We were taught the broomstick method by someone who gives courses for small scale poultry keepers in humanely dispatching birds. It was similar but not the same as above:
- needed: a large paving slab (or similar perfectly flat surface, so not on a lawn and definitely not on sand or gravel) and a broomstick cut in half
- hold the bird by its feet upside down, let it lean against your legs if it's calmer that way, its belly towards you
- lower the bird and put its head on the paving slab, with its chin on the slab and the bird looking forwards away from you. Make sure their head is upright and its neck straight and not sideways. You still have hold of it by its feet
- put the broomstick over its neck, with equal lengths of stick on each side of the bird's head
- put a foot on one side of the broomstick, your heel on the ground and the ball of your foot on the stick, and your foot as close to the bird's neck as possible
- slowly pull the bird (by its feet, which you are still holding) to make sure that its body and hence its neck are fully stretched (this is important, the head must not be pulled in towards its body, if necessary gently take its head and pull it forwards a bit)
- put your other foot on the other half of the stick with a decisive step (no need to stamp, but just don't go slowly), the scissor-like movement will break its neck. There's no pulling required for the actual moment of killing. There's always two of us and it's easier to hold your balance when stepping on the other half of the stick if you can hold on to someone's shoulder
- hold the bird under your arms as it will flap wildly for up to 90 seconds and this can dislocate a wing. Hang the bird with some twine from a tree or so, you will feel the blood pooling on the neck
For wet plucking, if the water is not boiling but at a certain temperature, it makes a big difference in how well the bird can be plucked. I can ask hubby tonight what exactly the required temperature is.
