Whats the most humane way to kill a chicken?

[donrae]

I have to ask about the broomstick metthod as that appeals to me the most (as much as slaughter can anyway). How well do they bleed out when you do that. For religious reasons blood is a no no... must be properly bled out.

I know you posted this a while ago....

Broomstick method only kills the bird, doesn't bleed it out. You still have to hang it and cut the throat to let the blood out. You have to do this with all methods of dispatching.

 

[shudbdoinsummit]

Sadly often an 'antibiotic' called Tylan is incorporated into feed recipies. A guise really because Tylan is also a growth promotant

 

[SmokinChick]

I have to ask about the broomstick metthod as that appeals to me the most (as much as slaughter can anyway). How well do they bleed out when you do that. For religious reasons blood is a no no... must be properly bled out.

slit the throat and be done with it.

 

[bobbi-j]

Lop its head off and be done with it faster. (If, for religious reasons that's not an option, then slitting the throat could be the next best thing, I guess. But it takes longer for them to die.)

 

[Whoops]

My reasons aren't religious - they are related to my ineptitude. I have never swung an axe. I don't even own one. The chance I could get it right in the first swing on something I raised from an egg are not good. Yes, you can screw it up. Also, I have to do this in the garage as I live in the city and killing chickens in the backyard is not considered good etiquette

 

[Whoops]

Though, if I could cone it, and lop off the head with pruning shears, that might work.

 

[heartsizedfarm]

Re: drowning. I second the respondents who say it is inhumane. I once dispatched some fallen starling nestlings this way, because they were way too small to survive. I just held them underwater in the pond and I was surprised and horrified how long it took for them to stop struggling.

 

[MamaKitty913]

My reasons aren't religious - they are related to my ineptitude. I have never swung an axe. I don't even own one. The chance I could get it right in the first swing on something I raised from an egg are not good. Yes, you can screw it up. Also, I have to do this in the garage as I live in the city and killing chickens in the backyard is not considered good etiquette

Lol, not good etiquette is right! I went to my local TSC to ask about killing cones, 4 times I had to repeat myself and with a dumb founded look the sales associate says.. "Umm all we have is live animal traps. They don't carry any processing equipment at all. I've bought some scaples I saw in the vet section and will sever my meaties heads with that, it feels so morbid yet I love to eat chicken. I find it crazy that I am getting ready to kill a living creature having only healed before. We will be processing at least one maybe as many as 3 as soon as weather permits, I'll be putting them on ice and letting them age a few days to put out on the BBQ. I have also decided that my 8 year old grandson should not be there, because if I can't do it quickly I don't want to traumatize any of us including the bird.

 

[bobbi-j]

That could work if your shears are good and SHARP. We used a cattle de-horner on the turkeys when we raised them. Much easier than the hatchet since it was my job to hold them. I'm just over 5'2" and didn't weigh much more than 125 when we were raising turkeys. It didn't work well. The de-horner was perfect. Just slip it over their head, and off it came!

 

[ChickenLegs13]

My reasons aren't religious - they are related to my ineptitude.  I have never swung an axe.  I don't even own one. The chance I could get it right in the first swing on something I raised from an egg are not good.  Yes, you can screw it up.  Also, I have to do this in the garage as I live in the city and killing chickens in the backyard is not considered good etiquette

Unless you're a lumberjack it's hard for most people to swing a axe with any accuracy. A hatchet is much easier to wield. Hold the chicken's body with 1 hand and stick his head between the nails, then with your other hand whack him briskly with the hatchet and quickly throw him in a bucket before he squirts blood all over you.
I tried pruning shears an already dead chicken once just to see; they might cleanly cut a hard stiff tree limb but they didn't sever a chicken neck to my satisfaction.