Processing Day Support Group ~ HELP us through the Emotions PLEASE!

[MontanaDolphin]

We just processed our 29 meaties (cx) this weekend. I must admit it was easier than last year. We try very hard to be as humane as possible. Here's our arrangements:
Their tractor coop is completely chicken wired - we live in a heavily wooded area with lots of predators, so free range is impossible. We move them to a new spot in the woods, completed shaded, every day. Food 1x a day and water 4x a day.
We lost one to the flips at 7 wks. We saw it happening and processed him minutes after we confirmed he was gone.
We processed the rest at 9wks - 9 wks 2 days.
We hold them to calm them down, hang them by the feet from a high point, holding their head (by covering their eyes) and remove the head with one swipe. There are no misses and no mistakes.
We found that some of the smaller birds damaged their wings with the 'deathflap', so we're going to tie the wings next time.

We felt better about this year because we felt we were doing right by our birds. They had good living arrangements - cool and shady and clean. Plenty of room and water. And the processing was quick and humane.

Our totals: 29 birds. 1300 lbs of feed. Total cost of chicks, feed and supplies $514.00 = $2.57 /lb.

I'm wondering...how do you remove the head with one swipe while they hang upside down?

 

[Beekissed]

I'm wondering...how do you remove the head with one swipe while they hang upside down?

There's a video a few pages back that can show you how to remove the head with one swipe....if you have a sharp knife, it's easy.

Actually, if you really want to remove the head, you can do it with your bare hands...no knife..especially a CX. They are young and tender, so the head comes off easily.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

I dispatched two roosters this morning. As I posted a few pages back, I had my first experience with killing an animal a little over a week ago. Today's processing went a lot quicker and smoother than my first. I used the same method as before...by slicing the jugular. The two I dispatched I did one at a time...wasn't ready for multiples at the same time. They were the last two roos I had to remove from the flock...especially since Brave Boy tried mounting one of my younger pullets last night and about ripped half her back off. This would be why he was the first to go this morning...instead of this weekend like I had planned.

I did do one thing a little different though. Instead of slicing and then stepping back, I actually kept hold of his head and tipped it up to let the blood drain better (and not all over his face). He did NOT flop around as much as my first cockerel last week. The blood was drip drip instead of flowing when he started flopping this time...and it did not last as long as the first one. Because of this, I think I may have cut wrong my first time, but I am not sure. The final roo flopped more, so I might have cut wrong with him too...I just don't know.

It was easier this time. I still felt a little bad, but I had no hesitation whatsoever.

they are both resting in the fridge.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

We just processed our 29 meaties (cx) this weekend. I must admit it was easier than last year. We try very hard to be as humane as possible. Here's our arrangements:
Their tractor coop is completely chicken wired - we live in a heavily wooded area with lots of predators, so free range is impossible. We move them to a new spot in the woods, completed shaded, every day. Food 1x a day and water 4x a day.
We lost one to the flips at 7 wks. We saw it happening and processed him minutes after we confirmed he was gone.
We processed the rest at 9wks - 9 wks 2 days.
We hold them to calm them down, hang them by the feet from a high point, holding their head (by covering their eyes) and remove the head with one swipe. There are no misses and no mistakes.
We found that some of the smaller birds damaged their wings with the 'deathflap', so we're going to tie the wings next time.

We felt better about this year because we felt we were doing right by our birds. They had good living arrangements - cool and shady and clean. Plenty of room and water. And the processing was quick and humane.

Our totals: 29 birds. 1300 lbs of feed. Total cost of chicks, feed and supplies $514.00 = $2.57 /lb.

Interesting on the feed here! I wouldn't have guessed they eat so much!

 

[Beekissed]

You can get by cheaper with free ranging, fermenting the feed and restricting the feed. It doesn't have to be so costly, though most report similar costs.

 

[Elke Beck]

Great on a hot day,,,you need to plan ahead for the first time since it uses a galvanized trash can...
rule of thumb is 20 gallon can....20 pds turkey.....20 pds charcoal....

since i do a chicken that is about 8 pds i use a 10 gallon can and 10 pd bag of charcoal....

before using the can for the first time light a fire in it to burn off any machine oils or fumes...

you will want to spread aluminum foil on the surface you plan on using, about 5 inches wider than your can....pound a stake into the ground, metal or wood, if using wood take the bark off....wrap that stake in foil also....light charcoal in seperate pile, I use the lid of can for this...

when ready to go shove a wad of foil thru cavity of bird then slide over foil wrapped stake....cover with can,,,try to center bird as much as possible...when charcoal is ready pile around can and on top (i throw some potato's into the coals also)...8pd bird takes an hour...

if you want visual there's lot's of u-tube video on trash can turkey

hard surface works better, but if you are like me that loose dirt comes in handy to put fires out.....remember the chicken will drip grease.

