Is the broomstick method as foolproof as it seems?

[Lillith37]

Please anyone correct me if I’m wrong or have better information. We’ve only done this a couple of times.

 

[HeritageFan]

Turkeys!
Do you have the body above the popper and pull sideways?

No- I made mine so the “v” points “towards” me.
I pick them up, walk them to where it’s mounted on the shed wall.
I get a good hold on their feet as I’m walking, head goes up into the V, I lift their “chin” to make sure the head is in the right spot, then swiftly and firmly pull back on the head w my hand under the beak / down and back on the legs at the same time.

They never see it coming. Zero pain. Zero stress. It’s the only reason I can do it to all of them.
Lol I don’t mind dispatching the A holes, but it gets really hard when it’s one that I like.

They do flap for a bit, but less than when I’ve just removed the head.

Then I hang them, drain them- and finish processing

 

[Karasu]

Personally I'd recommend manual cervical dislocation over broomstick. Slight problems with angle, placement of bar, etc. have resulted in some of my birds having dislocations at C1 and C2 vertebrae instead of C1 and skull, which is ideal if I remember my research correctly. I noted those birds seemed to take a couple extra seconds for corneal reflexes to stop.
CD as a method of euthanasia is IMO possibly the best way as far as reliability as long as you know what angle to tilt the head at and have read articles and watched videos.

 

[SweetieChicken234]

Personally I'd recommend manual cervical dislocation over broomstick. Slight problems with angle, placement of bar, etc. have resulted in some of my birds having dislocations at C1 and C2 vertebrae instead of C1 and skull, which is ideal if I remember my research correctly. I noted those birds seemed to take a couple extra seconds for corneal reflexes to stop.
CD as a method of euthanasia is IMO possibly the best way as far as reliability as long as you know what angle to tilt the head at and have read articles and watched videos.

Being a smaller female I don't think this would go easily for me. I saw a video of a grown man doing this to a rooster and he said it was hard for him. He did it well and quickly but wasn't easy. I feel with my body size and strength I need to use the stick.

I think if I can do the stick and get the head off in 1 fast pull it will be good. The angle of head and stick and exactly how straight up I need to pull the legs is what I'm trying to get figured out.

 

[SweetieChicken234]

No- I made mine so the “v” points “towards” me.
I pick them up, walk them to where it’s mounted on the shed wall.
I get a good hold on their feet as I’m walking, head goes up into the V, I lift their “chin” to make sure the head is in the right spot, then swiftly and firmly pull back on the head w my hand under the beak / down and back on the legs at the same time.

They never see it coming. Zero pain. Zero stress. It’s the only reason I can do it to all of them.
Lol I don’t mind dispatching the A holes, but it gets really hard when it’s one that I like.

They do flap for a bit, but less than when I’ve just removed the head.

Then I hang them, drain them- and finish processing

This is amazing and I would love to see a video of this. Very humane.

 

[Molpet]

No- I made mine so the “v” points “towards” me.
I pick them up, walk them to where it’s mounted on the shed wall.
I get a good hold on their feet as I’m walking, head goes up into the V, I lift their “chin” to make sure the head is in the right spot, then swiftly and firmly pull back on the head w my hand under the beak / down and back on the legs at the same time.

They never see it coming. Zero pain. Zero stress. It’s the only reason I can do it to all of them.
Lol I don’t mind dispatching the A holes, but it gets really hard when it’s one that I like.

They do flap for a bit, but less than when I’ve just removed the head.

Then I hang them, drain them- and finish processing

Umm don't think I could handle a turkey like that. Mine are rather flighty. Raised by broodies and not handled until the last day.
I learned not to play with my food lol

 

[Karasu]

Being a smaller female I don't think this would go easily for me. I saw a video of a grown man doing this to a rooster and he said it was hard for him. He did it well and quickly but wasn't easy. I feel with my body size and strength I need to use the stick.

I think if I can do the stick and get the head off in 1 fast pull it will be good. The angle of head and stick and exactly how straight up I need to pull the legs is what I'm trying to get figured out.

Me too. I do use broomstick method for LF roosters, as, like you said, I don't have the arm strength. I started doing manual CD on hens when I was 14 or 15 with noodle arms and I was able to perform it effectively.
Best of luck.

 

[Red Mangrove]

I don't even mind the idea of killing a chicken, as long as their lives and their ends are decent. Why does it have to be so dang difficult?

Lift with your legs. Keep your back straight

My biggest issue so far with the broomstick method is accidentally decapitating chickens, but it always kills them instantly regardless

 

[SweetieChicken234]

If you do the broomstick method I recommend having someone (your neighbour?) to help you. You can hold the bird upside down until it goes droopy. Then lay it on a flat surface and your helper can cover the eyes and hold the neck/body in the proper place under the broom. Then you step to apply the pressure and pull. Practise the movement several times on a stuffed animal first.

I just wanted to add this:
This is why I won't hold a chicken upside down or use a killing cone
To me, humane treatment means leaving the chicken in peace as calm til the end. Upside down in any form, even a killing cone is causing great fear and possibly pain.

 

[tlcmurphy]

As for how easy it is the first time, my review is 2 out of 5 stars. I'm confident it could become 4-5 stars with practice.
Note: I've previously failed with other methods rather spectacularly (resulting in surgery).

This last week we had to put a rooster down as a mercy. We tried medication first, as there was a nurse posting here once about it and we thought the pain-relieving aspect would be beneficial for the poor boy. And we weren't going to eat him.
10 tramadol's and 6 hydrocodone later (over the course of an afternoon) and he was exactly the same.
So, we get the broom, did a last minute review of you.tube videos we've watched before, read some more posts here from the more experienced members, and went out to get him done one way or another. Mom sharpened one of her good knives as a backup option after I fussed about the nightmare scenario of not getting it done the first try, and the threads on here about what went wrong.

Yup. It still went wrong.
After a full minute of flapping, Mom is trying to tell me "He's dead. I swear to you, he's dead hun, stop worrying!" but his eyelids were opening and closing, and his beak, and he would stop flapping only to start again. Finally, she believes me that the job isn't done, so we repeat the procedure with me repeating all the advice I read about stretching the neck first, etc.
I still wasn't convinced he was dead. It just kept going on & on. So, I insisted we cut his head off. But of course, the proven chefs knife, Moms very favorite knife... still not sharp enough. Finally, with some loppers, we got his head off.

I don't even mind the idea of killing a chicken, as long as their lives and their ends are decent. Why does it have to be so dang difficult?
I swear I'm going to build a nitrogen or helium mini gas chamber when I have all the supplies collected. The worst that could happen if something goes wrong is they wake from sleep and need more gas, or start giggling...

CO2 would do that, or nitrogen. Helium would be funny but not lethal I think