Its THIS easy to process . . .

[_Randall_]

I'm sorry, but that bird's head would have been pulled (or in your case, cut) off within 2 seconds after I had a good body grip on it. It might be hard for some folks to do, but when the head comes off immediately, it's brain-dead right then. Too much body life for too long for that bird.........whether it "felt" anything, or not. Again, it's my opinion..........

 

[aprophet]

Quote:
I told my kids that the turkey (well, thats what I was killing at the time) had a set amount of energy going round its body and when its head got cut off all that energy went bouncing round the body till it ran out and thats why it jerked and flapped like it did even though it was dead dead dead as soon as the head was off.

Seemed to work for them because none of them have any problems watching or helping. Well, as long as certain ones dont get eaten lol.

It doest seem to take aaaaaages to stop jerking round though, doesnt it? And people, no idea. I would imagine they do but tv sugar coats so much I cant see them being true to life on this one.

Tomorrow four quail are coming to dinner (yummy) but a question for y'all. Should the meat rest overnight in the fridge or can it go from walking round to the frying pan with very few steps between? Am awfully tired so would rather not sort tomorrows dinner tonight *yawn*

I have hunted most of my life and was taught the larger the piece of meat the longer it should be "aged" most venison I hang up in a walk in cooler @ 28-32* for 2-3 days ducks I let age in my fridge a day or 2 most quail/dove sized birds I eat the next night.

 

[_Randall_]

Quote:
I told my kids that the turkey (well, thats what I was killing at the time) had a set amount of energy going round its body and when its head got cut off all that energy went bouncing round the body till it ran out and thats why it jerked and flapped like it did even though it was dead dead dead as soon as the head was off.

Seemed to work for them because none of them have any problems watching or helping. Well, as long as certain ones dont get eaten lol.

It doest seem to take aaaaaages to stop jerking round though, doesnt it? And people, no idea. I would imagine they do but tv sugar coats so much I cant see them being true to life on this one.

Tomorrow four quail are coming to dinner (yummy) but a question for y'all. Should the meat rest overnight in the fridge or can it go from walking round to the frying pan with very few steps between? Am awfully tired so would rather not sort tomorrows dinner tonight *yawn*

Definitely. What I'm about to eat was walking around in good shape about an hour and a half ago.

 

[Dingo]

Quote:
Just wanted to point out that modern science shows that beheading does not immediately render the brain lifeless, for a human it can take as long as 15 seconds, give or take depending on the events prior to decapitation. For a quail.. well that hes yet to be shown, though I doubt it's immediate.

 

[chickenwhisperer]

Thanks for everybodys compliments, both here and on YT!

I dont think speed is the key, that will come with practice.
Whats most important is a quick death, and not puncturing organs during cleaning.

I like the birds to bleed out, thats why I do it the way I do.
Separating the head from the spine and opening those veins seems the best way for me, allows the heart to pump out the blood and IMO minimizes any suffering.


I have seen good friends of mine die violent deaths right in front of me, its not pretty and it was never instant, but in most cases I dont think they ever knew what hit em.

 

[chickenwhisperer]

Quote:
Thankyou for the criticism.
Every bird Ive done so far has been done this way.
I usually use the big shears at first to break everything free, then finish with the scissors to completely severe if needed.
Ill admit, I was watching my buddy to make sure he didnt feint while I was doing most of the video.
I coulda had a better cut, but all that was holding the severed head on was the skin and I feel it was effectively removed.


Every bird I have done has twitched for a minute or 2, whether the head came off at first or not.
Some more than others.
The bird in the video was a big male that has beaten up all my other males and most of the females, he had been separated and spent every night calling every 10 mins ALL NIGHT LONG . . .
It did not really surprise me his body had so much energy left in it, he was a fighter!

I have cleaned thousands of fish while employed as a deckhand in the past, Ive had pure boneless/skinless fillets flop over on a table, does a fish feel that?
I(me) dont think so . . .

 

[aprophet]

Quote:
Just wanted to point out that modern science shows that beheading does not immediately render the brain lifeless, for a human it can take as long as 15 seconds, give or take depending on the events prior to decapitation. For a quail.. well that hes yet to be shown, though I doubt it's immediate.

Modern science is much like ancient science sometimes they get things right and sometimes they do not !
Modern science I lost respect for them when they admitted they cannot prove a lot of what they purport they only theorize that something happens not actually prove anything. read up on planck time / planck wall pretty interesting reading



When I am butchering birds I am usually outside with a coupla buckets and a cooler of ice water after the beheading as I take the head off I am squeezing the body it seems to bleed out much better and doing all this sometimes things do not go perfectly. It just ain't a perfect world meanwhile I will do the absolute best I can to be sure what I eat does not suffer needlessly and if things do not go perfectly I do not have a problem with that.

 

[95yj]

somebody freakin tagged it! and i don't have an account, and don't really feel like making one. Is it alright to take the head off with a cleaver or hatchet instead of shears?

 

[EweSheep]

if you use a hatchet or cleaver, as long the little bird stays still, it is doable. However I find that pruning shears seems to do a much better job. Its like a guillotine effect, quick and sharp with less effort and not have a chance in missing it.

That was FAST processing! Wished chickens were that fast LOL!

Dont you have to worry about infecting the meat when one insert scissors in butt to cut out the spine?????? I thought feces touching meat is a no no. However with us, if rabbits got urine or poop, we rinse it off immediately and it did not make us sick. Is there a harm into that?????????/

 

[aprophet]

Quote:
I start at the neck end and cut about halfway down the back and pull the neck and organs toward the tail end. it pulls right off.