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

[hillfloweranch]

My setup...wish me luck. I will post kill cone use when I get started

 

[Arielle]

My setup...wish me luck. I will post kill cone use when I get started

Good luck!!

 

[Phoenixxx]

I think you were courageous to keep going-- to quit would have been easy!1 ANd you did not quit!!!!   

Why was it easier for your husband to discpatch thereafter?? DId he use a different knife or was he that much stronger that he could be more effective with a dull machete?? 

We live in a time when there is no one to show most of us how to do this-- wehave not grown up doing this as would have been normal on a farm 200 years ago.  Where is Freds Hens?? I sure wish you could here his childhood tales!!!!  BUtchering was second nature to the mother of the house and the children-- the adult men were freed from that chore to manage more strenuous work. So YOU CAN DO THIS!!! 

When I am all bloodied, I pray no visitors will stop by!!  BUt then I have seen thehead  lady at the slaughter house and well . . I often look better than she does. lol 

Live and learn and you will do better enxt time-- we do not become pros with one try!!

Thanks

My husband grew up farming and hunting so "preparing supper" is no big deal for him, lol! And, though he is stronger than I am, he is at least smart enough to run the blade across the bench grinder to sharpen it first

 

[Kassaundra]

I must say, my first dispatch was a disaster! I did not check to make sure the machete was sharp. The first blow glanced off the head-holding nails but injured the chicken so there was no turning back. I felt so terrible, my stomach was turning, I almost felt like crying - but damage was done, for the poor chicken's sake I had to keep going and go as quickly as possible. Second whack I'm sure was the killing blow, but it took another three or four blows to sever the head completely. By then, I was covered in blood and shaking... It was awful!

After that, I vowed to leave the dispatching bit for my husband. He did the next few for me. Recently, though, there was a roo I wanted for dinner but week after week, he never got around to knocking him off. Finally one day I decided to pull up my socks and just do it myself. Stomach turning, feeling guilty, shaking, I grabbed the SHARPENED machete and just went for it. Death blow first strike, head fully severed on strike two. So, nowhere near as disastrous as my first time, which is good. I expect the next time will go even better but I don't think the tummy-turning, shaking and guilt will ever go away.

Same here my first two were mercy culls and were disasterous, that I almost swear left me w/ PTSD, and a permanent twitch! I vowed not to do it again and to become a vegetarian before doing it again. I licked my (emotional) wounds and rested for a while, then my true nature of never admitting defeat kicked in, I tried a new method and am now able to cull for mercy and kill for food.


Today I dispatched 2 young boys that needed to go (one was more for mercy leg injury that just wasn't getting better) and it was a first for me. I have always used a pellet gun, but have been wanting to be able to do the deed w/o a gun too. This time I used a hand held very sharp twig cutter. It was as sharp as I could make it but didn't think it was sharp enough to sever the head, but I figured it would break the neck. And sure enough broken neck and cut throat all in one action. These weren't full grown, not sure if they will work on a full grown roo.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: I envy that you have all those resources readily available to you. My husband dow not hunt, or fish and will stop to rescue a rodent that cannot get over the curb as he knows how to quickly grab and flick ( a small mammal study long ago), so he is all but useless to me. He will pluck and will feed . . . .but not do the butchering. So I am happy for you that you have someone to learn from.

 

[katbriar]

Arielle- it's ok to learn from yourself too. You're doing your prep work via the Internet and you can see how many struggles and how many different ways there are too.

Being kind to yourself and deliberate in your actions will get you to where it feels ok.

Keep going!

 

[Arielle]

Quote: I do think we all pay a price for butchering our own food-- a fair enough trade I think--I say a prayer of thanks to each bird for thw food he puts on my table. I have a far greater appreciation fo my food overall, too.

 

[katbriar]

"A fair enough trade". I like that.

 

[ChaoSS]

I must say, my first dispatch was a disaster! I did not check to make sure the machete was sharp. The first blow glanced off the head-holding nails but injured the chicken so there was no turning back. I felt so terrible, my stomach was turning, I almost felt like crying - but damage was done, for the poor chicken's sake I had to keep going and go as quickly as possible. Second whack I'm sure was the killing blow, but it took another three or four blows to sever the head completely. By then, I was covered in blood and shaking... It was awful!

After that, I vowed to leave the dispatching bit for my husband. He did the next few for me. Recently, though, there was a roo I wanted for dinner but week after week, he never got around to knocking him off. Finally one day I decided to pull up my socks and just do it myself. Stomach turning, feeling guilty, shaking, I grabbed the SHARPENED machete and just went for it. Death blow first strike, head fully severed on strike two. So, nowhere near as disastrous as my first time, which is good. I expect the next time will go even better but I don't think the tummy-turning, shaking and guilt will ever go away.

May I suggest an axe? I'm shooting them in the back of the head, then decapitating, since I have an injured arm and can't hold them still enough to do the job with just the axe.

But the axe (hatchet, really) is heavier than the machete, and as such, it can be swung more slowly, and thus more accurately, and still take the head off in a single blow. If you don't have to swing quite so hard, you can focus more on aim and don't have to worry so much about missing and dealing with a struggling bird.

 

[Phoenixxx]

May I suggest an axe? I'm shooting them in the back of the head, then decapitating, since I have an injured arm and can't hold them still enough to do the job with just the axe.

But the axe (hatchet, really) is heavier than the machete, and as such, it can be swung more slowly, and thus more accurately, and still take the head off in a single blow. If you don't have to swing quite so hard, you can focus more on aim and don't have to worry so much about missing and dealing with a struggling bird.

I've considered trying the hatchet but the one I have is far too light and awkwardly short. I'm already accustomed to handling the machete (ours is home-made, about 3' long and very heavy) as i've used it for clearing brush and chopping branches many times. If it weren't for the head-holding nails I think I would've been fine; in fact, I didn't use them for the second bird but instead used my husband's technique of gently stroking the neck to get the head stretched out.