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

[Kassaundra]

I think they were questioning why someone would keep a headless chicken alive for viewing and feeding...

I wondered that too, until I read the articles. Poor farmers in the depression seeing a way to pay for the farm and survive.

 

[Beekissed]

Yep..I'd cut off a chicken head to save my farm too!

 

[Kassaundra]

Yep..I'd cut off a chicken head to save my farm too!

They didn't do it on purpose, well on purpose to keep it alive. They had a batch they were chopping the heads off. They would chop the head off and throw it on a pile until they were all done then go to the next stage w/ the batch. When they got to that one to dunk they realized it was still alive, then when it didn't die, it became a local news item and just mushroomed from there, so a happy accident. If I remember the story right (it has been a while since I read it) they were able to make enough to pay for the farm, but not to "get rich" since the roo died choking while still on tour.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote: LOL why the headless roo of course!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

I do not understand the negativity every time dispatching our chickens w/ BB or pellet gun is brought up. It is a viable option, just as quick and decisive as the broomstick, or axe, or knife, or club. Other poultry and small game are dispatched this way all the time and no one even blinks. Wild ducks and geese are not trapped, and ambushed so they can chop the head off to kill, they are shot out of the sky not even in as controlled a setting as a killing cone and point blank to the brain stem. I have tried the knife and axe and if those were the only options I would be eating store bought chicken (I'm not even thinking about let alone trying the broomstick or club though they are decisive kills for those able). Not all of us come the "grow our own food" table w/ the same skills, experience or psyche. We all need to find a way that works for us so we can sleep at night and are comfortable w/ our chosen method. If someone choses a method different then ours that doesn't make it wrong, applaud that they are not contributing to the factory chicken horror.

I did mean the beheading and keeping the chicken alive, why would they I just dont get it!

oh and I can see a BB gun or pellet, HOWEVER, I would never shoot a gun close range like that and put myself or anyone else in danger from the shot as close as needs be,

 

[Beekissed]

Well...a BB gun doesn't hold the same danger as an actual powder driven gun. They can ricochet and hit someone in the eye or something, but that's not in the realm of "danger" to me. Since the pellet actually lodges in a bird's head while the head is against a solid surface, it is highly unlikely there is any danger whatsoever in the practice.

 

[Kassaundra]

I agree w/ the real gun at close range unless ricochet precautions were taken and someone was skilled at using it. I can't use a real 22 gun b/c I live in town and shooting any real gun is illegal. Yes the pellet I know lodges inside the birds head, assuming the BB does too, but I've not used one.

Sally sorry I assumed you were referring to the shooting thing, I just get a lot of negativity whenever it comes up.

Please forgive my assumption.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

I agree w/ the real gun at close range unless ricochet precautions were taken and someone was skilled at using it. I can't use a real 22 gun b/c I live in town and shooting any real gun is illegal. Yes the pellet I know lodges inside the birds head, assuming the BB does too, but I've not used one.

Sally sorry I assumed you were referring to the shooting thing, I just get a lot of negativity whenever it comes up.

Please forgive my assumption.

lol It takes pretty much to stem an irritated response from me, I learned to use that ability since a divorce. using words in writing is difficult and I tend to do too much typing at once and should always take time to clarify better. I am a hunter and a realistic person. <3

 

[Jarocal]

I do not understand the negativity every time dispatching our chickens w/ BB or pellet gun is brought up.  It is a viable option, just as quick and decisive as the broomstick, or axe, or knife, or club.  Other poultry and small game are dispatched this way all the time and no one even blinks.  Wild ducks and geese are not trapped, and ambushed so they can chop the head off to kill, they are shot out of the sky not even in as controlled a setting as a killing cone and point blank to the brain stem.  I have tried the knife and axe and if those were the only options I would be eating store bought chicken (I'm not even thinking about let alone trying the broomstick or club though they are decisive kills for those able).  Not all of us come the "grow our own food" table w/ the same skills, experience or psyche.  We all need to find a way that works for us so we can sleep at night and are comfortable w/ our chosen method.  If someone choses a method different then ours that doesn't make it wrong, applaud that they are not contributing to the factory chicken horror.

I do not understand any negativity you receive over your method of dispatch either ( and yes I know Sally was not referring to that but the why of keeping a decapitated chicken alive). To me any safe, humane method is a personal choice. Personally I cone and cut but that is not how I started out as a kid. Back then it was a stump and a hatchet. The scald was not in a large pot on a propane burner back then either. It was an old galvanized bushel tub on a grate over a campfire. We did have stainless tables to process on but that was because someone in the family came across the chance to get them out a dumpster of a diner that was being renovated. Pretty sure before that they were just using wooden cutting boards on top of a picnic table although they had the stainless tables ever since I can remember. But I digress...

I agree with you that anyone taking a measure of control over what they eat should be encouraged. I have a neighbor that tried gardening for the first time this year. They did nothing they way I would have done it. They sprayed a patch of lawn with roundup then rototilled it adding bagged compost as they tilled it. They made perfectly straight and spaced rows according to the seed packet. They added miracle grow at "recommended intervals" and spent 4 times the effort weeding a growing space about a tenth the size I have. They were ecstatic when they began harvesting things and thoroughly enjoy gardening. A couple weeks ago they asked me how my raised bed system works and I explained to them why I use the methods I do without once saying to them "chemical fertilizers are evil". To me, any step a person takes toward personal responsibility in what they eat should be applauded. That neighbor wants me to make her a couple cold frames to extend her season for brassicas this year. When I deliver the frames to her I'll take enough of the soil I make over to fill the frames for her. The thing I find most interesting is people grow something and then they run around looking for how to use it. Ron Finley said it more succinctly than anyone with one simple statement. "Kids grow Kale, Kids eat Kale. Kids grow tomatoes, they eat tomatoes". If you invest an effort into something you'll find a use for it. If its a bag of something you spent a couple of bucks for at the store it can sit in the fridge till it goes bad and you'll toss it in the rubbish bin.

 

[BirdbyGavin1103]

LOL why the headless roo of course!

The one I read about was right around the end of WWII, so I guess it was a way to pay bills. Considering IF they had any sons all except one would've been away from the farm serving, things would have been harder than normal.

I did mean the beheading and keeping the chicken alive, why would they I just dont get it!

oh and I can see a BB gun or pellet, HOWEVER, I would never shoot a gun close range like that and put myself or anyone else in danger from the shot as close as needs be,

I've been shot with the same BB gun (20+ yrs ago) I used the other night, long story I'll leave it at my brother had some serious anger issues when we were growing up. Anyway I know it has the power to penetrate their heads at point blank, but not ricochet the way I hang our birds or do any real damage from a distance of more than 3 ft. With how I hang ours, and what I use to hang them, it's aimed at a downwards angle and with soft ground behind them. I don't have a killing cone, I never have someone close by when I use it and we always follow basic gun safety practices. With the fiance being a NRA certified and Army master arms instructor it's kinda been "drilled" in by the dear Sgt. lol

ETA: for me shooting is easier than a knife or axe. I've hunted most of my life so it just makes things easier for me, which means I don't mess up and the bird doesn't suffer.