I use the stun hook and bleeding method, I always check the eye before bleeding, but they never blink, and my birds could be sold if I wanted to, since they're bled.
@flamedrag18 the birds can't be sold unles you have a slaughterers license, bled out or not. If you're selling your birds you're doing it illegally (unless you have the license and then I take that back :) )
@SkydiverVikki not here in Canada, you can sell home butchered chickens to the public, you just can't have them in stores like super markets, then they follow the FDA.
a stun hook looks like a butcher's meat hanging hook, but smaller, would fit in the palm of your hand, I'll send you a link in personal message since youtube prohibits links in comments, with more info on the process.
Yes to use the cash captive bolt poultry killer you have the chicken hung by it's legs and hold the beak, a blank cartridge fires the hammer and stuns it, law dictates the neck must be cut or broken afterwards. The best way is actually suffocation with nitrogen gas, they just fall asleep, it's being introduced on a large scale apparently, nitrogen is inert and doesn't irritate the bird like CO2 does, this is already used to kill "food" animals for reptiles and birds of prey.
Good on you for showing this method, very brave, you're doing the right thing, this is very hard to get wrong. It's easy to lose the "muscle memory" for neck wringing and get it wrong. Point of interest: you can check for the blink reflex on a bird by touching the eye after killing, although the unconcious flap about, only a concious bird will blink, this will put your mind at rest when you kill a bird, and will help you all check the methods you may be using. Many thanks skydiverVikki
Thanks for your comment poultryfarm, the blink reflex is what I use to check the period of consciousness, unfortunately even with this method there are a few seconds of consciousness after the process. I think a hammer to the head would be the only way to produce instant death... to much margin for error there though!
Need a captive bolt device, very, very costly! but hard to get wrong, I'm trying to think up a decent replacement now, you have people thinking! which is good.
I've not looked into the captive bolt, I think mainly because I think it's only good for use on large animals, with something as small as a chicken you'd have to be holding it's head in place with something but it would have to be solid enough to hold it as the bolt worked but soft enough that the gun didn't jar back and damage the person shooting...
Why the bar? Looks a bit too prelonged 2me! The Humane Slaughter Assosiation suggest-feet in right hand,breast against ur legs, 1st 2 fingers V around base of head(palm towards head) & pull twisting ur hand up. This sethers the spinal cord & the 3 blood vessels going 2 the head. This is the way I do it. The bird goes from ground to dead in about 5 seconds. This is the most humane way to cull a small number of birds. You are pulling the head from the top of the neck/spine, not breaking it's neck.
I tried that method and with adult chickens it is not easy - I didn't manage it the first or even the second time, it took three attempts and that was way way too much suffering for me.
This way works first time, every time no matter how old or tough the bird is.
This method also severs the spinal cord and the blood vessels resulting in a quick and clean dispatch.
I'm a neuroscientist, and that is definitely not a humane way of killing an animal. What you are doing overstimulates the nerves, and the worst part is: Chickens can still feel it. If you were to do it humanely; then the chicken would not be able to react because of its disconnected spinal cord. And by he way, the chicken's reaction afterwords is definitely not 'random reaction of nerves!'
Thanks for your comment - please could you explain further though.
I have also studied neuroscience and understood that the twitching was caused by neurotransmitter flooding the synapses causing the muscle spasms, it's impossible for this to be a conscious reaction of the chicken as there is no intact pathway from the brain, the spinal cord is disconnected right at the base of the skull.
I'd also be interested in what method you feel would be most humane when a stunner is not available.
Hersheybar11 I don't believe you're a neuroscientist, and your comment about the body not being able to react if the spinal cord is severed is rubbish, I once (twice actually) saw an over ambitious euthanasia attempt decapitate a pheasant, it flapped like crazy with no head on it. Don't lie about your background to give credibility to the first stupid uninformed opinion to enter your brain.
Having used both methods on chickens I have raised and cared for like pets, I can say for sure that this method is more humane than chopping the head off.
The methods I have tried are chopping the head cleanly off with an axe, breaking the neck by hand and (only once) cutting the blood vessels in the neck so the bird bleeds out.
I use this method adn it works great. I pull up on the chicken and the head will come off if you pull hard enough and then you can bleed them out in a bucket, quick and easy.
but dont u think not letting d blood out can cause a lil bit dirty.meaning to say, d reason y neck slaughtered is to let all d blood out for any dirty thngs in thier system?
