Processing quail in a guillotine

[redneck]

I have been thinking about quail. And after reading a few post on the pros and cons of dispatching them, I was thinking about making a homemade guillotine. I was thinking about using Garden Shears. Cut the handles off and mount it on a table. Use the free handle as the cutting arm.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

 

[Omniskies]

It seems like a lot more work than is necessary. A seven dollar pair of cheap, one-handed garden shears would do the trick.

Unless you plan on building a miniature, fully functional guillotine. Even if you never use it for processing it'd be fun to keep on the counter for conversational purposes

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Quote:
Ohhh... the conversations we would have! It would be my new threat to the DH...

I love a good conversationg piece. It was why we had some bantam frizzles and silkies.. LOL

-Kim

 

[dacjohns]

You would have to be a lot better with loppers than me. I don't think I could make them work fast and painlessly.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Honestly, I think the guillotine made from the garden shears in the picture wouldn't be as effective as you hope.

Yes, I believe it would get the job done.

If it works like I picture it working. Then I don't think it will be as quick as you hope. Is it going to work by a pumping action involving the whole arm? I think I could make it quicker by using a squeezing motion of my hands than a pumping action of my arms. Does that make sense?

Imagine your guillotine built and then go through the motions and see if it feels more comfortable than a chopping(hatchett/machete), slicing(sharp knife), or squeezing(handheld shears) motion.

Or you could like Omni said, make an actual working old-time guillotine. Weigh the blade down and keep it sharp, I could see that working.

-Kim

 

[Ace_king_brahma]

If my hatchet had been sharp it would have done the job with little trouble. The whole guillotine thing I have to agree seems a bit extreme with more work involved than sharpening up a axe or a good pair of shears. I'm going to try shears and machete on my next round of quail and see which works best.

 

[JanetinTenn]

I don't know about quail, but I tried this method with some roosters a couple of years ago. It didn't work well at all for me.

I put the big plump rascals into a bright orange cone, that I had bought at Home Depot just for that purpose. I held the cone with the rooster head sticking out the bottom and the man used the loppers to cut off the head. The problem was the loppers wouldn't cut the feathers no matter how hard you pumped em. We ended up laying the cone on the ground next to a 2x4 and using the old tried and true hatchet method.

I also tried to kill a banty rooster with a spade a few years back with great un-successfullness. He just showed up here one day without any invitation and I tolerated him as long as I could. The little b@$t@rd roosted on the balcony outside my bedroom window every nite and crowed the most hideous, raspy, annoying noise and kept me awake. I caught him one day and held his feet and laid him down on the ground. My friend put the spade down on his neck and stepped on it. Thinking he was dead, I carried him to the compost pile and thru him in. When I was reaching for the shovel to cover him up, the sneaky little b@$t@rd jumped up and ran off.

The spade had slid sideways off the feathers on his neck and all he got was a small cut and a couple of lost feathers. Fortunately for him, my friend took a likin to him and took him home with her. He now has several girlfriends his own size and has been able to make lots of baby chix.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Now you mention the feathers not being cut by the loppers, I wonder if loppers are the best tool for this. The whole reason loppers have those long handles is to get plenty of leverage behind them. When cutting the heads of poultry, you do not need much leverage but a quick sharp blow.

I think it was a good idea, but not practical.

Check out this "Bagel Guillotine". LOL

Gives a person ideas..

-Kim

 

[Mrs MIA]

Hubby's been talking about building a guillotine for our meat birds... I think he's getting tired of lopping their heads off with the hatchet. At least HE does it in one strike... I don't think I could do it.

 

[silkiechicken]

I too think it would be more time invested than it's worth. Feels like an idea better in mind than in practice. Unless you had a real heavy blade and no way for the neck to slip out with feathers acting as lubricant, might end up with a nicked necked bird.

For sure though, if you get the time, a guillotine in the kitchen would be a great convo piece!