[Buffy the eggs layer]

Hi All,

   the chicks I hatched in Nov have turned out to be males and are not pure breeds so will have to go for the pot. I havent dispatched hens before and despite reading up on it I'm still not exactly sure how to do it. Do I draw the birds neck out slightly before turning the head? And do I bend the head backwards or turn it to the side? do I aply pressure on the neck as I do it? Where do I make the break? Is it the second\third vertibrae behind the head?


I was hoping to find someone in the area who was willing to show me how its done but I havent managed to find any one. I dont suppose its something many people do these days. There is a good feature on it in the latest Practical Poultry mag but it dosent tell you exactly how to hold the bird etc.

Any advice greatfully recieved,

Buffy

[darkbrowneggs]

I am not good with doing this, but sometimes birds need to be dispatched and often it is better to do it quickly rather than wait for someone to come, and I have bought one of these Humane Dispatcher

Its never nice to have to kill a bird, but sometimes it just has to be done, and this gives me the confidence to deal with it myself.  It is fixed to a gatepost away from the other birds, and I carry the bird quietly under my arm, and when it is calm and relaxed I give it a very smart rap on the back of the head with a short heavy piece of wood, and then immediately use the humane dispatcher.

It is the best way I can think of for a very unpleasant task, but it sometimes has to be done, and done quickly. 

All the best
Sue

[Sandy]

Also better to take them out of thier roost when they are asleep and its semi dark!!!! Better than being ripped apart by a fox or having a horrid long death due to illness!!!!

[shetlandpaul]

or you could just chop the head off if your worried about snapping there necks. messy but its a sure quick death. shooting in the head and breeding out works well.

[Castle Farm]

Take hold of the bird by it's legs,some hold the wing tips as well, but I don't.

Put the head of the bird between your first and second finger so the head rests in the palm of your hand.

Move them (fingers) down to the back of the head, (you should be feeling the skull in the V of your fingers.

Tighten your fingers and at the same time start stretching the bird across your body.

You will feel that the bird is at full stretch and then just tilt your palm backwards/outwards and continue the pull.
The neck is dislocated behind the head.

It will flap alot, but you can feel that the deed has been done by the gap in the neck.

It's got nothing to do with brute force and the union between the head and next is fairly easy to break.

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Thanks every one,

   my birds are used to being handled so are usually pretty docile.

Sue,

      Ive beed told to hit them on the head before but some how I find trying to imagine holding them with one hand while striking them hard with the other hand difficult to visualise. Though I can see how this would make using the dispatcher easier.

Paul,
      I'm supprisingly comfortable about snapping their necks...it seems calmer and quicker than chopping their heads off.
Perhaps me holding them with their neck on a block and covering their eyes to keep them calm while OH swings a sharp axe would be easier. Though getting him out of bead early enough to do it would be a real challenge. Not to mention keeping him calm throughout the procedings

I have this idea of just wondering off early one morning and doing it quietly on my own in the shed. I just want to know I'm doing it right. Can any of you talk me through it?

Buffy

[Hardfeather]

 
Perhaps me holding them with their neck on a block and covering their eyes to keep them calm while OH swings a sharp axe would be easier.

Just don't utter the words...'When I nod my head, you hit it'

Castlefarm has the rights of it. Similarly, you can encircle the neck between your thumb and forefinger if it makes you feel more confident. It helps if the remaining three fingers support the bird's head under the jaw/beak.This method requires a slightly different approach, as the encircling digits must be moved away from your thigh as the hand rotates and this will dislocate the neck against the bridge between thumb and forefinger.

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Thanks Castle Farm,

        so Im holding the legs in my left hand with the underside of the head resting in the palm of my right hand, my fingers pointing upwards around the back of the skull, I cup the head and turning my hand over the heel of my pakm pushes against the underside of the head and beak to bend the head right back to meet the neck and break the point at which the spine joins the skull....is that right?

Can I also ask what age it is best to do this, I have read 24 weeks and 18 weeks,

also, how long should they hang and should I bleed them straight away. I have been told that I should pluck them when they are warm so perhaps I shouldnt hang them at all...?

I cant believe some enterprising poultry keeper dosent offer a beginers crash course in this...I recon they'd make a fortune

Buffy

[sam.t]

where about in east yorkshire r u
sam

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Thanks Aengus,

      am I seated then with the bird on my lap....


    Sam I am off the 1079 York to Hull road near Pocklington.


Buffy

[Hardfeather]

I stand to do this, but it depends on the size/weight and length of the bird.

The left hand would hold the bird's legs, around the middle of the shank or around the hocks, wherever feels more secure. Usually the fore finger goes between the legs so that the thumb and second finger supply the grip required to anchor the bird against the pull of the other hand.

The right hand, as has been mentioned, has to secure the head and, with a pull, as if to stretch the bird, and a degree of rotation, causes the neck to be dislocated behind the skull. The skill is in rotating the head on its dorsal axis (in effect bringing the top of the skull toward the neck), whilst persuading the vertibrae to part against the pressure from the encircling digits.

There is a tendency for the outside of the despatcher's leg, just above the knee, to come into play as an extra lever against which to create the stretching of the neck.

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Thanks Aengus,


 so the streatching pulls the vertebrae apart, and as the head is tipped back as far as it can go, the fingers forming the V turn from vertical to horizontal so the index figer ends up between the skull and the neck and works with the thumb in a tipping movement that seperates the 1st\2nd vertebae and head from the neck? If I'm holding the birds hocks over my left thigh am I pulling the head downwards or horizontally across my body? Is it my right leg that acts as a leaver?

Its a good job I'm not needing to do this urgently to put a bird out of its misery, the poor thing would have lost the will to live just waiting for me to get the hang of it! If explaining the despatch was hard work, just imagine trying to talk me through dressing it......

Thanks all of you for all your help, Im sure that it becomes something quite instinctive once you get the hang of it, which probably makes it very hard to describe for those of you who just do it without thinking.



Buffy   

[darkbrowneggs]

I am not good with doing this, but sometimes birds need to be dispatched and often it is better to do it quickly rather than wait for someone to come, and I have bought one of these Humane Dispatcher

Its never nice to have to kill a bird, but sometimes it just has to be done, and this gives me the confidence to deal with it myself.  It is fixed to a gatepost away from the other birds, and I carry the bird quietly under my arm, and when it is calm and relaxed I give it a very smart rap on the back of the head with a short heavy piece of wood, and then immediately use the humane dispatcher.

It is the best way I can think of for a very unpleasant task, but it sometimes has to be done, and done quickly. 

All the best
Sue

I generally have the bird held calmly under my left arm.  If the bird is relaxed when it is in a new environment it is generally looking about it, normally forwards in the direction in which you are walking.  I have the wood in my right hand and when I see the opportunity I give it a good crack on the base of the scull at the back of the head

I am sure the normal method as described my CF is better, but I dont a have the confidence that I would do the job cleanly, so for me my way works.  I am sure it is just a confidence and practice thing, so if you feel you can then use the traditional way.

All the best
Sue

[daddymatty82]

lget a wooden broom handle on a concrete floor lie bird on floor on its back put broom over neck so you got both feet on each end and pull. hear a crunch job done place in a road cone to reduce brusing to meat