The road less traveled...back to good health! They have lice, mites, scale mites, worms, anemia, gl

[Beekissed]

I agree.

 

[Ashdoes]

Beekissed, I've been thinking about something, and the legless rooster brought it up again. In the event of an emergency, I have no idea how to cull? a chicken. I'm wondering if maybe you could write something where you go through the steps of how to quickly do the job. With my husband gone, it's down to me if anything needs to be done and to teach him when he gets back, and I just don't have a clue. I prefer not to write in an emergency, begging someone to help, and I haven't read anything in my books about it. Help?

 

[Beekissed]

To cull for emergencies and not for eating, I always use a dislocation of the neck. Now I even use it for butchering because I found a better way to do it, then flip them and bleed them out with opening a blood vessel.

For delivering a quick and good death for a treasured old hen, I just cradle them in my arm like you naturally would...sort of like the football carry. Place your hand over their head and get a firm but gentle grip, place your hand over the head only but not extending down the neck very much....the object of this maneuver is to dislocate the neck at the first two cervical vertebrae.

Then just let the body sort of fall away until the weight of the body is hanging from the head. Then a quick pumping action(you can double up on your hands for this if you don't have much strength), sharply UP and sharply DOWN, with the weight of their body adding weight to that action. Understand, this all needs to be done quickly and smoothly in order to keep the bird from flapping and clawing too much to get it done. Just the grasp, drop, snap up and down....on that downswing just complete the arc upwards until you swing the chicken back into your arms once again.

Then just hold them firmly and gently as the body goes through the death throes. When you snap that neck, you should be able to feel the 'click' or separation from the head. If you do not feel that separation, and she is not dying while cradled in your arm once again, just repeat the whole process. There is no killing process that I have found over the years that does not include those death throes..it is just going to happen. It will be less traumatic for you if you can hold the chicken so that she doesn't flop or flap all over the ground...it won't do much for the chicken, as she is already dead but her body doesn't know it yet.

 

[delisha]

It is not as simple as someone describing it to you. You first have to tell yourself with confidence you are doing the right thing for the bird. I have dispatched poor suffering animals in different ways depending on what the animal was and where I was, and if a weapon was needed. Chickens don't need a weapon for quick dispatch, just confidence. I suggest to everyone having chickens to dissect a chicken. Learn about the bones in the neck and spine and than you should be able to understand how to grasp the head, turn your hand thumb down, grab the chickens neck with it's beak away from your palm, and rapidly rotate your hand to the thumbs up position. this will flip the animal and use it's own body weight to break the neck. Quick and efficient. My grandma just grabbed them and thudded them on the ground, they never said a peep on her way back into the kitchen. Never broke her stride coming out of the chicken coop.

 

[loanwizard]

You put it so eloquently.

When I do it, I take a broomstick, place the bird on the ground (I carry by the feet), place the broomstick over the head in the neck area, thank the bird for what is has given to my life, and yank. Yes, the head comes off and it is not difficult. I then swing the bird over the trash can or bucket to bleed out. Then it is on to the scalder.

I guess I am posting this as I have half a question or comment or something or other

I personally don't want to hold the bird or any animals while it goes through it's death throes.

I had to put down a sick feeder pig the other day, and used a .22. The look in her eyes got to me and I fish hunt and raise meat.... but... they still get to me even when I know I am ending their suffering.

 

[Miss Lydia]

You put it so eloquently.

When I do it, I take a broomstick, place the bird on the ground (I carry by the feet), place the broomstick over the head in the neck area, thank the bird for what is has given to my life, and yank. Yes, the head comes off and it is not difficult. I then swing the bird over the trash can or bucket to bleed out. Then it is on to the scalder.

I guess I am posting this as I have half a question or comment or something or other

I personally don't want to hold the bird or any animals while it goes through it's death throes.

I had to put down a sick feeder pig the other day, and used a .22. The look in her eyes got to me and I fish hunt and raise meat.... but... they still get to me even when I know I am ending their suffering.

I'm still trying to figure out what that is your holding in your avatar.

 

[Beekissed]

You put it so eloquently.

When I do it, I take a broomstick, place the bird on the ground (I carry by the feet), place the broomstick over the head in the neck area, thank the bird for what is has given to my life, and yank. Yes, the head comes off and it is not difficult. I then swing the bird over the trash can or bucket to bleed out. Then it is on to the scalder.

I guess I am posting this as I have half a question or comment or something or other

I personally don't want to hold the bird or any animals while it goes through it's death throes.

I had to put down a sick feeder pig the other day, and used a .22. The look in her eyes got to me and I fish hunt and raise meat.... but... they still get to me even when I know I am ending their suffering.

You may if you have a bird that you have cared for and grew from a chick and she has been a good, ol' faithful hen to you. That may be the difference between folks who change out flocks a lot or lose a lot from health issues or predation...they don't get a chance to spend years with one flock and get to know them all. When you get to know them, you will feel a little more...tender towards their struggles. At least, I do...but then I'm a woman and that comes with the territory.

It may just be the difference between men and women.

Now, just any old hen with whom I don't have much of a history with and whom I am culling for food? Yeah, there is no holding during the death throes, just simply going about the business of killing and dying. Best to get it done and over without thinking too hard on the passing of the animal.

I don't like the head to come off unless I am actually taking it off, because the blood flies about and I don't like getting spattered if it's not necessary...so the broom method isn't one that I use.

I've used the killing cone for some years for processing for food but this past spring I started using an angle in the truck tailgate to dislocate with better control over the outcome and to hang for the bleed out. I got the idea after seeing a handy gadget for killing rabbits that I wished I had known about years ago....

http://www.therabbitwringer.com/




....and will eventually make one out of repurposed hardware to create my own Chicken Wringer for mounting on a tree and for the same purpose...to break the necks without pulling off the entire head.

 

[delisha]

I use the cone method myself for butchering. I do like mine because it has adjustable" snaps" or Velcro to tuck wings snug. Chickens "sleep" while upside down, however, like Bee said, death throws can be brutal, (thank goodness not often) sometimes and bruise meat or a bird hanging next to it. Ripping off a head could be very messy and it sure would splatter. Blood splatter attracts fly and and other type of varmints and makes more work for me, however it works for some people. It looks like that is a huge fish you are holding.

 

[delisha]

Bee,
I want one of them thingys!!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I use the cone method myself for butchering. I do like mine because it has adjustable" snaps" or Velcro to tuck wings snug. Chickens "sleep" while upside down, however, like Bee said, death throws can be brutal, (thank goodness not often) sometimes and bruise meat or a bird hanging next to it. Ripping off a head could be very messy and it sure would splatter. Blood splatter attracts fly and and other type of varmints and makes more work for me, however it works for some people. It looks like that is a huge fish you are holding.

Is that what it it I wasn't sure lol did look to slick to be a chicken though.