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

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote: they are such amazing strong beautiful looking birds, tough little boogers, the boys sure get nasty to each other too. it was time to process lol

 

[pjnbill22]

Instead of a bag, I use re-purposed gallon jugs. I use rubber bungee cords to keep the birds steady. Since I don't have a killing knife, I use an Exacto knife with a sharp-pointed blade to gently cut the jugular veins. This seems to be a peaceful death to the birds I've done this way. They appear to simply go to sleep... Killing jugs:

Great idea!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Did everyone sign up for this? Alex got a cool simple one set up!! Thanks Alex!


My Pet Chicken Ghoulish Giveaway! @MyPetChicken


Chick packs or hatching eggs or do both!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1135306/my-pet-chicken-ghoulish-giveaway/0_100

 

[Sally Sunshine]

 

[Kusanar]

lol, hi! I don't have birds, so I haven't been talking on this thread much

 

[Mims]

Hey guys. I just butchered my first rooster. I used the broomstick (or take, in my case) method, and it went okay. I know what to expect with the next one.
I hung him to bleed out, but there is very little blood. The dribble down the side is all after about 5 minutes. What am I doing or what did I do wrong?
How long DOES it take for them to bleed out?
PS: don't tell my husband I'm using his deer feeder barrel, lol!!!

 

[BullChick]

I am proud of you for doing this! Killing something you have raised is not always easy!
I have not used that method, so I do not know what went wrong. I do promise to not tell your husband you're using his barrel though!

 

[rebrascora]

Yes, well done from me too. I have a lot of cockerels to process and I'm procrastinating as I find the killing part very difficult emotionally.
I use the broomstick method and can confirm that you will not get a lot of blood drain out because the heart stops when you break their neck. You will usually find a clot of blood in the neck where the artery has ruptured and bled into a pocket in the tissue but very little actually drains out. It is very different to bleeding them to death in a cone, where the heart continues to pump blood out for the few minutes after the artery is cut. The meat is still perfectly edible though. It is difficult to know how hard to pull the first few times and I have pulled the head off on more than one occasion, but better that way than not pull hard enough and have to do it a second time.

 

[the poppster]

I use a cone....and knife...it's not as quick and a bit messy, if you don't hang on to the head for a few moments after cutting the jugular vein. But they bleed out well and it confines them gently till the flapping stops. I don't think I could crush the birds neck with a broomstick...I know lots of people do it that way....to each his own. What works for you. It's never easy to take a life. Quickly and gently with the least amount of fuss is the way I try to do it. I see no reason to handle them roughly. Just because they will be butchered shortly doesn't mean it's ok to hurt them...I hate to watch the videos showing people grabbing birds by one leg and proceeding to add three more frightened struggling birds to the same hand....swinging them around like a sack of rocks...just because they are chickens...and they're going to be killed anyway....sorry it's a touchy subject for me....didn't mean to go off on that tangent.

 

[rebrascora]

@the poppster

Quote:

The purpose of the broomstick is not to crush the neck but to trap the head against the ground whilst you dislocate the neck.

I agree as regards handling, I pick the bird off the roost at night and gently stroke and sooth it whilst I carry it to another building where I have the broomstick waiting in low light to keep it as calm as possible. I gently lower them to the ground whilst holding their feet. place the broomshank over their neck and then quickly place my feet on the broomshank at either side of their head and pull sharply upwards and forwards with the legs. The broom head on the end of the shank means that one end is held off the ground slightly to prevent it trapping or crushing the trachea so there is no asphyxiation even for that second it takes to dislocate the neck. I have a cone made out of carpet off cut, fixed to a board that I drop them into straight afterwards to contain the reflex flapping.

One of the main reasons I don't bleed them is that, even with a really sharp knife after they are dead, it takes me several slices before I successfully cut through the skin to the blood vessel, so I'm not comfortable doing that to a live bird. I know it must just be bad technique on my part and possibly partly down to my second concern which is that I'm squeamish about handling their head whilst I kill them for some reason.... I know it's stupid! I find the job of killing them hard enough without tackling that as well. And thirdly, I'm told it is not legal to bleed them out here in the UK without them being stunned first.....OK... who is going to know.... but I'm a bit of a stickler for following rules.