Peaceful dispatch discussion

Sc Owell Farm

Songster
5 Years
Joined
Jul 24, 2020
Messages
76
Reaction score
92
Points
123
Hello all!

I wanted to start a discussion around peaceful dispatching for meat birds. Yes, a swift hand and a sharp knife are certainly required, but what other steps do you take?

The first time we bought a local pig, the farmer told us he gives his pigs a 6 pack of Coors Light before dispatching. We loved this idea and started giving our chickens a drink before going to the cone. When we had to mercifully dispatch a beloved sick hen, we only had wine and determined chickens vastly prefer wine over beer. So when the butchering weekend comes along, we buy a box of wine for everyone to calm them. We play music and thank each one for its life.

We're about to dispatch ducks for the first time later this month. Due to the sensitive glands they have, we think diuretics could be painful for them and dry them out. Do you have suggestions on what we can do to calm them?

In general, how do you create a calming environment for this sensitive process?

Thank you!

**Edit: I would like to clarify that no chicken has EVER been forced to drink wine. We provide a small dish they can drink from if they want. They also have plenty of fresh water.
 
Last edited:
Hello all!

I wanted to start a discussion around peaceful dispatching for meat birds. Yes, a swift hand and a sharp knife are certainly required, but what other steps do you take?

The first time we bought a local pig, the farmer told us he gives his pigs a 6 pack of Coors Light before dispatching. We loved this idea and started giving our chickens a drink before going to the cone. When we had to mercifully dispatch a beloved sick hen, we only had wine and determined chickens vastly prefer wine over beer. So when the butchering weekend comes along, we buy a big box of wine for everyone to calm them. We play music and thank each one for its life.

We're about to dispatch ducks for the first time later this month. Due to the sensitive glands they have, we think diuretics could be painful for them and dry them out. Do you have suggestions on what we can do to calm them?

In general, how do you create a calming environment for this sensitive process?

Thank you!
I just calmly put the chicken, or duck into the kill cone before slicing the jugular vein. Nothing really special other then maybe a small snack of corn before entering the kill cone.

Alcohol is a poison, so it's not something I'd go for as a "Calming Agent" for any animal thats gonna get dispatched.
 
I just calmly put the chicken, or duck into the kill cone before slicing the jugular vein. Nothing really special other then maybe a small snack of corn before entering the kill cone.

Alcohol is a poison, so it's not something I'd go for as a "Calming Agent" for any animal thats gonna get dispatched.
Thank you for the feedback! Our meat birds seemed to enjoy the small amount they had. We'll just stick with a corn snack in the future.
 
It's possible to "hypnotize" a chicken by placing its head on the ground and using your finger to slowly draw a line from its beak to a point a foot or so away from it. We've done this with an agitated, injured hen just before we dispatched her using the broomstick method. What we actually use is an axe handle. After breaking her neck she went totally limp, which was interesting. There was no convulsive flapping as often happens. It was as if she simply fell asleep. Your results may vary.
 
It's possible to "hypnotize" a chicken by placing its head on the ground and using your finger to slowly draw a line from its beak to a point a foot or so away from it. We've done this with an agitated, injured hen just before we dispatched her using the broomstick method. What we actually use is an axe handle. After breaking her neck she went totally limp, which was interesting. There was no convulsive flapping as often happens. It was as if she simply fell asleep. Your results may vary.
I've never tried hypnosis before! Definitely going to try it! Does this work on ducks too?
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom