When your chickens get old and die...

[Eggscoozme]

Chickens die much like everything else dies, sometimes suddenly and sometimes from age or reproductive related problems. Yours have lived longer than most laying breeds do, so that's a good thing.

Normally, a person will kill them when they notice one is suffering/not eating/standing around/getting thin for no reason in order to give them a good death after a good life. If you have a neighbor who will do that for your birds, I'd urge you to let them do so to the one that is not currently wanting to eat. Dying naturally, though natural, isn't too pleasant a way to go most of the time, so if you can give her mercy it's a good thing to do.

In the future, though there are always exceptions to the rule, note that a hen is on the time clock to dying once she stops laying her regular laying cycles she normally does in a year. People who want to avoid older hens suffering prior to death will normally kill them when they stop normal laying patterns, be they young or old, while they are still feeling good and having a good life. This serves three purposes~it gives a chicken a good life and a quick and merciful end to it, her meat can still be consumed, and it removes a potential carrier of parasites and/or disease from the flock.

Excellent! I'd give you an ovation if someone will tell me how!

 

[jstanard]

I too, am curious how you make the dog food. I think it is better food for dogs than factory produced dog food

 

[lazy gardener]

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

Quote: Look at the bottom right of that person's post for the green thumb. click on that, and then a box will pop up where you can add a comment if desired.

 

[Eggscoozme]

Thank you, I will try that now!

 

[sevenfatcows]

No problem. I believe it is PETA that approves it, but the way I learned that was by a video produced by a man making fun of the idea which he credited to that organization. I first read about it on an interesting blog called, " The Walden Effect." Back then, I needed a way to mercifully (relative term, I know) dispatch young chicks hatched with unfixable things like slipped tendon. I have used it for that, but now just usually resort to sharp scissors when that happens every few hatches or so, because with just one small bird it is quicker. I was sure thankful for the information at the time, and I did a little more research on it back then.
As to the dog food, I pressure can the meat, bones and all. The bones become very soft under pressure canning so that I can feed the whole bird to my doggies and they are thus supplied with a complete feed that does not lack the appropriate percentage of calcium. Getting the right amount of calcium into DIY dog food is a big issue. I used to add ground egg shell, but that made a product that one of my dogs would not eat readily. So, when I learned that pressure canning would make the bones soft, I went with that method and have used it for three years or so now. I also add vegetables to the mix. If I have about a quart of meat/bones to use, I add about a cup and a half of cooked vegetables. Things like peas and corn have to be ground first, or the go right through. I started making all my own dog food years ago because we have one little dog who had allergies and would throw up just about any kind of commercial dog food we tried, even the most expensive. She never does that on the stuff I make. Here is something funny- we first tried the BARF Diet and it worked fine for a while, but then she started wolfing down the whole, raw chicken, and when I saw a seven lb Chihuahua swallow a raw chicken leg whole, that was the end for that experiment. She's banned from raw chicken legs now for the same reason, it was truly astonishing to see. Back to the slaughtering, it is really just an awful part of it, but if I could not do it myself, I would not venture to have livestock. We raise almost all our own meat, poultry, rabbits, steers, and sometimes, hogs. I make myself be out there to watch when the slaughter truck comes for the large animals; I have no illusions about the fact that something dies for me to be able to eat.
Best Regards,
Judy Johnson

 

[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.

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? :/

I agree that the cone produces a contained method with limited flapping. Full head removal in a cone was how my aunt did it when I was a kid. A few times the cone came off the nail and there was a lot of flapping then. When I took my birds to be processed they used the cone and jugular method. There was less flapping then I saw as a kid.

I figure they must know what they are doing since they do hundreds each summer.

 

[sevenfatcows]

I posted the method on this thread, by accident, actually, trying to answer EggSighted's post. I am better at livestock than computers and had better get back to work.........

 

[EggSighted4Life]

No problem. I believe it is PETA that approves it, but the way I learned that was by a video produced by a man making fun of the idea which he credited to that organization. I first read about it on an interesting blog called, " The Walden Effect." Back then, I needed a way to mercifully (relative term, I know) dispatch young chicks hatched with unfixable things like slipped tendon. I have used it for that, but now just usually resort to sharp scissors when that happens every few hatches or so, because with just one small bird it is quicker. I was sure thankful for the information at the time, and I did a little more research on it back then.
As to the dog food, I pressure can the meat, bones and all. The bones become very soft under pressure canning so that I can feed the whole bird to my doggies and they are thus supplied with a complete feed that does not lack the appropriate percentage of calcium. Getting the right amount of calcium into DIY dog food is a big issue. I used to add ground egg shell, but that made a product that one of my dogs would not eat readily. So, when I learned that pressure canning would make the bones soft, I went with that method and have used it for three years or so now. I also add vegetables to the mix. If I have about a quart of meat/bones to use, I add about a cup and a half of cooked vegetables. Things like peas and corn have to be ground first, or the go right through. I started making all my own dog food years ago because we have one little dog who had allergies and would throw up just about any kind of commercial dog food we tried, even the most expensive. She never does that on the stuff I make. Here is something funny- we first tried the BARF Diet and it worked fine for a while, but then she started wolfing down the whole, raw chicken, and when I saw a seven lb Chihuahua swallow a raw chicken leg whole, that was the end for that experiment. She's banned from raw chicken legs now for the same reason, it was truly astonishing to see. Back to the slaughtering, it is really just an awful part of it, but if I could not do it myself, I would not venture to have livestock. We raise almost all our own meat, poultry, rabbits, steers, and sometimes, hogs. I make myself be out there to watch when the slaughter truck comes for the large animals; I have no illusions about the fact that something dies for me to be able to eat.
Best Regards,
Judy Johnson

Oh, PETA.... PUH-LEASE.... Like they would know humane if it bit them in the face!

