More questions

[3KillerBs]

And with the ones I did wrong, there was gap the size of my hand between the head and neck, but they still have some brain function,

If you can put your hand between the two ends of the spinal cord the bird isn't alive.

 

[Sussex19]

If you can put your hand between the two ends of the spinal cord the bird isn't alive.

But everything I have read shows that eye reflexes are a sign of brain activity.
When the eyes are moving around, appearing to watch everything going on around it, I find it hard to believe that it is dead.
I don't know, I guess this is why I bought the subject up in the first place??
Maybe in some cases the bone can break, but leave the spinal cord intact?
I don't think we will ever know for sure, but I wanted to raise awareness for a potential issue; but I'll leave it at that.

 

[FunClucks]

So, years ago, and maybe in commercial processing still, it was common to "pith" the bird. Common procedure was to hang the bird upside down, cut the throat quickly, grab the mouth, and stab into the brain from inside of the mouth of the bird. This immediately stops all brain activity and causes the feathers to loosen, for easier plucking (I think folks who do this properly can skip the scalding step). I've also heard that properly pithed birds don't flap, or at least don't flap as much. @Sussex19 Your concern for stopping all brain activity brought this to mind.

I haven't had the confidence to try this on purpose when butchering meat birds, due to lack of cut proof gloves and lack of a good hold on the bird to-date, but I have pithed a 6 wk old cornish cross after a failed cervical dislocation. Didn't want it to suffer any longer, and that was the quickest thing I could think of. Managed not to cut myself that time, but felt awful for that poor chicken. After that, I switched to a different dispatch method. Apparently I'm not strong enough to perform cervical dislocation on CX after 5 weeks. Now I know.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Yes, you take up the slack in the neck so that it's well stretched out then give a sharp jerk.

That breaks the neck, severs the spinal cord, and severs the blood vessels in the neck. (Sometimes you pull a little too hard and the head comes off -- which is messy, but assures you that the bird had a quick end).

If you don't take up the slack first the head might slip out from under the
broomstick or you might not actually achieve the break correctly.

Can you explain "taking up the slack in the neck" in a little more detail? I know you said you're stretching it out but how do you do this so it stays that way while you do the kill? I can't seem to picture this.

I haven't tried broomstick method yet but I have an old hen that I'm mentally preparing myself for her "time". I might want to try the broomstick with her. Maybe. My fiance seems to think it is inhumane for some reason, as compared to axe and stump, so he really didn't want me to when I offered to do it on our last batch of CX. But still, I want to be knowledgeable on the broomstick method regardless. I don't trust my aim or strength with an axe, and what if my fiance is not home and I have a suffering hen I need to put down?

 

[3KillerBs]

Can you explain "taking up the slack in the neck" in a little more detail? I know you said you're stretching it out but how do you do this so it stays that way while you do the kill? I can't seem to picture this.

Once you have the head securely under the broomstick you pull up on the feet until the entire body is stretched out to full length. Then you give the sharp jerk that breaks the neck.

If you don't stretch the bird out that way you have to move too far when you're actually doing the killing and that either pulls the head out from under the broomstick or doesn't break the neck properly.

You want to end up delivering a sharp shock to snap the neck rather than a slow drag.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Once you have the head securely under the broomstick you pull up on the feet until the entire body is stretched out to full length. Then you give the sharp jerk that breaks the neck.

If you don't stretch the bird out that way you have to move too far when you're actually doing the killing and that either pulls the head out from under the broomstick or doesn't break the neck properly.

You want to end up delivering a sharp shock to snap the neck rather than a slow drag.

I see. Thank you!