With this method the chicken does still bleed out internally, when the neck is broken the main arteries to the head are torn inside and they bleed out into the neck cavity.
The main reason they cannot be sold using this method is because I don't have a slaughtering license - without that any animal I kill can only be consumed by myself and my family and friends.
I believe to be sold commercially chickens must have been stunned and bled out, bleeding out increases the shelf life of the meat and it is inhumane to do it without first stunning them.
dam...last time i did it i did it a litle too hard the head didnt move and i ended up with bloody pants...come to think of it...i wonder where i left them....jummm
so if the chicken has its throat cut, is it consious for a while? because i saw one and it was breathing after for a while, is that automatic breathing or is it still consious?
No, I don't agree - I tried it once and the chicken was still very conscious for well over a minute, I would never use that method again without stunning first.
Definately the most humane way you could dispatch of any poultry, i use just my hands, but the bar idea is great theres no room for error, think i will give it a go
That is a quick and humane method, but a quick severing of the head with a very sharp knife or axe is just as fast & effective and one less step to have to bleed it out after. (Ours bleed out fine & pluck easily when we remove the head immediately regardless of what the books say).
If the chicken is being stored or hung for any length of time then bleeding out helps as the chicken meat will not spoil as quickly - it also improves the look of the prepared chicken aesthetically.
Using this method the bird does bleed out but the blood collects in the neck cavity and it does not bleed out as completely as a bird that has had it's neck slit. Because I don't have the means to stun the bird before bleeding out this method is best.
Yes it does, that's because when the spinal cord is severed neurotransmitter is released which causes the muscles to constrict like they do, it is not a conscious movement.
I'm not sure which videos you're talking about but if the necks are slit as they are in most slaughter houses the turkey will still be fully conscious for a few minutes unless it has been properly stunned, in which case it shouldn't be moving at all.
The chicken dies because when you stand on the broomstick and pull at the same time it dislocates the first vertebra from the base of the skull, once the neck is broken the chicken is dead, it's very quick and humane.
This is more painfull dickhead
Angles786 1 year ago
@Angles786 more painful that what?
SkydiverVikki 1 year ago 2
I use the stun hook and bleeding method, I always check the eye before bleeding, but they never blink, and my birds could be sold if I wanted to, since they're bled.
flamedrag18 1 year ago
@flamedrag18 the birds can't be sold unles you have a slaughterers license, bled out or not. If you're selling your birds you're doing it illegally (unless you have the license and then I take that back :) )
What is the stun hook?
SkydiverVikki 1 year ago
@SkydiverVikki not here in Canada, you can sell home butchered chickens to the public, you just can't have them in stores like super markets, then they follow the FDA.
a stun hook looks like a butcher's meat hanging hook, but smaller, would fit in the palm of your hand, I'll send you a link in personal message since youtube prohibits links in comments, with more info on the process.
flamedrag18 1 year ago
@flamedrag18 Thanks, that would be good - I didn't realise you were from Canada.
In the UK only licenses people can sell meat, I can share with my immediate family and friends but not for money.
SkydiverVikki 1 year ago
The following is interesting and is from HSA material and poultry stunner info on the net:
r.e. decapitation:" . . .research has shown that in birds there may be some brain function
(and possibly, therefore, some awareness) for up to 30 seconds after decapitation
(Gregory and Wotton 19862). This method fails to meet the humane ideal."
Signs of failed stun:
Intermittent wing flapping or NO wing flapping
Rhythmic breathing immediately after the
stun
Presence of neck tension
Vocalisation
poultryfaarm 2 years ago
Yes to use the cash captive bolt poultry killer you have the chicken hung by it's legs and hold the beak, a blank cartridge fires the hammer and stuns it, law dictates the neck must be cut or broken afterwards. The best way is actually suffocation with nitrogen gas, they just fall asleep, it's being introduced on a large scale apparently, nitrogen is inert and doesn't irritate the bird like CO2 does, this is already used to kill "food" animals for reptiles and birds of prey.
poultryfaarm 2 years ago
Good on you for showing this method, very brave, you're doing the right thing, this is very hard to get wrong. It's easy to lose the "muscle memory" for neck wringing and get it wrong. Point of interest: you can check for the blink reflex on a bird by touching the eye after killing, although the unconcious flap about, only a concious bird will blink, this will put your mind at rest when you kill a bird, and will help you all check the methods you may be using. Many thanks skydiverVikki
poultryfaarm 2 years ago 2
Thanks for your comment poultryfarm, the blink reflex is what I use to check the period of consciousness, unfortunately even with this method there are a few seconds of consciousness after the process. I think a hammer to the head would be the only way to produce instant death... to much margin for error there though!
