New to this... having some trouble.

[Bossroo]

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To me, if you cut the head off, it does not allow the brain to tell the heart to keep beating, so the bird is dying from it's head being cut off. If you just cut, the heart continues to pump and the bird is bleeding to death. I'm sure it works, but I would question if your getting the same amount of blood out of the bird.

From first hand observation in high school Biology class ... class pithing 20 live frogs and disecting them and later, working for years at a University Vet research hospital... the heart will continue to pump without any brain signal ... it will even continue to pump after removing the still beating heart entirely from the body and blood supply untill it exhausts its own stored cell energy and oxygen reserves. At this point it will cease. So YES, one will bleed out similarly with each method depending on blood no longer circulating normally since both arteries and veins are severed , clotting at point of decapitation or cut severly hindering blood flow or loss of blood ( from bleedout) thereby stopping replenishing nurishment and oxygen to the heart muscles. I hope this helps !

 

[Bossroo]

x

 

[Jared77]

To me, if you cut the head off, it does not allow the brain to tell the heart to keep beating, so the bird is dying from it's head being cut off. If you just cut, the heart continues to pump and the bird is bleeding to death. I'm sure it works, but I would question if your getting the same amount of blood out of the bird.

The brain doesn't specifically tell the heart to beat. It only sends chemical transmitters to tell it to increase or decrease rate and force of contraction. The heart cells have a unique capability called automaticy. This means each heart cell can generate its own impulse, causing the cell to depolarize and contract, the impulse is passed down through each cell causing it to contract which when in sequence creates what we call a heartbeat.

The heart will continue to beat so long as it has blood flowing to it to give it oxygen and energy while removing carbon dioxide and other wastes. Once those are depleted the tissue will die, and the heart stops contracting.

By removing the head/spinal cord from the body it only prevents the brain from registering any sensation at all and what I would consider the most humane way to end their lives. I compare it to unplugging a lamp vs using the dimmer switch to turn it off. I use the decapitation method so the birds will feel no pain and they bleed out faster because I've severed a number of the major vessels.

Just how I do it.

By the way I'm a Paramedic for those of you wondering.....​

 

[Tracydr]

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Sharp knives are so important in the kitchen. Do yourself a favor and get a decent, easy to use sharpener and a couple of decent knives. My sharpener is a little plastic deal that you run the blades through a little notch about thirty or forty times, until you feel them going smoothly. I do this with any knife, before doing any job in the kitchen. The sharpener runs about five dollars, I think I bought it somewhere like Walmart.
Sharp knives are much safer to use than dull knives any day. You need to have sharp knives to cut your meat anyway, so get a sharpener, don't try to make do with crappy, dull blades. I keep the sharpener out with me when doing any long process, canning, veggie chopping, anything involving cutting. That way I don't forget to sharpen when I realize I'm struggling.
Again, my little knife is a paring knife that cost about $2.50. But, I sharpen it razor sharp before every use.
I seriously doubt the chicken feels much pain during a bleed-out. If anyone has ever experienced low blood pressure to an extreme, you lose consciousness very quickly. The quick cut to the neck is very superficial and with a sharp knife should be not much more painful than a paper cut. Then, dizzy and blackout. The wing flapping is a reflex and the bird is not really feeling any of that, that is brainstem activity causing all of that motion, just like if you cut the head off and put them on the ground, you will note that they flop around headless for a few moments.
I have noticed that when I put my chickens upside down that for some reason it calms them. Does anybody know why this is?
BTW, I'm a physician, and, was an Animal Science major before medical school.

 

[Jared77]

Im not questioning the pain the bird feels, but the concern is how many people have posted about how they didn't do it right and they get a slow bleed probably by only cutting the external jugular. That's part of what I look at with regards to humanity. When you decapitate its much easier to get right. I didn't mean to downgrade the cutting of the arteries its very effective when done correctly. That's all I meant by that.

Tracydr what's your specialty?

 

[AngelaClassAct]

This is an awesome description on how to do it! Thank you! I helped process birds this week, and this is what they did. Except they used a razor blade for the v cuts. I didn't actually do any of this part of the process, but I did watch.

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[halo]

I decided to put 3 young roosters in the fridge for the puppies, and tried just snipping their head off rather than slicing their neck, and it really worked well. Quick, little roos never knew what hit them, and I wasnt terrified of making the first slice count. Ill practise a few more times on the extra roos. Im getting some cornish x the first of Sept., so I will try it with them, as long as I think Ill be able to snip their necks as easy as I did these youngsters.

 

[itsy]

Could you guys post a pic or a link from somewhere on the web of the shears you use to cut off their heads? We have a couple different types at the house and I want to make sure I know what type ya'll are talking about. I may try this method for the next processing.

 

[kcfuerst]

I find that poultry shears work very well.

http://www.google.com/search?tbm=is...9l6392l0l6615l20l16l2l2l2l0l193l1523l4.8l12l0

 

[halo]

I got a couple pairs of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Kuhn-Rikon-27...4CSI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313367185&sr=8-1


So far Im really happy how they are working.