Tips on killing?

[Frogdogtimestwo]

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[megshenhut]

We did three today - two toms and a hen. Was a nice day here, low 50s, but cold weather is rolling in tonight. We had 15 and 16 lb Toms. The little hen was only 7.5 lbs. She was my smallest bird, but was blind in one eye so she got picked on by the others a lot. I hatched these guys last spring and am very happy with them. They are Blue Slates.

 

[RAREROO]

Quote:
Yep that feed bag would be a great way to contain all the blood slinging and flapping drama which is never fun. I'm going to be doing a moscovied drake tomorrow and I'm gonna try that too.

Also to add, in the past when I have only been doing maybe one rooster or so, like I have had a few with leg problems before, I would tie their feet together and hang their feet up in a tree just to where their head is touching the ground and when they got calmed down I but put the barrel of a 22 rifle to the back of their head and shot through the head and straight into the grown and that was much quicker, eaiser, and less dramatic than when we had chopped the hens off on a chopping block, so if you have the means and prefer that method, I found that to be easier for me.

 

[AlbionWood]

We ended up using the killing cones I made for the roosters, they worked OK for the smaller birds but I had to grab them to control the wings while the death throes were going on. Tried the bag on one of them but it was too big, she just flopped around inside it. Should have used the bag on the tom, his wings got loose and whacked me pretty good.

I ran a rope over a rafter in the greenhouse, with a loop in the end. Catch a bird, hang it upside down, tie its feet together, slip the noose over the feet and hang it in the cone. That way it can't kick or get anywhere. Pull the head out, cut throat, lay knife down (very important!), and grab the bird to control the wings. The bottom of the cone extends into a bucket, so nearly all the blood is contained.

On bigger birds I think the feed bag trick would be better. Maybe next year.

We had a neighbor and her (college freshman) daughter come over to help do their bird. They actually enjoyed it, the daughter is really interested in food production and wanted to experience the whole deal. She was kind of disappointed I wouldn't let her wield the knife, and was fascinated by the evisceration process. Squeals of delight when I opened up a gizzard and showed the liner, etc. Kind of fun when you have enthusiastic youngsters around!