Straight razor for dispatching meat birds?

[Fredster]

I use a good sharp filleting knife.

I was under the impression that you only need to make one cut, though, just beneath and slightly behind the chicken's left ear. I thought that's where its jugular is.

Should I be cutting on both sides?

 

[simplyscrambled]

I've been reading and have yet to do the deed. I'm finally, after many hair-brained suburban raised ideas (yeah, I started the guillotine thread

) between the hatchet and slicing the neck, so I'm very interested in this thread! So I'm also curious. Some slice one side, and others slice both. Isn't one side enough?

 

[WalkingWolf]

Quote:
Actually chopping the head of is probably the quickest, but I can see where it might be prone to accidents. If you go that route put a couple nails in a board to secure the head so you don't lose fingers. And a sharp knife to the neck can also result in severe cuts. However it is done just think of safety too.

 

[jamieneenah]

Quote:
Depending on how well it gets flowing, sometimes they seem to take a while to die. They can thrash about for a while. Hard to say if the chicken minds or not and at what point of blood loss they are unconscious. Also if your in a hurry, no doubt, removing the head is fastest, but I think they are easier to pluck if they are bleed.

Jamie

 

[JenEric Farms]

I have never processed birds before but I am seriously considering it this fall. You guys that use the stump and hatchet method...How do you keep the bird still? Is it a two person job?

Edited for dumb grammar!

 

[Homesteading_Bound]

Quote:
I hold the body....My husband stretches the neck out without hurting them....then...one swoop.

They are remarkably calm during that stage...

It's after that you need to have a good grip on the body and wings to put them in a cone...or for the huge meaties a bucket...

I use to hold onto them until my meaties become so big...The Roo's have this extra energy...I'm guessing it has something to do with there testosterone. So, it's a good idea to put them in something.

I continue to hold onto the for about 30 seconds or more....then we tie there feet and hang them...

Hope this helps...

 

[Sunny Side Up]

The birds seem to bleed out more completely when just their throats are slit, something about the heart still beating that makes them empty out better. I find it easier & neater to do it this way: I zip-tie their legs together, wrap a length of duct-tape once or twice around their bodies to hold their wings in place and hang them upside down from hooks on a metal frame, positioned over a lined garbage can. Then I grab their heads, pull to straighten their necks, and slice the veins on each side of the throat. I try to get a good deep cut that makes the blood come out in a stream, I do both sides so they will empty faster & more completely. I usually continue to hold their heads down for a minute or two until they finish thrashing, so they don't spatter blood all over the place, keeping them dripping into the garbage can. (I use a black liner so it doesn't look so ghoulish) By then they're mostly bled out, but I leave them hanging for several minutes more.

This way they're already tied & hanging, I don't have to chase them around the yard, they're not thrashing on the ground, they don't have to be stuffed into a cone, they're not leaving blood all over the grass. They're also easier to grab & dunk in the scalding water and re-hung to pluck. I cut off the heads & remove the tape before dunking.

 

[Buster52]

I, too, find this a very useful thread, particularly where it comes to choice of utensils.

I personally prefer decapitation, as that is obviously quick, although haven't done that since a wee little child. I'm curious if anyone has ever tried that with a large, sharp knife and the chicken in a cone. If I held the head, then did a quick, hard slice all the way across, is it possible to decapitate the bird that way?

And has anyone ever tried it?

 

[jaku]

Quote:
I would think it'd be pretty easy. Think about how little effort it takes to cut the head off when you're processing.

 

[jamieneenah]

Quote:
Yes.

"once I have a knife sharpened properly, it takes about as much effort to cut a head clean off as it does to cut through a carrot"

Although, I think they pick much easier if you let them bleed as opposed to taking the head clean off.

Jamie