Is the broomstick method as foolproof as it seems?

[SweetieChicken234]

If it take two people to dispatch a bird, you need a different method.

Broomstick is easily done with 1 person. However for my first cull my husband was being extremely supportive. He knew I raised my boy and really did not want to cull. Easy enough to have done myself as evidenced by the many YouTube videos available.

 

[K0k0shka]

Wow!! You really had a time with this! I'm sorry to hear this. Lucky for me I was able to do it well first try. I did a lot of research on methods to cull chickens.
https://www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/holding-a-chicken-upside-down
I read this and decided against ever using a kill cone. For me this felt not such a good thing to do. Each has their own method and reason.

When I had to do my rooster with the broomstick I kept him horizontal and laid him on the ground. I kept holding his legs in my hand and threw the stick over his neck with my other hand. My husband and I both stood on either side of the stick but not until the very second I was ready to pull his legs. He didn't even have a second to gasp for breath. It was so fast it was unbelievable. My husband chopped off his head while he was flapping and I just held him upside down by the feet so he could bleed into the grass. For a first cull this worked perfectly. I did this in the grass on a harder dirt area.

Maybe your boys were just really big with tough necks? I think someone here commented that you have to pull harder with the bigger boys to get the head off. In a few more weeks I have 2 more boys to cull.. I do hope it goes as smoothly.

I think I had a bunch of complicating factors that combined to make this as miserable as it was... Yeah, the boys were quite big and strong, and I'm small and had no help. Maneuvering them in position by myself, especially without having enough experience with this particular method, resulted in everything taking longer than I'd hoped, including longer for the birds choking with the stick over their necks. What made things worse is that those cockerels weren't mine - somebody was getting rid of them and I took them for the meat. So they didn't know me, they were scared, and they fought - hard! One of them was a giant Brahma mix, wrestling him made everything more difficult, and took longer. I tried to calm each down as I took him out of the crate - I held him and pet him until his hackles came down, but they were still on high alert and resumed fighting me as soon as I put them on the ground. By comparison, when I process chickens that I've raised myself, they know me and trust me and go along with everything, with very minimal resistance. It's a little sad actually - breaking their trust... but it does make the process a lot easier for me. But these guys were in a strange new place with a stranger handling them, and were freaked out to start with. They hadn't been handled much, unlike my chickens which I interact with daily and are socialized, so that plays a part, too. Wrestling semi-wild birds who are resisting makes everything extra hard. My husband can't help me because he really doesn't like killing things, even the mice I have to take care of myself if the traps don't kill them the first time but catch their hips instead etc. So I need to find a killing method that doesn't require a second pair of hands. Maybe this just isn't it, for those reasons.

https://www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/holding-a-chicken-upside-down
I read this and decided against ever using a kill cone. For me this felt not such a good thing to do. Each has their own method and reason.

I agree that hanging them upside down is bad but only if 1) they hang like that for prolonged periods of time, and 2) you expect them to live after that. So like hanging them for reasons other than to kill them. But if they are going to die anyway, and you only hang them for seconds, the arguments against are moot. When I use my original method with the cone and the shears, the bird doesn't spend almost any time in the cone alive - I put it in, grab the head, and cut. It's dead before it knows what happened. When it's one of my birds, like I described above, it's calm as I put it in the cone because they trust me and I can pick them up and handle them without them freaking out. So I carry it to the cone as it's relaxed in my arms and talking to me, inquiring about whether treats would be involved in whatever this is. Once it's in the cone, I've noticed that both my birds and other people's birds that I've processed like this, get very calm once inside, looking confused, and not gasping for air at all (for the split seconds they are in there before I cut and they die instantly). By comparison, the cockerels with the broomstick on their necks fought and kicked and gasped, and were in visible distress, unlike the ones that go straight in the cone. So, both for practical reasons for myself, and for the sake of the bird's comfort, I'm going back to the cone + snip method...

 

[SweetieChicken234]

I think I had a bunch of complicating factors that combined to make this as miserable as it was... Yeah, the boys were quite big and strong, and I'm small and had no help. Maneuvering them in position by myself, especially without having enough experience with this particular method, resulted in everything taking longer than I'd hoped, including longer for the birds choking with the stick over their necks. What made things worse is that those cockerels weren't mine - somebody was getting rid of them and I took them for the meat. So they didn't know me, they were scared, and they fought - hard! One of them was a giant Brahma mix, wrestling him made everything more difficult, and took longer. I tried to calm each down as I took him out of the crate - I held him and pet him until his hackles came down, but they were still on high alert and resumed fighting me as soon as I put them on the ground. By comparison, when I process chickens that I've raised myself, they know me and trust me and go along with everything, with very minimal resistance. It's a little sad actually - breaking their trust... but it does make the process a lot easier for me. But these guys were in a strange new place with a stranger handling them, and were freaked out to start with. They hadn't been handled much, unlike my chickens which I interact with daily and are socialized, so that plays a part, too. Wrestling semi-wild birds who are resisting makes everything extra hard. My husband can't help me because he really doesn't like killing things, even the mice I have to take care of myself if the traps don't kill them the first time but catch their hips instead etc. So I need to find a killing method that doesn't require a second pair of hands. Maybe this just isn't it, for those reasons.


