Whats the most humane way to kill a chicken?

[anatess]

P.S.
You know you didn't do it right because the chicken will taste different. It gets a slightly bitter taste to it. My mom's explanation is - you're tasting the negative emotion of the chicken. I'm not sure what the scientific explanation to it is.

 

[Sydnee Fisher]

anatess, how long would it take you to butcher 25 chickens ?
it seems to me I read your story before.
I still enjoy it..

 

[anatess]

anatess, how long would it take you to butcher 25 chickens ?
it seems to me I read your story before.
I still enjoy it..

I'd say 25 days. I like to sing, but not that much.

 

[Lauravonsmurf]

Since I have been right at the edge of death by strangulation I can confirm that the brain does produce a euphoria state when deprived of blood bearing oxygen via red blood cells, but the before state was unpleasant as I was actively fighting my attacker... had not other people interfered with the attack I know I would have died. So I surmise if the bird is relaxed and blood carrying oxygen is deprived to the brain quickly the bird will reach this state faster and have least suffering.

Peace all and remember good people always out number the bad.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

In regards to slaughtering for meat, which I haven't done in a while...I prefer the axe/hatchet method on a cutting block. We use a twine to hold the neck in place and the birds wings/legs are held so the hand/fingers are no where near the point of kill. I'm imagine loppers do the same job...it just seems too personable to me. I don't think I couldn't do it that way.

To put down a chicken; one pellet from a pellet gun pointed into the head from the base of the skull if the head if drooped down (or adjusted upwards in angle if they chicken is looking higher) The pellet/(bullet for larger sized animals) severs the spinal cord and shreds the brain. If done correctly there is little to no blood and convulsing is minimal.

In my experience, it's the most humane/quickest method to put down a bird/animal. I've been doing it this way since I used to shoot sparrows as a kid in grade 3 and discovered how quickly it killed. Every animal on the farm is put down with this method; from chickens and sheep to the cows/bull.

Thankfully it rare to have to put anything down. I much prefer it that way.

 

[TEWNCfarms]

I didn't read past page 3... I just wanted to share my experiences.

I grew up in the Philippines with a slew of backyard chickens and pigs and vegetable and fruit gardens in a tiny property in the city. Anyway, I was about 8 or so when I got to be tasked with killing a chicken for dinner. My mom showed me how to do it and after that, everytime my mom asks me to kill a chicken, I just go and do it all myself. The hardest part of it for me, growing up eating our own harvest, was catching the chicken!

Anyway, this is how I was taught at 8 years old...
1.) Catch the chicken. Put your hands over the wings and down the sides of the chicken so she doesn't flap around.
2.) Calm the chicken down by putting the chicken on your lap and running your hand down its back while praying or singing church songs of thanksgiving softly (I'm not kidding - this is part of the process that I was taught).
3.) When she stops wiggling and her breathing is calm, lift up her wings very slowly and turn the chicken around and pin the chicken's wings between your legs with her head away from you. Then run your finger down the side of her chin down her neck over and over until the chicken looks like she's sleeping.
4.) Tilt your knees down a bit so the head is lower than the body and bend the chicken's neck down a bit and feel around the neck for the beating nerve. Pull a patch of feathers from her neck to expose the beating nerve. If you don't see the beating nerve, tap the area with the side of the knife. The nerve should become more visible.
5.) Make sure the chicken is still in meditation mode (like she's sleeping). You might have to run your finger down her chin again and sing to get her to sleep throughout this process (yes, you have to either pray or sing softly so the chicken can hear you). Then take a VERY VERY SHARP knife - this will only work with that special knife my mom keeps super sharp for killing chickens, you'll have a big mess if you don't use that knife and my mom will give you a whooping! - so take that sharp knife and with one hand still holding the chicken's head, quickly slice the exposed neck where it is beating. You can't hesitate or be squeamish about it. It has to be deep and swift! The hand holding the head and the wings trapped between your legs is very important because the chicken will still jerk around even after it is dead and you'll make a big mess.
6.) After the jerking ends and all the blood has drained, you can stop singing. You then take the chicken and put her in boiling water. After a bit of boiling, you should be able to take off her feathers by just grabbing fistfuls and pulling in the direction of the feathers. Some pins might still be left behind - you can take pliers and pull those with it.

That's all there is to it.

Interestingly, I've done that so many times while living in my mom's house without a problem. But now that I have my own chickens, I can't seem to bring myself to kill my chickens. I need to stop naming them. I think that's the problem. That's the same as our pig growing up. My mom can't kill the pig because we named him. So instead, she sells the live pig to the butcher and buys an already dead pig with the money. Yeah, it makes no sense.

Beautiful! That's literally pretty much what I was going to do. When I went to local small farm to see if i could harvest them myself I would talk to the chickens and they would calm down every time. We hold power with our WORDS. I remember reading that this huge old black man here in NC near chapel hill had a huge farm and tons of different animals and he would walk outside and yell out in a Deep Slow Loud voice, Coooommmme Booossss and literally All of his animals would come out of everywhere no matter where they were to meet their master. Man what I would give to meet that amazing man! We are given authority from THE MASTER, so we need to be good stewards of HIS creation!

 

[TEWNCfarms]

Since I have been right at the edge of death by strangulation I can confirm that the brain does produce a euphoria state when deprived of blood bearing oxygen via red blood cells, but the before state was unpleasant as I was actively fighting my attacker... had not other people interfered with the attack I know I would have died. So I surmise if the bird is relaxed and blood carrying oxygen is deprived to the brain quickly the bird will reach this state faster and have least suffering.

Peace all and remember good people always out number the bad.

Amen sister! Glad you're still here with us! Thank GOD for HIS BODY who are there for us when we think no one is! Peace and Love to you as well! You're a bad as s I'll tell you that!

 

[luvmychixandducks]

My experience with the cones is being held upside down relaxes the bird and they bleed out so quickly, this method is more humane than the axe and stump method.
Don't buy the metal cones - way overpriced. Traffic cones nailed to a horizontal plank by the cone base and if necessary trim the top of the cone to increase the size of the hole for the birds neck. I bought a traffic cone at a yard sale for a dollar and it worked great for me.

 

[jvls1942]

I left the tip of my traffic cone intact.
just next to it I made a hole large enough to fit my hand in.
sometimes the chicken won't extend his neck and you have to reach up and grab his head and pull it through the hole.

the small cone will handle most chickens.

 

[SeaHen]

"They also do not advocate decapitation."

I used the broomstick/cervical dislocation method last night on an injured pet hen, and in the process of ensuring I used enough force I pulled her head off. What is distressing me even now, 24 hours later, is not the post-mortem body flinging (which I had mentally prepared myself for) but the fact that she blinked and opened and closed her beak for several moments afterward. It's hard to believe I gave her a swift painless death in light of what I witnessed, and I'm really upset now because there is a second sick hen I have to get up the courage to kill as well. In the numerous videos I studied prior to deciding on this method the chickens' heads often came off, but not once did I see blinking (their eyes were all closed) and beaks moving. I momentarily thought I would have to get a rock to crush her head with, but then it stopped and her eyes finally closed for good. What did I do wrong? Would this have happened if her head hadn't been severed from her body? I can't imagine doing this to my second hen, who has already suffered so much of her life. My inclination at this point is to use a gun.