Just ate our first meatie!

[gg706]

So you do one cut from one side to the other side? Or do you cut one side to get that artery and then do another slice to cut the artery on the other side? If you do one cut, have you ever pushed the knife so hard the head came completely off by accident? I don't really want to chop their heads off...it would be easier for ME that way, but I have been told they don't bleed out very well. I also think that with the throat slice the loss of blood will make them pass out and away pretty quick...galanie said under 10 seconds. Someone also said somewhere that when the spinal cord is severed it causes intense pain and they are aware for roughly 15 to 30 seconds. I realize no one knows for sure, as the chicken isn't talking!

 

[Beekissed]

I've tried various ways and found the whole slice from ear to ear is the quickest death. I've tried just cutting the arteries and they take so very long to slowly fade away and at the last they start to struggle.

I just pull down on the underside of the beak, gently, to make everything taut and slice evenly and deeply from the left side to the right. You can feel the knife blade scraping against the vertebrae in the back of the throat but it takes some good pressure to cut through those, so don't worry about severing the head unless you are doing this on a very small and tender bird.

Sometimes I get a little of the blood flow on my hand but I wear vinyl gloves, so it doesn't really register with me. When done this way each death is under 10 seconds. When I tried cutting both arteries, it sometimes took up to a full minute for the bird to die.

 

[xC0000005]

I do the opposite of what Beekissed does, and oddly for the same reason. I slit one side, then the other. I used my flashlight and did some tests and found that my birds stopped responding to light in about 11 seconds with that method, while with the whole cut method I had pupil responses at 15 seconds.

Go figure. Is she right? i don't know. Am I right? Maybe. Both wind up with dead chickens very quickly. Mine don't even struggle until after that - they go into spasms much later in the process. Then again that ceramic knife is wicked - if you cut yourself (and I speak from experience) you won't know immediately. I absolutely hope that it is the same way for the chickens - that by the time the pain registers they are blacking out from loss of blood pressure to the brain.

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

I AM GETTING READY ALSO TO TAKE OUR FIRST MEAT BIRD FOR THE TABLE, THEN HOPEFULLY SEVERAL MORE LATER.

 

[Anna_MN]

When my dad was helping me slit the throat on the chickens, he accidentally cut the head right off. And oddly enough, that one didn't flap its wings. It wiggled its legs a little bit though. Everyone has their own method- do what feels right to you. You won't know until you try!

 

[gg706]

Yes, your right....personal experience is the only way to know. I hate to experiment on my first butcher process....seems wrong to do that. But I may have to try it both ways at first to really know for myself that I am doing it the best way for me to accomplish the task as quickly and as painlessly as possible. Is your ceramic knife wide or is it shaped like a hunters knife? Where did you get it?
Congrats TNBEARCHICK is this your first time? Let us know how tastes!

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

Well we didn't get to eat ours(had some kind of virus go around)

used antibiotics(duh)

, acv works much better and is still eatable after. We bought some meaties they are 3 weeks old so about4-5 more if they all make it we will be ready again.

 

[TamTurkey]

It tasted FABULOUS! It actually tasted like chicken. I seasoned it very lightly with salt and pepper, stuffed the cavity with lemon, garlic, and herbs. It was awesome! Not nearly as much fat as a store bought chicken but that just means more bang for my buck. Not stringy or tough at all. I am totally loving raising my own meat!!!

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

Well we just processed our first 2 birds, the whole family form my 5 year old(didn't do much but point and lol) all the way up to me and my wife. We had a good time my 10 year old had some tears but then was ok. They looked great in the sink for final cleaning, great in the fridge and will be better in the oven.