Thanks for sharing. So you don't add any rice or flour to your dog food? And I presume you include feathers? Do you pressure cook the stuff before putting in the canner? And you're not actually worried about it have too much calcium for you dog? I have considered making my bones (pressure cooked) with other ingredients but not the meat into a biscuit type treat but worry it may be too much calcium if given even only one on a daily basis.

But I guess if I was gonna do that I could just feed out the soft bones with no added ingredients and save myself a little work? Your WowWow (as I call them) probably thinks she is a wolf when woofing down a chicken leg!

I once saw a sea gull swallow a beef rib bone whole, wonder how that came out.

This slaughter truck you mention... Do they do it right there for you or take it to be processed? How nice to have a service like that available! Our local farmers I know still have to truck their large animals at least 90 miles. People in our area also seem to raise goats for meat, and rabbits are also popular. I'm not a serious meat eater, so there are many meats I have never tried. We have 2 goats for brush but my property isn't big enough to support my favorite of the meats, a cow.

I wanted to get a cow for milking. My local farm guy said he has to feed his cows hay through winter. I thought well, my pasture is always green. But I heeded what he said and held off. This year I see that even though my pasture is green, it actually isn't growing since I haven't had to mow since before October. Now I see my goats are starting to eat the bark off my trees so their pasture must be drier (figuratively) than I would have thought. Glad I only got 2! Pasture management is a learning process. I'm just so thankful for all the people who share their info for others to learn from. Some may still learn the hard way, but it's nice even then to be able to recognize... oh yah that's what they meant!

Make it a great day!

 

[Kusanar]

Quote: I also feed raw, mine is because one of my cats can't eat cat food, he leaves the nastiest brown slime EVERYWHERE, I changed brands several times, nothing worked, so I tried raw and within 2 days he was normal. I buy bags of chicken leg quarters and that is primarily what they eat, each cat (and the chaweenie) gets 1/3 of a leg quarter once a day, with the bone in. They have no problems with the bones (never feed cooked chicken bones unless pressure cooked, but raw is ok), I even gave them an entire 5 pound chicken and all that was left the next morning was a lot of very fat and content cats, and half a chicken leg...

I do grind my chicken sometimes, if I want to mix something in (like liver, Jabba also can't handle too much liver at once, need to be mixed with the meat) and then I strip the meat from the bones, grind the meat, and pressure cook the bones until they fall apart when you squeeze them. then mix it all back together (usually after running the bones through the blender).

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I also feed raw, mine is because one of my cats can't eat cat food, he leaves the nastiest brown slime EVERYWHERE, I changed brands several times, nothing worked, so I tried raw and within 2 days he was normal. I buy bags of chicken leg quarters and that is primarily what they eat, each cat (and the chaweenie) gets 1/3 of a leg quarter once a day, with the bone in. They have no problems with the bones (never feed cooked chicken bones unless pressure cooked, but raw is ok), I even gave them an entire 5 pound chicken and all that was left the next morning was a lot of very fat and content cats, and half a chicken leg...

I do grind my chicken sometimes, if I want to mix something in (like liver, Jabba also can't handle too much liver at once, need to be mixed with the meat) and then I strip the meat from the bones, grind the meat, and pressure cook the bones until they fall apart when you squeeze them. then mix it all back together (usually after running the bones through the blender).

I tried doing the bones stove top once and took forever. How long to pressure cook for that result? I actually have a pressure cooker in my Amazon cart right now... but holding off to reward myself after paying off a loan instead of giving in and waiting another month to pay off that debt with interest. It's hard making adult decisions sometimes! But I'm sure my peace of mind from being obedient to my budget goals will be worth it!

So the reason you go with legs I'm guessing is because breast is pricey. Whole chickens are pricier to, or you need the fat from the legs? Do you have to add supplemental vitamins and minerals? Wouldn't surprise me if whole was more expensive because they can't just cut out the tumors or bruises and serve it up like they can do when you only get parts.

How do you not worry about Salmonilla? When I volunteered at the zoo there was someone there who also fed raw. And my vet has previously confirmed raw bones are OK and regular cooked are NOT as they get splintery, even for beef. Pressure cooked into oblivion is good for bones.

I understand there is no substitute for your personal experience as far as the difference you see in your cat.... Do you guys get vet checks and have you had any blood work done to show like kidney or liver function any of that? Also, do you know what the outlay from your wallet is for that in a month? Thanks