the bird's wings to his sides with a few wraps of duct tape and hang him by his tied-together feet. You can hang them from a tree branch, fence post, clothesline, swingset or porch-swing frame, whatever, but it helps to have them hanging so you can have both hands free to work with.

I've tried all the different methods, chopping, pithing, yanking, and have settled on the neck slice as my preferred method. It kills the bird quickly and it's the easiest for me to do. I place the bird so his comb is facing away from me, the bottom of his throat is towards me. I grab the head & stretch his neck taut, and bend it slightly to one side. There is a featherless place right below the point of the jaw that's the best place to cut. Use a good sharp knife, it need not be big, just sharp. I use a filet knife I bought at the fishing dept at WalMart, I've also used utility knife blades. Make a deep decisive cut, the blood should flow out immediately & at a good rate. That will be enough to instantly kill your chicken. But bend the head the other way and cut the other side. Even though the bird is brain-dead the heart will still reflexively beat and help pump the blood out in addition to gravitational pull.

 

[hcammack]

I have used killing cones and also the head swinging on the farm I worked on over the summer. I think the killing cones worked well for us we where processing 300 at a time though. The head swing was only used when a bird needed to be culled. I did this 4 or 5 times. Once after a layer was attacked by a fox and was still alive but missing a leg and a few times when meaties were to fat to walk or were injured in some way.

 

[hensonly]

Quote:
Ok, ok, I know you meant they put the CHICKEN'S head under a bucket, but I had a good chuckle at the wording of this post!!!

 

[emys]

This method was used by my husband's grandmother when she was quite old. She would have loved it that I worded it so and got a chuckle from someone!

 

[zaylinda]

My father's method, and the one I used last month when I did my first bird-killing, is to hold the bird by it's feet in your non-dominant hand (left for me), with your other hand, grasp the neck very near the base of the head, point the bird's beak toward heaven (where it will soon be), and snap your arm down, breaking the neck. It may take a few tries the first time, but once you know what you're doing, its quick and easy. It does take a bit of arm strength - I am quite small and had no problem killing quail, but I doubt I could do a chicken.


I'm worried this post isn't very clear - I wish I had pictures.

 

[Nemo]

Quote:
Not me. In the spring of '08, we got our first chickens. We went all out and ordered both layers and meaties. We had just secured the outside run and started to let the layers out into it when it was time to send the meaties off to freezer-camp. I had tied a pole up between two trees a fair distance out into the woods to hang and kill the meaties so the critters wouldn't be attracted in closer to the coop. I had to walk by the fenced in area where the two-month old Buff Orps were watching what was going on. I'd walk by carrying a bird, go out in the woods, hang it by its feet, and cut its head off, then head back in empty handed for another while the first bled out. When I started carrying the birds back in to get cleaned, I'd tell the Orps, "This is what happens to chickens that don't lay eggs."

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

They better keep laying!!!

 

[dichotomymom]

Hedgeclippers, no joke. It's over and done with, within seconds....drop em in the cone and scald.

 

[weirdmuse]

Quote:
Not me. In the spring of '08, we got our first chickens. We went all out and ordered both layers and meaties. We had just secured the outside run and started to let the layers out into it when it was time to send the meaties off to freezer-camp. I had tied a pole up between two trees a fair distance out into the woods to hang and kill the meaties so the critters wouldn't be attracted in closer to the coop. I had to walk by the fenced in area where the two-month old Buff Orps were watching what was going on. I'd walk by carrying a bird, go out in the woods, hang it by its feet, and cut its head off, then head back in empty handed for another while the first bled out. When I started carrying the birds back in to get cleaned, I'd tell the Orps, "This is what happens to chickens that don't lay eggs."

I love it!

Every morning when I open the coop I ask my girls "Breakfast or Dinner, which will it be?" and this seems to aid in egg production.