Killing your meat birds - how do YOU do it?

[ashtray]

i read on here last night that you can get a bird butchered for $3- $7 i would go that route myself

 

[silkiechicken]

I hold the bird under a knee, cut the throat while breaking the neck at the same time. If I feel like it, I have a little bowl on the side with maybe a half cup water and a tsp of salt, where I drain the blood into, stir, and let coagulate. Cook it up like tofu and put it over rice and veggies. It's actually pretty good, just don't get feathers in it and remember to not feed for about 12 hrs... nobody wants crop juice in their blood dish.

 

[jaku]

I use the throat slitting method- I feel it's the best way to drain the blood. What I've read makes sense to me- when you sever the head, all brain activity stops, and the heart no longer pumps blood. So, the blood has to just ooze out. With the throat slit method, more blood is able to drain. Not that a little blood is going to hurt anything, but that's just the way I do it. Plus, it may sound disturbing, and you do need a bit of nerve to actually slit the throat of an animal, but it's really a very peaceful method. There's no struggling or flapping, and they just go to sleep quite quickly, due to the instant drop in blood pressure.

 

[Joy Cluck]

I never used a cone and I also slit the throat. I have to add that my birds never just nod off they do flap and such while bleeding out....

do you slaughter the bird while it is hanging in the cone? I had thought the bird was placed in after (from an ad for one I had read)

I have to admit seeing my birds struggle after has always been the hardest part.

Thank you in advance...

 

[CARS]

Quote:
Jaku??? Your the cone expert

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

I hang with a dog chock chain and slit just the jugular, they pass away in less than 30 sec. If you hang them for a min or two before dispatch they pass a lot faster.

 

[JohnL11935]

Quote:
I would disagree with your processor's theory.

The heart beats independent of any brain activity. The heart muscle contains its own 'pacemaker' cells, which, so long as there is a supply of oxygen and blood, it will continue to beat for a period of time. There being three types of muscle in the body, cardiac muscle is the only type capable of this.

As soon as the oxygen supply stored in the blood is exhausted, the heart will stop bleeding.


.

 

[JohnL11935]

Quote:
I would disagree with your processor's theory.

The heart beats independent of any brain activity. The heart muscle contains its own 'pacemaker' cells, which, so long as there is a supply of oxygen and blood, it will continue to beat for a period of time. There being three types of muscle in the body, cardiac muscle is the only type capable of this.

As soon as the oxygen supply stored in the blood is exhausted, the heart will stop bleeding.


.

 

[warmfuzzies]

One thing I can tell you is DONT shoot them....

I know, that is probably self-evident.

I got fed up with our rooster and decided to butcher him. (we had been planning to anyway) Well, hubby wasnt home, and I knew I couldnt chop his head off by myself,

so I decided to shoot him in the head. I thought I could run to him and slit his throat before his heart stopped.

Doesnt work!!

My knife was dull, and he wouldn't stop flopping, so I had to catch him and sit on him. Needless to say, by the time I got him hung up, he bled MAYBE two teaspoons.

We coocked him all up, and the meat was GROSS so we threw it all away. He was a nice big roo, too! He weighed over 5#, completely cleaned and skinned.

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

I've been told not to chop is because the feathers tighten up and they are harder to pluck. when I dispatch Hang and jugular, I can dry pluck with no problem, I can't stand the smell of wet hot feathers.