Mentally gearing up... going to process 6-10 Delawares & BR - ADVICE?

[tnchickenut]

I have never killed anything that wasn't just being put out of it's misery, so I'm not sure how I'm going to do it.... but I LOVE CHICKEN! lol. I absolutely hate factory farms and am tired of being a hypocrite. I want badly to make this as fast and humane as possible. Any advice? Can you put a chicken to sleep before you put them in the cone? Can you find a "dispatcher" here in the USA?

You will all probrably think I'm crazy, but I don't want their last moments alive to be fluttering about and panic stricken. Someone console me!

Although, these Delawares I am speaking of are the meanest birds I have ever met. They bite you bloody twice a day. Once when you are feeding them in the morning, and again when you feed them in the evening. (yes, this has played a major role in my butchering them or not).

Right now they are 7 weeks old... give or take a day. What do I have to do to get them ready? They should be ready at, what, 16 weeks? Do I have to wait that long?!?!? They are mean! I really wanted to wait to see them fully feather and mature to see what they turned into, but there is already ALOT of black on their backs (some have ALL black backs) so I figure I'll start with those and do maybe two or three first... to get my feet wet, kinda thing. What do you all that have done this think? HELP!

 

[redturtle]

i have yet to send any of mine to freezer camp...they are even younger than yours...only about 2 1/2 wks...but this looked good to me

 

[tnchickenut]

Ok. Checked that out. Seems alright... but I'm just worried that I go to do the cut on the throat and I chicken out just enough to hurt the bird without properly cutting. You know?

I have even thought of getting lead-free pellets for my air rifle and shooting the ones I would like to butcher. I'm afraid I'll make a bad shot, though. It is how I put down sick and hurt chicks, but a chick is a totally different thing than a chicken. One pellet may not do it.

Could you not do the whole "head under wing" sleep thing and then slit their throat and then hang them up to bleed?

Another thing is, someone told me once when I was young (I think this is the root of all my butchering problems) that a chicken will not die right away. They told me they live for up to two minutes after their head is taken off. Right? Wrong?

 

[redturtle]

the old "chicken running w/ its head cut off"
in the video they slowly bleed out...they end upgoing to sleep from loss of blood...heart stops...nothing left to pump...last few twitches are muscle memory spasms

side note...i think you can put a chicken in a cooler w/ a block of dry ice and it will die...look on here for a posting like that maybe

 

[jaku]

Unfortunately, the best way is just to suck it up and do it. Trying to figure out a way that the chicken is going to enjoy just isn't going to happen. My personal method is the throat slit- they pass out very quickly, although they do flap a bit. You can also blast them on the head with a small piece of wood, which knocks them out, before you do this. By far, the EASIEST, and most humane method is the chop and drop. Yes, the bird flaps afterwards, but it is NOT alive. The flapping is due to the nervous system of a chicken, which is different than ours. Cutting the head off causes instant death, 100% every time.

 

[Beekissed]

It will help if you convert a bleach bottle, preferably a 2 gal. size, to a killing cone by cutting out the bottom and the spout and tacking it upside down on a tree, building or fence post. This makes for more efficiency and less dramatics when you cut the throat. They seem to have less neural reaction if you do not severe the head entirely but merely slit the throat back to the vertebrae.

I always collect my chickens off the roost the night before and tie their legs with baling twine and put them somewhere comfortable, safe and dark. Early the next morning I can process them with no chasing or fuss and the resulting adrenaline pumping into the meat. Move slowly and deliberately and the chickens will be pretty calm.

You can place them into the cone and gently extend the head and neck through the spout area, tilt the head back by grasping the head and putting pressure against the underside of the beak. Make sure you are using a sharp knife and use a left to right quick slice across the throat beneath the wattles.

It really is the quickest and most humane way I have found to kill chickens. Less mess and less ugliness to witness when they are neatly cradled in the cone.

Good luck and give us an update!

 

[jaku]

Quote:
You catch them and tie their legs the night before? That sounds like a good idea. Catching them is a pain, even in a small area.

 

[BarkerChickens]

A sharp knife, hatchet or machete. That is the quickest. We use the cone with a 4x4 behind it and with a quick swipe it is over. Ok...Ok...that is what my husband does. I enter the scene after it is bled the face is no longer in eye shot. I will help pluck and do the organ stuff, but before that...I am gone. Long gone...usually inside until the ok is given.

Here is great link that we used!!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=109583

 

[Beekissed]

Yeah...it doesn't hurt them at all to be confined in this manner as long as you don't tie the legs too tight. Just tight enough they won't get them loose. I've even tied legs and deposited the birds into the nest boxes for the night so they won't flop around trying to get free. Sooooo easy to just pluck a bird off the roost than running around like mad getting more and more frustrated while the bird is terrified out of it's wits.

It also helps with processing if they have not had any food or water since the evening before. Less mess in the icky areas, if you know what I mean!

 

[tnchickenut]

Thanks for all the support!

So, what I'm hearing is, when you slit their throat they don't squak and struggle? I peirced a friend's ear (supposed to be ears) when I was in high school (yes, I know... unsafe. but we were kids) and when I stuck her she winced and yelled. I couldn't go back and do the other ear... even with her begging. lol. Kinda off topic, but I just know I'm the type to not want to hurt anything. So, if they chicken does not "flip out" and act like I'm killing it (sorry, but it does seem like the best way to put it lol) I might be able to handle this. I just got to think about breasts and drumsticks and not freeranging birds in a green, green grass. Ya know?

I was leaning towards the killing cones all along. I will say, though, that I have got mad enough at a agressive rooster that I wish I had a mechete.... I would have swiped his head off then. Self-defence.

Instead of tying up their legs... could you not just leave them in individual cages for the 24 hours before? I have more than a few of them for transport and chicken trades anyways.

My mother is already commited to taking over the butchering part. I'm not a cook and I don't enjoy that sort of thing. She was a apprentice for a butcher in her native Germany and, well, anyways... she says if I put them out and pluck, then she will do the rest and we share the meat. (there is way more than enough roosters! lol) So all I got to do is figure out how to do the deed.

The best thing I have seen is only in the UK... it is called a "dispatcher". It looks really easy. You could be petting the bird one moment and "snap". Their last moment was you petting them. But, alas... you cannot find them here. I think the cones are the next best thing.

What about garden sheers? I'd like to detach myself as far as I can from the moment. Anyone try that?