SkydiverVikki 2 years ago
Need a captive bolt device, very, very costly! but hard to get wrong, I'm trying to think up a decent replacement now, you have people thinking! which is good.
poultryfaarm 2 years ago
I've not looked into the captive bolt, I think mainly because I think it's only good for use on large animals, with something as small as a chicken you'd have to be holding it's head in place with something but it would have to be solid enough to hold it as the bolt worked but soft enough that the gun didn't jar back and damage the person shooting...
SkydiverVikki 2 years ago
Why the bar? Looks a bit too prelonged 2me! The Humane Slaughter Assosiation suggest-feet in right hand,breast against ur legs, 1st 2 fingers V around base of head(palm towards head) & pull twisting ur hand up. This sethers the spinal cord & the 3 blood vessels going 2 the head. This is the way I do it. The bird goes from ground to dead in about 5 seconds. This is the most humane way to cull a small number of birds. You are pulling the head from the top of the neck/spine, not breaking it's neck.
CerebalDystrophy 2 years ago
I tried that method and with adult chickens it is not easy - I didn't manage it the first or even the second time, it took three attempts and that was way way too much suffering for me.
This way works first time, every time no matter how old or tough the bird is.
This method also severs the spinal cord and the blood vessels resulting in a quick and clean dispatch.
SkydiverVikki 2 years ago
If bleeding out without stunning them is inhumane, then why can't you just remove the head completely?
picatsoforfma 2 years ago
I found that in my experience this method led to unconsciousness a lot faster than cutting off the head completely.
I do not know why this happens but because it does I think that makes this method much more humane.
SkydiverVikki 2 years ago
How long does it move about for?
1pass1 2 years ago
the spasm's last for about 20-30 seconds usually.
SkydiverVikki 2 years ago
I'm a neuroscientist, and that is definitely not a humane way of killing an animal. What you are doing overstimulates the nerves, and the worst part is: Chickens can still feel it. If you were to do it humanely; then the chicken would not be able to react because of its disconnected spinal cord. And by he way, the chicken's reaction afterwords is definitely not 'random reaction of nerves!'
hersheybar11 2 years ago
Thanks for your comment - please could you explain further though.
I have also studied neuroscience and understood that the twitching was caused by neurotransmitter flooding the synapses causing the muscle spasms, it's impossible for this to be a conscious reaction of the chicken as there is no intact pathway from the brain, the spinal cord is disconnected right at the base of the skull.
I'd also be interested in what method you feel would be most humane when a stunner is not available.
SkydiverVikki 2 years ago
fight fight fight !
flame wars !!
i like skydiver method less bloody..instead of cutting the chicken head.
aurora2k 2 years ago
Hersheybar11 I don't believe you're a neuroscientist, and your comment about the body not being able to react if the spinal cord is severed is rubbish, I once (twice actually) saw an over ambitious euthanasia attempt decapitate a pheasant, it flapped like crazy with no head on it. Don't lie about your background to give credibility to the first stupid uninformed opinion to enter your brain.
You give Bloggers a bad name
poultryfaarm 2 years ago
I wouldnt say this is humane , it doesnt look humane , i think humane would be just to cut its head off
1pass1 2 years ago
Having used both methods on chickens I have raised and cared for like pets, I can say for sure that this method is more humane than chopping the head off.
SkydiverVikki 2 years ago
tellme which methods u used before?
laCarogna2 2 years ago
The methods I have tried are chopping the head cleanly off with an axe, breaking the neck by hand and (only once) cutting the blood vessels in the neck so the bird bleeds out.
SkydiverVikki 2 years ago
I use this method adn it works great. I pull up on the chicken and the head will come off if you pull hard enough and then you can bleed them out in a bucket, quick and easy.
Dodgegal79 2 years ago
if you cut of the head (in one quick stroke) and let it bleed the meat will be better.
lithanor 2 years ago
did u break itz spinal cord?
pokemaster1234567899 2 years ago
Thank you for posting this. We keep bantams as pets, and one is very sick right now. This will be a humane way to put her down.
winterwren2 2 years ago
but dont u think not letting d blood out can cause a lil bit dirty.meaning to say, d reason y neck slaughtered is to let all d blood out for any dirty thngs in thier system?
ladyA1910 2 years ago
With this method the chicken does still bleed out internally, when the neck is broken the main arteries to the head are torn inside and they bleed out into the neck cavity.
