method of slaughter

[EricH]

hi guys, just one quick question.

with a kill cone/ slit and/or decapitation - allows the blood to drain well

i've heard of people breaking the necks of chickens, then cutting them off. would this be detrimental to the bleeding of the chicken? or would you then hang it upside down and wait a few?

 

[1SlickChick]

I slit the veins on each side of neck, let bleed out. Try not to cut the trachea ( windpipe ). Breaking neck will probably kill the bird, leading to a cadaver as the blood will not drain out.

 

[eKo_birdies]

we do double carotid as well.. VERY quick.. they just drift off and go limp.

breaking the neck seems like unnecessary cruelty IMO

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I've tried just about all the different methods & have concluded that the neck-slit is the best for me & my birds. It's the most certain for me, which makes it the best for the birds. The final kindness I can give them is to provide a quick, efficient & effective kill.

I also prefer the neck-slit because while the bird instantly Crosses The Road his heart is still reflexively pumping and the blood seems to drain out more thoroughly. I've butchered at a friend's house who wrings the necks, sticks them in a cone, then cuts their heads off to drain. Those carcasses are bloodier on the cutting table than the ones I slice & bleed out.

 

[chocolate m'scovy]

We usually do the jugular method, but last time I broke the necks first, because I was having problems hitting the vein on the first time (turns out I wasn't cutting deep enough).

All you do is hold the head in one hand and spin the bird, by its head, until something "snaps," a.k.a., the neck. Then I slit the jugular immediately so the blood didn't have time to coagulate inside. This way I didn't have to worry about unduely traumatizing the birds by not slicing the right place at first.

Once they're dead, it doesn't matter how long it takes to find and slit the jugular because the bird can't feel it any more. Be forewarned that the birds will probably still be flapping while you cut the jugular. I hold them upside down firmly between my knees when I slit them. The wings can't really flap out of control then. I hope this helps.

 

[goldnchocolate]

chocolate m'scovy :

We usually do the jugular method, but last time I broke the necks first, because I was having problems hitting the vein on the first time (turns out I wasn't cutting deep enough).

I feel somewhat better hearing someone else say this. I processed my very first cockerel, the other day, and even though I had spent quite a bit of time studying the jugular method (all of the videos make it looks so simple) it wasn't so simple finding that vein after all

. I cut under the earlobe but now I think that I was supposed to be under the jaw, close to the earlobe. Anyway, I'm still feeling depressed about how I botched the job

when all I wanted was to make it as quick and painless as possible for the poor guy.

I was also wondering if I was cutting on the wrong side of the head. Does it make a difference? I know there are veins on either side but not sure if they are the same and if one will bleed them out faster than the other. I still have over 20 more cockerels to process this coming week and I'm having bad dreams about it.​

 

[PurpleChicken]

I've always used the hatchet and stump method. Afterwards I either hold the bird for a minute while it bleeds out or I let it flop. Then I'll hang them for 10 minutes for a final drain. I have a cone but slicing the neck to me seems slower than chopping off the head in one quick blow.

I've tried the neck break thing a few different ways and not only has it gone horribly wrong for me, and the bird, a few times but like someone said the meat is bloodier.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
Don't be too hard on yourself. We all mess up on birds from time to time. I do understand what you're feeling.

 

[horseofcorff]

I believe I read on the National Sustainable Agriculture organization that there is a certain muscular reaction to a chicken that drives the blood deep into the muscles if they are not unconscious before they are bled out. There is a power point demonstration on this page that explains it better.
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/poultry/processing.html

They give a chart on how much blood is retained by the different methods and cutting the head off has the least amount of blood drained. Cutting both one vein on each side of the neck in a cone has the second least amount of blood drained. A bird that is stunned first (electric shock or neck snapping) does not tense the muscles that creates the ATP reaction, driving the blood into the muscles. If the chicken is unconscious, the best method for blood drainage would be cutting two veins on each side of the neck.

Power point here: http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/poultry/downloads/stun.ppt

Deborah Corff
Cushing, OK

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
Wow, that's some interesting stuff. In the powerpoint presentation they are claiming up to 15 seconds of consciousness in both birds with their neck cut or decapitated. How can that be? Does a dismembered head retain consciousness?

The stunning, both electrical and mechanical, is equally interesting. I like the mechanical stunner which essentially knocks the bird out for a more humane death.

Hmmm... Good find Deborah and excellent first post on BYC.