When your chickens get old and die...

[21hens-incharge]

When the spinal column is severed the flopping is involuntary nerves firing. I did not watch the video but assisted as a small child during chicken processing day. Even when the head is fully removed ther is flopping. They are dead for sure but the nerves react to the interruption in connection. I hope I explained that well enough. Sometimes things do not come out as clear as they are in my head.

 

[sevenfatcows]

So true, they flap no matter what, and it is purely reflex. I was always put off, though, by people who think it is funny to chop the head off and let the bird run about. I know some good ol' guys like that in my little town....I try to change the subject.

 

[Kusanar]

Yeah, nerve reflexes are weird... I had to put down a horse and after it was all over with and we were standing there talking, probably close to 5 minutes later, the horse took one fast breath, like he gasped, but he had been dead for a good while already... kinda creepy...

 

[jstanard]

Hello. I have a flock of 20 hens and one roo. I have not had to cull any yet, but looking for humane ways too so I am prepared when I must act. Now, I know a rabbit breeder who culls her rabbits by placing the animal in a box, then the box in a bag. I believe she held the box and talked to the rabbit till it fell asleep from lack of oxygen. She said this way is peaceful,as they hear your voice and feel no pain. I have never culled anything in my life, and I am requesting feedback on this method. Our friends own a meat market, and he invited me over to see how they slauter cows, may take him up on offer

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hello all. I am the "go to" person for slaughtering chickens at my home and also among the neighbors. I hate doing it and do not ever want to meet a person who likes it. What works for me is a modified cone method. Because I have had a lot of difficulty getting the neck cut properly and have caused needless distress for a few birds as I was trying to learn, I now put the bird into the cone, wrap the legs securely with plastic sheathed wire,(husband is an electrician, so it's handy) and place one shot from my BB pistol right behind the eye. I know after that the bird is insensible to whatever comes next. This has been working for me pretty well for a few years now. That said, I have also used carbon dioxide by mixing baking soda with vinegar in an enclosed container. I have done it in a four gallon plastic container for an Orpington that I could not bear to cut, and it worked fine because she was already weak. We drilled a hole in the lid that allowed a piece of PVC pipe to fit snugly through. The sad, sick hen was placed into the bucket along with the proper amount of baking soda in a small soup can in one corner under the pipe hole.Handy husband had also cut away one side of the end of the pipe to allow the liquid to run through more quickly. The vinegar was introduced a quickly as practical and the pipe corked with a graduated rubber wine cork. It was very fast and the hen went quite easily. I would use that method again, if needed. Because we raise chicks year 'round for our feed store, I often have to cull young cockerels and use a smaller carbon dioxide bucket set up for those. I can do several at a time in a two gallon bucket with very little fuss or stress to the birds. One and one half tablespoons of baking soda, plus one cup of vinegar (5%) will produce one gallon of carbon dioxide. Adjust the amounts in proportion to the volume of container you plan to use. I hope this is helpful to someone. It is no fun, but it has to be done.

As much as you like to think the carbon dioxide is humane... I have to say it's no more humane than putting a bag over their head and suffocating them. Only difference is YOU don't have to see it. Carbon dioxide is heavier than air so it displaces the oxygen which rises out of the range of the chicken.

Are you eating those young cockerels or wastefully tossing them?

What my google search turned up.....

Carbon dioxide is quite safe and will not kill you if you breathe it. What will kill you is the absence of oxygen: we need to breathe oxygen, because it is necessary to burn the fuel that powers our heart and body, if we breathe only other gases, even if they are harmless, we can die because of absence of oxygen.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hello. I have a flock of 20 hens and one roo. I have not had to cull any yet, but looking for humane ways too so I am prepared when I must act. Now, I know a rabbit breeder who culls her rabbits by placing the animal in a box, then the box in a bag. I believe she held the box and talked to the rabbit till it fell asleep from lack of oxygen. She said this way is peaceful,as they hear your voice and feel no pain. I have never culled anything in my life, and I am requesting feedback on this method. Our friends own a meat market, and he invited me over to see how they slauter cows, may take him up on offer

I say hog wash about suffocation being peaceful!

Ever been under the water in the pool too long? It only get's peaceful once they stop struggling for air because they are dead. Any method you use will be peaceful once they are dead. Again... YOU just aren't seeing the struggle.

We use the cone method. I am a major save the animals type person... moving worms off the sidewalk to dirt and all. It isn't easy to do. We worked our way up to it for months.....

But if you eat chicken from the super market.... just watch a few videos on those being processed and see if you can stomach eating them ever again. Culling our own birds is difficult but honorable!

OK, so aside from me being very ambivalent, I also am super emotional. I can cry at happy things, can't watch the news. I expected to cry for weeks on end.... but it was surprisingly peaceful, not easy.... it takes practice like many other things in life.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

When the spinal column is severed the flopping is involuntary nerves firing. I did not watch the video but assisted as a small child during chicken processing day. Even when the head is fully removed ther is flopping. They are dead for sure but the nerves react to the interruption in connection. I hope I explained that well enough. Sometimes things do not come out as clear as they are in my head.

It's my understanding that the flopping is intensified by full removal of the head.

We don't cut through the spine using the cone until after it comes out for the rest of processing.

We only hear a couple of jerks before it's complete... but the cone contains the flapping and everything.

Who wants blood spurted everywhere letting the dead bird run around without it's head? But my dogs would enjoy that. But I wonder if the scent of blood everywhere attracts other predators in the days to come?

 

[bobbi-j]

Hello. I have a flock of 20 hens and one roo. I have not had to cull any yet, but looking for humane ways too so I am prepared when I must act. Now, I know a rabbit breeder who culls her rabbits by placing the animal in a box, then the box in a bag. I believe she held the box and talked to the rabbit till it fell asleep from lack of oxygen. She said this way is peaceful,as they hear your voice and feel no pain. I have never culled anything in my life, and I am requesting feedback on this method. Our friends own a meat market, and he invited me over to see how they slauter cows, may take him up on offer

In my opinion, suffocating an animal is NOT humane. Do the rabbits struggle to breathe until they pass out ("fall asleep") from lack of oxygen? The owner wouldn't know, since the poor thing is in a box so they don't have to watch the process. Go visit your friend's meat market and learn how to do it quickly and humanely. The quickest and most humane methods are not all neat and pretty, but it's over with in seconds.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Where are you gonna get it? best I can think of is tailpipe from a car or a lawnmower. Examples of either working would be great to see... for those who wish to pursue that method!

 

[jstanard]

I think that I will take up my friend the butcher, at least he will show me exactly where to cut with cone method. What do you do with the blood left behind on the ground? Hose it? The carbon monoxide.... One would think the meat would not be edible. Am I thinking to much into it? Thanks for your input!