When your chickens get old and die...

[QuackSpeak]

Aaaaaaahh!! Im sorry im just way to faint of heart to do any of these method's. Of course they are neseccary but i kring just thinking about it...i catch crickets in the house and set therm free....yes im that crazy one!

Me too

 

[Beekissed]

And, Bee, the broomstick is the ONLY way I've found that works for me! Of course the fact that our knives are duller than dirt doesn't make the cone method a workable solution for me. Hubby is working on his knife sharpening skills. But, until that day, the broomstick is for me. No balancing involved. simply place the bird, put broomstick over with left foot on it, right foot over stick with heel on ground. Simultaneously, lower right forefoot and pull up on feet. Done. Yeah, if you pull too hard, the head is severed, but... that's pretty much what happens with a hatchet, or a very deep cone cut, yes??? Same outcome!

I'm wide and not too tall, so standing with my feet on a broomstick just ain't happening, especially while trying to balance my weight there~if I don't put some weight on it, the bird slips out from under the broomstick~ and pull upwards too.

I'm just not coordinated enough to do it!

Not quite the same outcome....with the cone I'm not holding a flapping, blood spurting chicken in both hands.

Just a quick slice, I cock the neck to one side while I control the blood stream, then I step back out of the way of the splash when they start to thrash. So...in that outcome, I'm much cleaner.

Now, the hatchet...haven't even done that one for many a long year. I see no need for doing it that old, inefficient way now that I have the cones or can just dislocate the neck with my hands.

 

[yasmin817]

Thank you for describing how to do it. How do you place the bird down? Belly down? Do they stay there? Do you know of any websites or diagrams you can share? I'm so afraid to do this wrong that I've been trying to conjure up an elaborate design that includes an enclosed box connected to the tailpipe of my car

I have a sexlink thats maybe 4 or 5 that has not been doing so well for a couple months. Waddling like a penguin, ascites build up in the abdomen, tired, dull, but still interested in eating and moving around with the flock most of the time. Sometimes I'll catch her being lethargic and crouching away from the flock. I had this happen last year to my new hampshire red that was also about 4 or 5. I took her to be euthanized after finding her on the floor of the coop gasping for air, keeping her in the house for two weeks and extracting the fluids several times. They did a necropsy, her internal organs were a disaster and they were surprised she was still alive. I don't want to let it get that bad with the sexlink. Poor thing.

 

[bobbi-j]

Thank you for describing how to do it. How do you place the bird down? Belly down? Do they stay there? Do you know of any websites or diagrams you can share? I'm so afraid to do this wrong that I've been trying to conjure up an elaborate design that includes an enclosed box connected to the tailpipe of my car

I have a sexlink thats maybe 4 or 5 that has not been doing so well for a couple months. Waddling like a penguin, ascites build up in the abdomen, tired, dull, but still interested in eating and moving around with the flock most of the time. Sometimes I'll catch her being lethargic and crouching away from the flock. I had this happen last year to my new hampshire red that was also about 4 or 5. I took her to be euthanized after finding her on the floor of the coop gasping for air, keeping her in the house for two weeks and extracting the fluids several times. They did a necropsy, her internal organs were a disaster and they were surprised she was still alive. I don't want to let it get that bad with the sexlink. Poor thing.

I've had a few with ascites. We have put them down almost immediately. The first one I didn't, and she died within a few days anyway, so I figured why make them suffer?

I

 

[Beekissed]

Thank you for describing how to do it. How do you place the bird down? Belly down? Do they stay there? Do you know of any websites or diagrams you can share? I'm so afraid to do this wrong that I've been trying to conjure up an elaborate design that includes an enclosed box connected to the tailpipe of my car

I have a sexlink thats maybe 4 or 5 that has not been doing so well for a couple months. Waddling like a penguin, ascites build up in the abdomen, tired, dull, but still interested in eating and moving around with the flock most of the time. Sometimes I'll catch her being lethargic and crouching away from the flock. I had this happen last year to my new hampshire red that was also about 4 or 5. I took her to be euthanized after finding her on the floor of the coop gasping for air, keeping her in the house for two weeks and extracting the fluids several times. They did a necropsy, her internal organs were a disaster and they were surprised she was still alive. I don't want to let it get that bad with the sexlink. Poor thing.

This guy does it with a wrench but it's the same thing/method....most of them I found showed the chicken's head coming off, so I didn't post those.

 

[yasmin817]

Thank you, that is extremely helpful. However, after watching, I'm not sure I could handle doing that. ugh! I think I need to find a good neighbor

 

[sevenfatcows]

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.

 

[ShanandGem]

This is a distasteful topic for some, but a vital part of chicken keeping. I just want to applaud everyone involved on this thread for sharing their ideas, thoughts and opinions in a respectful way.

 

[Spartan22]

I have butchered a couple of my chickens last year (a young rooster and a broken leg hen), it doesn't bother me to do it but not enjoyable. I couldn't watch that video due to the flapping of wings and seeing it struggle. What I did during the butchering process (on the counter/sink lined with newspaper & garbage bag) is cross lock the 2 wings and locked tied the legs, while my left arm and hand resting on the body & head of the chicken firmly, I use my right hand to cut on the main vein/arteries on the neck, letting out the blood in the sink quickly. Which almost put the bird to sleep peacefully without much struggle. Within 25-40 min I got the chicken plucked/dressed and cut up to rest in the fridge before going to the deep freezer. I've done this early in the morning before my 3 kids wakes up and be horrified not to eat chicken again LOL. Hopefully when they get bigger they can watch and help me with the process so they will appreciate their food source with gratitude.

 

[ChickenGrass]

This guy does it with a wrench but it's the same thing/method....most of them I found showed the chicken's head coming off, so I didn't post those.

WHAT! Is the chicken still alive after he breaks it's neck? I hope not as you wouldn't like it to suffer. I have had many breeding and showing hens that I have either, Kept until they die of old age or I sell them on to people as old hens for pets. Fionn.