[colliewoman]

I hope to gods i never need do it, though i suspect as the number of birds go up i'll have to
i'm not squeamish but really want to know the correct way of dispatching before i need to do it!
thankies in advance
Donna x

[nails]

Think it depends on how confident your are at pulling a chooks neck, my hubby normaly shoots them with an air gun, puts the end of the gun on the head, one pellet is normally enough, if we are slaughtering for meat, he normally cuts throat straight after shooting it to bleed it. We have a friend that chops there head straight off with an axe if it hasn't got a head it's got to be dead!!! Or find someone to do it for you!

[Castle Farm]

Get someone who knows how to do it correctly.

[YorkshireLass]

I watched a few youtube videos (boy does that mess up your recommendations!)

The method I "liked" is to catch your chook from the coop first thing in the morning (=sleepy). Carry by legs, the minute or so upside down sends blood to head and they get a bit dopey.
Place the bird's "chin" on the floor, and some sort of bar across the back of the neck. Hold bar down with foot, pull legs straight up = broken neck. Good for me as I was doing it on a very large bird, and was terrified of not using enough force and only injuring the poor thing.

Humane slaughter of chicken

[Mel]

I have had to dispatch a few and none flap like in this video!

[DJ_Chook]

I do the neck pull, usually a little too hard and the head comes off... mine also don't flap this much. I think it's flapping due to the nerves still being connected in the neck even if it is broken and pooling blood in the neck.

[Rosemary]

We have a road cone screwed upside down to a telegraph post. The narrow end is cut off to allow the head and neck through. The bird is slipped into the cone, gently, then a single airgun pellet to the back of the head. Dead. The cone prevents any flapping. If we are killing for meat, the blood vessels in the neck are severed to bleed the bird.

With the cone, it's very easy to do it single handed.

[tizaala]

www.miketheheadlesschicken.org

This bird lived without a head for 18 months and was fed with an eye dropper.

I think too little force was used in the demmo video , it needs a much stronger pull and a longer spanner, I just hold e'm by the legs with one hand and a quick pull and twist till you feel the neck come loose. Hardly any flapping.

[Mel]

We have a road cone screwed upside down to a telegraph post. The narrow end is cut off to allow the head and neck through. The bird is slipped into the cone, gently, then a single airgun pellet to the back of the head. Dead. The cone prevents any flapping. If we are killing for meat, the blood vessels in the neck are severed to bleed the bird.

With the cone, it's very easy to do it single handed.

Brilliant idea,rather like the old fashioned Turkey dispatchers,we have a cone too,thanks for this!

[Sylvia]

I use an electric stunner then bleed them.

[MikeM]

We have a road cone screwed upside down to a telegraph post. The narrow end is cut off to allow the head and neck through. The bird is slipped into the cone, gently, then a single airgun pellet to the back of the head. Dead. The cone prevents any flapping. If we are killing for meat, the blood vessels in the neck are severed to bleed the bird.

With the cone, it's very easy to do it single handed.

liking that idea, plus it gives me an excuse to buy an airpistol.

[robert waddell]

consensus of opinion would suggest that shooting them with an airgun is the way to go           but is that an approved form of dispatch(just wondering)and if it is what size of fowl can it go up to     with point blank range

[Sandy]

We/my hubby and son in law to be precise, did some for Christmas and it was easy, he went to them in the dark with his torch, took them one at a time quietly out and hung them up side down and pulled thier neck then bled them, some flapped a bit (blood went over the white snow) but nothing horrid and I doubt they knew much as it was very quick, my problem would be, if you hesitate its horrid!!!!!

[ellisr]

I have what is described as a humane disptcher screwed to the side of the stable you place the chooks neck in and close the handle in breaks the neck and chook is dead. It even works on geese with a slight adjustment on a screw.

[hughesy]

I can't help thinking it's a bit ridiculous shooting chickens with an airgun. Where does the pellet go if it goes straight through or if the bird moves just at the wrong moment? The accepted way is to break the neck, either by hand, using a purpose built despatcher, or using the so called broomstick method. A swift blow to the back of the neck with a "priest" also works well.