[muntjac]

IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO SEE THE FOLLOWING IMAGES OF A CHICKEN BEING SLAUGHTERED FOR THE POT THEN DO NOT PROCEED PAST THIS  SPOT.
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[muntjac]

Most of my life i have taken lives of birds animals and unfortunatly the odd human.i find no thrill in doing it at all .i firmly believe if you keep chickens or any animal that you should know how to dispatch it without pain or fuss . the following pictures show my method of dispatching a bird by manually breaking its neck .WARNING THIS BIRD WILL DIE ,I OFFER NO PRETENCE AT ALL

to do this task properly you have to be settled in your mind that you are able to carry it out , safe in the knowledge that how you apply the task is the proper and quickest way . so first i take the bird calmly from its coop  , my birds are all used to being handled by myself as seen in this first picture the bird is calm



 this calmness must be continued all the way through  so its best that you do this with no audience at all .you can take a bird from the coop in the dark by using a red light go into the coop quietly whistling softly or even talking this way the birds know its you and dont all scream about flapping and upsetting everything , take the bird by the legs from the perch and pull it into ur side by placing a hand around its body and cup its head in ur hand .  walk out quietly and away from the coop upto the house so as not to cause any more disturbance to the rest of the birds and the household

i can do this task in the daylight as my birds as i said relax with me .and it would be pointless me doing it in the dark as you wouldnt be able to see properly . . now i will describe the holding of the bird ready for killing . take ur right hand  and slide it under the birds  butt and grasp its legs  with the hand closed  take the legs with the thumb pointing away from the body as this is a stronger grip


 placing the fingers and thumb of the left had over the chickens neck just above the head . the first 2 fingers ie index and second fingers close over the head with the neck inbetween like a V the thumb then comes over the head closing it into the palm   taking a half twist as it closes


now bring the bird into your chest holding its legs tight into the body and takeing a firm but gentle grip on its neck  

extend and put the wieght of the top part of the body onto the neck forcing the head down in one clean movement



 the head wil part from the body and your hand will follow ondown and away from the bird as the pressure you applied is released  the bird will start to flap uncontrollaby at this point ......... THIS BIRD IS DEAD


 this action is only nerves it will stop in about 30 seconds . allow the bird to flap as much as it wants .this action forces any blood to go down to the neck and coagulate there.

now if you feel the neck between the head and the body you will find a large void where the neck joined the head  closing the two fingers over it will show its dead

and you can hang it for a couple days if you so wish ,or you can carry straight onto the plucking , start by  plucking the large wing feathers the primaries as the wings go cold first and become harder to do if they are left .then do the large tail feathers ,,the legs the breast the back and finally up to the point in the neck you wish to use for stuffing capsule .

 i hope this has helped those who wish to do this task iether for eating the bird or carrying out the culling of a sick or injured bird

[jack russell]

Fantastic post Munty very descriptive.  Could you do the same for plucking as a continuation of this. then maybee a pic of it roasted on the table

cheers

jr

[muntjac]

plucking and dressing to follow  

[richyrich7]

Excellent article Munty, clear, concise and done with care.

A big thank you, clears up a grey area for me and many others I'm sure.

[agapanthus]

Brilliant Muntjac!!! (not sure tho' if I could do it :? )

[ACatCalledElvis]

thanks very useful  - fantastic -and a good point about being able to cull a sick bird even if we just keep chooks for eggs - is it possible to make the positioning of hands/fingers clearer? I'm sitting here trying to shape my hands in the right way to understand the process

E

[muntjac]

finger positions .          will do ,,,, no problem  

[John]

Thank you very much for this Muntjac. Even if your birds are pets there may come a day when this is very useful to quickly dispatch an injured bird for example.
Having been faced with that situation, I can tell you that the know how is very useful.

[muntjac]

no explanation needed really .just maintain an even grip with all fingers on the birds head and a greater grip on the legs of the bird and the two will seperate









at this point the pressure is taken down and away from the body of the bird...... hope this helps

[muntjac]

there are no laws except the laws of duty and care applied to keeping any food animal or bird.note a bird implies eggs from same . killing for the table has no restrictions on it except size etc you have to have any pig or cow sheep goat etc slaughtered at a registerd slaugter house if memory serves sallys hubby can elighten further .i have killed and processed every bird that is normally for the table and also small animals  on the vermin or pest register . i have done deer on my own as this is not neccasry for a licencsed slaughterman to do being tha the deer are shot .but there are certain rules now about how a deer is dressed out ,it has to have the head and  spinal column removed . but you are quite alright doing your own chickens ducks turkeys etc rabbits  i have done pigs and  fattener steers  when i was younger but back then no real rules applied in law

[MontyTom]

superb post.  glad you mentioned flapping for those who have not done it - bit odd the first time because you think it is not dead or you have done it wrong.  thanks, karl.

[muntjac]

ur welcome monty  

[Green man]

Hi Muntjac , I have dispatched a few birds. But What I would like to know and I think that you may have said it before so please bear with me.
I am hoping to keep turkeys next year so that we may have them over the Christmas season and New Year. Would it be the same way of Dispatching as with the chicken?
I would not find it hard to do as I was a slaughterman for over 12 year and in that time I have killed the pig and dressed it and then boned it.
Is there anyway that you could slaughter a pig with out it going to a slaughter house?? Thanks for the infow.
Greenman.

[muntjac]

you really ned a cone for turkeys mate .i know myself how to do it as you would also know .but a cone makes the job a bit easier ,you can use a loop around the feet and secured to a roof truss /beam .grip same as for a chicken . if you have a licence to slaughter still ..... i think. :idea:  you still are able to slaughter and dress a pig at home .... you have to check with the defra folks ,maybe a call to your local slaughter house would help i havent had a pig to do for some years due to regs and rules  :roll: .....