Question on the hatchet method

[greenmulberry]

I am going to have to process my roo, he was crowing for what seemed like an hour last night at 3am.

I am trying to pick the best way to do the deed. Some people like the hatchet and stump method. I understand putting two nails in the stump to hold his head straight, but how to you keep his body still.

Why don't they just get up and leave while you lift the hatchet? Are they tied down somehow? There would be no way I could actually hit anything with a hatchet unless I swung it with both hands, so I cannot hold him down with my left hand.

So I think I am going to go with a cone and a knife, but I just wonder how people get the roo to hold still on the stump?

 

[arlee453]

I got a great tip here for when I processed my first two birds.

Take a gallon plastic milk jug and make a cone out of it - cut off the top a bit wider so you can get the birds head through it, and then cut out the bottom for the body/legs to hang out of. Tie the birds legs together first - that gives you more control, and also makes it easy to hang the bird up afterwards. Then put it's head through the hole in the top of the jug and pull it gently to extend the neck all the way out.

I used the nails in the board method. If you space them just right, and use large head nails, it will hold the head still and trapped where they can't get out.

Then with the body in the milkjug you have something to hold onto, while keeping your hand far enough back from the neck area. The jug also keeps the bird still.

Once the head is removed, then I take the milkjug and place the bird head (well stub) first into a black plastic garbage bag and then hang the bird and the bag up to bleed out. I got that tip off the sticky at the top of the meatbirds cattegory.

 

[mommy9994]

I hold them by the legs, put the head between the nails, and pull him taut, and swing with the other hand-- I don't have much problem with them trying to get up. The cc's though will sometimes get fiesty-- I had one scratch me bad last batch. With them, we generally have 2 people a "holder" and a "hacker"(generally either dh and I or ds and I).

 

[Ang]

We have a holder and a hacker. My dh holds the legs and someone else holds the head down with a long stick or something then dh hacks. Works pretty well.

 

[bheila]

My husband just puts the head between the nails and pulls on the legs so the head is tight in the nails. Then whack and its over. He does it so fast that the bird has no time to move or try to struggle.

 

[dangerouschicken]

Hanging a chicken upside down by their legs sends blood rushing to their heads and they get sleepy. This gives you a window of opportunity to slide the head and neck between the nails and chop.

We use a very heavy cleaver. It works well for us.