SkydiverVikki 2 years ago
why can they not be sold using this method?
adsheff 2 years ago
The main reason they cannot be sold using this method is because I don't have a slaughtering license - without that any animal I kill can only be consumed by myself and my family and friends.
I believe to be sold commercially chickens must have been stunned and bled out, bleeding out increases the shelf life of the meat and it is inhumane to do it without first stunning them.
SkydiverVikki 2 years ago
good way! thanks for showing!
bluemoondiadochi 2 years ago
dude my uncle taught me to slaughter chickens and it include cuttin off the head with a well sharpend butcher knife
hyperkid138 3 years ago
dam...last time i did it i did it a litle too hard the head didnt move and i ended up with bloody pants...come to think of it...i wonder where i left them....jummm
gastafary 3 years ago
Yeah I used to do that - at least it means you know the job is done. That's also why I wear wellie boots.
SkydiverVikki 3 years ago
it seems fun to chop of their head why didnt u do that
Edinja123 3 years ago
so if the chicken has its throat cut, is it consious for a while? because i saw one and it was breathing after for a while, is that automatic breathing or is it still consious?
tanatribe 3 years ago
Yes, if the chicken isn't stunned before it's throat is cut it can be conscious for over a minute.
SkydiverVikki 3 years ago
I read that it moves for over a minute but is rendered unconcious almost immediately due to the rapid loss of blood to the brain. DO you agree?
sajbrown 3 years ago
No, I don't agree - I tried it once and the chicken was still very conscious for well over a minute, I would never use that method again without stunning first.
SkydiverVikki 3 years ago
I used this method (but the animal was fainted before i did it) last week to put down a sick chicken (f*cking marek!)...
It was over on 1 sec...
A very QUICK and humane way to put down a chicken! I have never used a axe.. So scared to miss! :'( (even if the animal is fainted)
EzziLinkoso 3 years ago
Definately the most humane way you could dispatch of any poultry, i use just my hands, but the bar idea is great theres no room for error, think i will give it a go
dwyatt666 3 years ago
So, have I seen it right? You just place the bar on the chickens head en dat you pull the chicken so the neck breaks?
It seems to be an effective method!
Alpaca87 3 years ago
Yes, when you pull up on the chicken you also put your weight on the stick and that helps with the separation of the vertebra.
Quick, clean and effective.
SkydiverVikki 3 years ago
Yep i like your style at least it wasn't in pain.
edde799 3 years ago
That is a quick and humane method, but a quick severing of the head with a very sharp knife or axe is just as fast & effective and one less step to have to bleed it out after. (Ours bleed out fine & pluck easily when we remove the head immediately regardless of what the books say).
lily1013 3 years ago
i thought u were suppose to make the blood run out"
maxxkella5000 3 years ago
If the chicken is being stored or hung for any length of time then bleeding out helps as the chicken meat will not spoil as quickly - it also improves the look of the prepared chicken aesthetically.
Using this method the bird does bleed out but the blood collects in the neck cavity and it does not bleed out as completely as a bird that has had it's neck slit. Because I don't have the means to stun the bird before bleeding out this method is best.
SkydiverVikki 3 years ago
It still moves though, just like the turkeys in so-called "inhumane" slaughter houses.
noxcovenant 3 years ago
Yes it does, that's because when the spinal cord is severed neurotransmitter is released which causes the muscles to constrict like they do, it is not a conscious movement.
I'm not sure which videos you're talking about but if the necks are slit as they are in most slaughter houses the turkey will still be fully conscious for a few minutes unless it has been properly stunned, in which case it shouldn't be moving at all.
SkydiverVikki 3 years ago
That's a different technique. Interesting.
FCannova 3 years ago 4
thankyou for killing the animal humanely
8ringsofshaolin 3 years ago 14
Very educational. I use this method to dispatch my birds and find it very quick.
BLUELACED 3 years ago 9
It's a strange way to kill.
Why the chicken should die? Because of your feet press on the rod or because you pull it from its feet chocking him?
Eriberto66 3 years ago
The chicken dies because when you stand on the broomstick and pull at the same time it dislocates the first vertebra from the base of the skull, once the neck is broken the chicken is dead, it's very quick and humane.
SkydiverVikki 3 years ago
good point, i agree, this is very humane and not bloody.
Pimpmastahanhduece 3 years ago 3