killing chickens

[Erica]

I just have to add that cervical dislocation is perfectly acceptable when processing for the table. It's as popular in Europe as pithing/throat cutting is in the US.

 

[Clay Valley Farmer]

Done quickly with a sharp knife I very much doubt there is any degree of suffering when cutting the blood supply in the chickens neck. Once the blood supply is shut off to the brain the lights would go out virtually instantly, any one that was choked out in a wrestling match would attest to that.

Chopping the head off or breaking the neck does not do nearly as good a job at bleeding out the meat and feather releasing can be inconsistent. That said if the end goal is producing quality meat the knife has the advantage.

 

[Denninmi]

Quote:
That's what I basically did, took hold of the head and let go of the body, instantly severing the spinal column from the skull. It seemed to be instant lights out for the head. The body flopped, of course. Then I quickly cut off the head and the blood pumped out. Easy method and as fast and humane as any from what I could tell.

 

[remadl700]

We use killing cones. It makes the process easy and contains the birds. I have two different sizes of cones depending on the bird.

When it comes to killing the chicken I have done just about every method there is to ethically killing them. What we have found that during the butchering process and cutting up the bird, the method of cutting only the jugulars provides the best overall outcome. This is from our experiences when parting the birds and examining the joints. If they have not been bleed properly you will see residual blood in the joints. By allowing only the jugulars to be cut the spinal cord is still attached allow the heart to pump out the blood.

Just my 2 cents!

 

[chickendidwhat]

We will be moving to killing cones. Previously we cut their heads off, let them bleed out and quit twitching around, and then carried on. I really like the idea of just cutting the jugular. When you cut the head off you also cut the nerves which causes the body to react which in turn makes the bird flip and flop everywhere. That flipping and flopping causes the muscles to stress and tense up and after raising our chickens in a pretty stress free environment, it seems weird to put their body (even if their mind doesn't know it...because it is still in the head in a bucket) through that kind of stress.

I've read, although I can't say first hand, that the stress changes the taste of the meat.

So...killing cones and as quick and gentle as you can.


Greg
www.thissmallfarm.com

 

[justachick]

Someone told me today that he (and his wife) would take a boning knife, open the chickens mouth and push the knife quickly up and into the brain.
Im guessing that this would be the same as breaking the neck or cutting jugular.
Im wondering why not the throat etc at the same time?
I just did in 3 roos last week and I followed the instructions here
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/grim79.html
the only thing is, he doesnt really explain the killing part so I slit the throat while the chicken was inside the garbage bag. It works really well but I sure wouldve liked to have a sharp knife after each chicken. The feathers on the neck really dull a knife. I recently picked up 2 boning knives at our local one of a kind thrift store so Ill make sure I have several knives on hand next time.
All in all, Id rather be dancing but as far as this job goes it was loads better than the last time. axes, hot water, feathers everywhere!! Never again for me.
I love this site!!
justachick

 

[galanie]

We will be moving to killing cones.  Previously we cut their heads off, let them bleed out and quit twitching around, and then carried on.  I really like the idea of just cutting the jugular.  When you cut the head off you also cut the nerves which causes the body to react which in turn makes the bird flip and flop everywhere.  That flipping and flopping causes the muscles to stress and tense up and after raising our chickens in a pretty stress free environment, it seems weird to put their body (even if their mind doesn't know it...because it is still in the head in a bucket) through that kind of stress. 


I've read, although I can't say first hand, that the stress changes the taste of the meat.


So...killing cones and as quick and gentle as you can.



Greg
http://www.thissmallfarm.com

When you slit only the jugular and let them bleed out, they do still flop when they die. But it's contained in the cone and I think, but I'm not positive, that they do flop less. In any event, the flopping is only after they're dead either way.

 

[DenverBird]

We use cones - the cone wrap the bird and confines it in a manner that I think is calming to the bird, then the bleedout goes quickly with minimal trauma to the bird. From what I've heard, the meat quality is better and the meat lasts a lot longer without so much blood in the bird, since the heart continues to pump the blood out of the bird. Note - if you do it this way, there will be a short period of struggling after you've cut the jugular when the bird is in its death throes. Ditto on the sharp knife that others have mentioned. I've heard of folks getting a scalpel with disposable blades for the cutting.

 

[PotterWatch]

We use cones and cut their throats with a scalpel. I know from personal experience with those scalpels, that they are so sharp you don't even feel it at first when you cut yourself with them. I believe the same is true for the chickens. When the knife used to make the cut is extremely sharp, they don't really feel it. By the time they would start to feel it, they have already lost enough blood volume that they are unconscious already. We very rarely have any response from our birds when they are cut and we do hundreds every month.

 

[Smiles-N-Sunshine]

I use a double-edged sticking knife to pierce, rather than slice.