On both quail and chicken we de head them after making sure to get that area first, so I think that counys as letting them bleed out, ha.
It is the lack of signal from the brain that causes the muscles to spasm. I means that they are dead. They do not feel anything at that time.
Yes, we saw them do that when I was growing up. We never used a cone just took the head off. Later we did tie them by the feet and hang them from an Almond tree but you have to get away quickly if you do that.
Could you please explain what you meant in your last sentence, Chiquita. I got the "wuss" part.
Could you please explain what you meant in your last sentence, Chiquita. I got the "wuss" part.
I had an interesting afternoon when I went to a new feed store and spoke to the two young owners about, what else, killing chickens. They talked to me at great length about how they kill chickens and I think I know where I can improve.
One uses a hatchet. He holds the chicken up by its legs until it relaxes, lays it head down on a board and does one short, quick chop with a hatchet at the back of the neck (always the back of the neck closest to the spinal cord). He was a big, strong young man and could deliver a good hard chop without a big swing. He pointed out to me that the more force I would apply to my swing, the less accuracy. We talked about accuracy and he said that it took practice and more practice, that I should practice using the hatchet many, many times before I even thought about using it on a chicken.
The other man cut their heads off with a knife. He hung the chicken up in a cone, applied gentle traction on the neck and cut hard where you would cut just the carotid artery and he could cut the head right off, even older roosters. He said that the trick was to have a really sharp knife, much sharper than my knives probably are even though they test sharp. You try to go between the vertebrae. Another thing he pointed out was that you have to cut away from yourself. I had been drawing the blade towards me. I can apply more force by cutting away with the added benefit that if I make a mistake, I won't disembowel myself.
It was the first time someone talked to me in person about killing chickens humanely. They had their pocket knives on hand to demonstrate. It was very informative.
I'll get my knives sharpened (I think they are pretty good, but why not make sure?) and will use more force while cutting away from myself.
What a wonderful experience to be able to talk the talk to understanding compassionate people who actually "get it".
That bundle of nerves that becomes the bottom part of your brain is like a light switch. If you fubar it, you are turning the light switch off. no signals saying !!!!!! will get anywhere and that's it. The actual what you re doing is more complicated then that, but when you feel the back of your neck, and you can feel the knobs of bone where the brain and spine meet? that is the ticket. Mario can chop right there on a chicken, I can do it on a quail. It does not make it LOOK less dramatic, but the consiousness that can panic and feel pain is no longer there. Whatever you think that means, I'm not going there, lol.Could you please explain what you meant in your last sentence, Chiquita. I got the "wuss" part.
I had an interesting afternoon when I went to a new feed store and spoke to the two young owners about, what else, killing chickens. They talked to me at great length about how they kill chickens and I think I know where I can improve.
One uses a hatchet. He holds the chicken up by its legs until it relaxes, lays it head down on a board and does one short, quick chop with a hatchet at the back of the neck (always the back of the neck closest to the spinal cord). He was a big, strong young man and could deliver a good hard chop without a big swing. He pointed out to me that the more force I would apply to my swing, the less accuracy. We talked about accuracy and he said that it took practice and more practice, that I should practice using the hatchet many, many times before I even thought about using it on a chicken.
The other man cut their heads off with a knife. He hung the chicken up in a cone, applied gentle traction on the neck and cut hard where you would cut just the carotid artery and he could cut the head right off, even older roosters. He said that the trick was to have a really sharp knife, much sharper than my knives probably are even though they test sharp. You try to go between the vertebrae. Another thing he pointed out was that you have to cut away from yourself. I had been drawing the blade towards me. I can apply more force by cutting away with the added benefit that if I make a mistake, I won't disembowel myself.
It was the first time someone talked to me in person about killing chickens humanely. They had their pocket knives on hand to demonstrate. It was very informative.
I'll get my knives sharpened (I think they are pretty good, but why not make sure?) and will use more force while cutting away from myself.
Yes, exactly. My choices are to do it responsibility and painlessly. better by far to know it had a good life then to not think about it, even if I do have feelings about it.