I agree that hanging them upside down is bad but only if 1) they hang like that for prolonged periods of time, and 2) you expect them to live after that. So like hanging them for reasons other than to kill them. But if they are going to die anyway, and you only hang them for seconds, the arguments against are moot. When I use my original method with the cone and the shears, the bird doesn't spend almost any time in the cone alive - I put it in, grab the head, and cut. It's dead before it knows what happened. When it's one of my birds, like I described above, it's calm as I put it in the cone because they trust me and I can pick them up and handle them without them freaking out. So I carry it to the cone as it's relaxed in my arms and talking to me, inquiring about whether treats would be involved in whatever this is. Once it's in the cone, I've noticed that both my birds and other people's birds that I've processed like this, get very calm once inside, looking confused, and not gasping for air at all (for the split seconds they are in there before I cut and they die instantly). By comparison, the cockerels with the broomstick on their necks fought and kicked and gasped, and were in visible distress, unlike the ones that go straight in the cone. So, both for practical reasons for myself, and for the sake of the bird's comfort, I'm going back to the cone + snip method...

Aww that is a rough time. I'm so sorry to hear that. I feel bad you and the birds had to experience that. The birds didn't know you and were literally fighting for their life. This all sounds like a recipe for disaster.

You are right about birds you raise yourself being calm. My boy was calm the entire time. Not 1 hackle raised. And yes again, you are right it is sad to break their trust when it's cull time. Killing animals sucks. It's seriously horrible. Your husband sounds like mine. He hates killing anything and he was mad with me when I let the chickens tear up a mole. He said we should have killed it humanely first. He will however step in to do the killing because he wants to ensure it is done quickly and humanely. He killed a rat for me that was in the chicken coop. I HATE rats. Wild rats, specifically. He was glad to lend a hand with culling my boy to make sure he died instantly with no suffering.

I absolutely respect your choice to go back to the cone method if that's easier. Many people do prefer this method.

I feel bad if my bird even feels scared or has an issue breathing for a minute being upside down in the cone. It's an emotional thing for me. I was able to keep my boy calm and comfortable until the literal last second I had to step on the stick and pull. It wasn't even 1 second. For me.. this feels emotionally better. He didn't even make 1 gasp for breath. Now if I can't repeat this pattern and I have problems after this first one then I would definitely think about switching to a cone. I got lucky the first go. Whichever method causes the last suffering.

 

[Mosey2003]

The best method is the one that you can perform that quickly kills the bird.

Many people are very good at snapping the neck in their hands, I simply can't do it. For bigger birds I lack the strength, and there's something about holding the head like that that I just can't get over.

 

[SweetieChicken234]

The best method is the one that you can perform that quickly kills the bird.

Many people are very good at snapping the neck in their hands, I simply can't do it. For bigger birds I lack the strength, and there's something about holding the head like that that I just can't get over.

You are sooo right. I only wish I was able to do the neck by hand. I've seen several videos of people doing this incredibly smooth and efficient. I wish I could do it but I am terrified I will make a mistake. I also remember a video where the guy did the neck of a big rooster and he said it was hard for him. A small female like myself would likely not be able to do it correctly so I won't try. No need to make a bird suffer if I'm able to do the stick.

 

[McChooky]

I can see how dispatching a tall,heavy rooster would be a problem if you're short.I never considered that before hearing your story.I'm sorry you experienced that particular problem.Good to know you found a way around it by positioning its head in the direction you were pulling.

 

[SweetieChicken234]

I processed 2 more extra boys today. It went about as well as the first time. Head came right off on the first boy. Instant death and flapping. 2nd boy the neck broke and he started flapping but his head actually slipped under the stick and I just stuck him under a second time to get the head off. Pretty standard and easy.

I hold them upside down by the feet after the head is off and let them bleed out into the grass.

I'm getting faster this time at feathers and getting the organs out. I used a bigger bucket and instant read thermometer to be sure the temp was good. Scald at 140, feathers came out easy. I didn't need any help with videos to process the bird correctly. Did not cut the crop this time. It went a lot smoother. I hate to not have these boys around because I like every bird. These were pretty and followed me all over. Recently one started biting me and I was glad for it. Made it easier to process. My big boy had started fighting with them and I would have to separate them. One of them was starting to mate the big boys hens and things were not going well. I would have processed them a couple weeks ago but I caught covid and was too sick. Glad to put the flock at ease again with no more fighting.

 

[cassie]

I've been watching a lot of videos on this method and I think I can do this. I've never killed an animal. Usually I try to save animals but why buy those tortured store chickens when I can raise my own humanely? I don't like supporting that system of abuse.

Does this broomstick method really work first try for the person that has never done this? I'm trying to gauge how hard I will need to pull the legs once I step on the stick. I actually prefer if the head comes off so I know the bird is dead immediately. That will be best case scenario for me. Maybe I should pull very hard. Lucky my neighbor has eaten many chickens he raised himself and is more than happy to help me with this process. He doesn't do the broomstick but he's tried to break the neck and says he's got about 50% failure rate- prefers the ax to get it done fast.

I don't think I have it in me to take a sharp object to the bird and either cut it or ax off the head. Too many ways to mess that up and cause painful injury.

You have to do whatever you are comfortable with. The broomstick method makes me cringe. When I, through no fault of my own, ended up having to kill a chicken, I used a sharp pair of heavy-duty pruning shears I found in the shop. Big ones. Regular limb loppers. I tied the chicken's feet together with baling twine, hung him at a convenient height and whacked his head off before either he or I quite knew what was happening. I may have even closed my eyes. I am a first-class wuss and I had never before killed anything in my life. I didn't want to then, either, but it had to be done. I got through it by not thinking about it. I just did it.