Thanks! I have never seen that before. Now I will not be satisfied until I try it!

 

[Elke Beck]

They thrash with any method..the same amount with each. When they are in a cone, the thrashing is somewhat diminished because they have restricted movement. But the thrashing is inevitable...

Beekissed,

I understand that if you stun the chicken with electricity it will not thrash. I have no experience with this because I am not about to mess around with electricity, but I understand that is the way the processing plants do it.

 

[Elke Beck]

All the while acting shocked when someone mentions killing them for mercy reasons or for food, with self-righteous claims of "I could NEVER do that!!", as if that was a badge of honor~to claim you could never give your chicken a more merciful and humane death than "dying naturally", which translates into the aforementioned "attrition".

I am a member of a meet up group where there are a lot of people like you are describing. In general I do not give the tiniest hoot what they do with their chickens, but recently there was a whole long thread about a hen that had ascites and the owner took it to the vet to be drained, hand fed foods, added all kinds of junk to the food and water, and all the time I was biting my tongue not to scream "Just put that poor bird out of her misery!!!" The people who were supporting the torture of a dying bird were the same people who got all snippy with me and others about DIY chicken butchering. People grabbing their pearls in shock over my giving the chickens I eat a good life right up until the day they day, but supporting prolonging the miserable death of a terminally ill hen stuns me.

 

[Elke Beck]

Do any of you guys have a good guide for making your own killing cone? I really want to be able to slaughter our roosters myself instead of getting my dad to do the dead, but I don't think I'd be strong enough to snap the neck and I don't have the hand-eye coordination to use a hatchet! I've only put a sick chicken down with a hatchet once and I don't want to do it again
I want to try slitting the throat, since it juts seems to be so much easier, quicker and cleaner. (I'm the one that has to hold the chickens to bleed them out after dad lops off the head...I've had quite enough of getting sprayed while they fling themselves about!)
I really just want to be able to do all of this myself so I can get rid of problem roosters any time instead of having to wait for the weekend ):

Haloclimb,

Get a caution cone, cut the end back until you can easily feed the bird's head through the hole at the bottom. Fairly cheap, easy to work with, and easy to clean.

 

[Beekissed]

I am a member of a meet up group where there are a lot of people like you are describing. In general I do not give the tiniest hoot what they do with their chickens, but recently there was a whole long thread about a hen that had ascites and the owner took it to the vet to be drained, hand fed foods, added all kinds of junk to the food and water, and all the time I was biting my tongue not to scream "Just put that poor bird out of her misery!!!" The people who were supporting the torture of a dying bird were the same people who got all snippy with me and others about DIY chicken butchering. People grabbing their pearls in shock over my giving the chickens I eat a good life right up until the day they day, but supporting prolonging the miserable death of a terminally ill hen stuns me.

Yes..THIS...over and over and over again. On this forum and all the others, from all the neighbors, people you meet, family who should know better and were raised on a homestead...ad infinitum. The poor animal suffers time and again as humans practice their form of compassion, which is no compassion at all. From someone who has raised chickens for a long time, this is an agony to read or listen to and then the nerve of these people to act like those who kill and eat the animals are the ones with a cold heart. It sickens me...


Quote:
I've noticed that the traffic cones and the aluminum killing cones have a sharp taper that doesn't allow for the shoulders of the bird, so they can easily flop out of them in their thrashing. They also allow the bird to withdraw the head up into the cone as they hang and one has to fish it out and pull it down again. This was never more clear than in the recent processing demonstration I gave/attended where the folks had these lovely aluminum cones...that were pretty useless for the job of holding CX chickens. They flopped out over and over..it was a mess.

Milk jugs are too flimsy, give way to easily and don't have enough depth to them to hold bigger birds.

A sturdy 2 gal. bleach jug fits the bird's anatomy...it has a place for the shoulders to fit down into and thus allows the neck to be extended out the bottom more fully and then it cannot be retracted back into the cone. Because they fit down into the jug better~it gives more and conforms to the bird's shape~it also hugs their body more closely...so less movement all around. It will hold a big 13-15 lb bird or the smallest bird equally well. Here's a pic of one....pardon the gore. This is a bird with the entire throat slit across..trachea and all.





As you can see...this is an easy cone to make. Cut out the bottom, cut off the spout/top and you have a cone...easy peasy. Nail it with broad headed nails like roofing tacks so they don't pull through the plastic and these cones simply cannot be worn out. They clean easily and you can leave them in place all year if you want. And..you can always get another quite cheaply!