[little blue]

Sorry for the subject folks...
Just wondered what methods y'all prefer for dispatching poultry?
Whats 'best' for the chickens?     And for the person doing the deed?!
And how many of you hang the birds, where and for how long?

Thanks in advance, I'm just forward planning for all those cockerals that will inevitably hatch out in the spring (if I get my incubator from Santa... I've been very good this year!)

[harry]

theres no point in hanging chickens, but ducks geese definatly need hanging, plucked but guts in, legs upwards, i purchased an old tall fridge for £10 to hang geese/ducks in for 2 weeks, you can get away with it in winter with no fridge............ HERE I GO AGAIN, in PP mag they suggest you can use an air pistol into the brain area from under there chin, clean for the queamish, a meat cleaver is 110% but messy, wear red trousers. i also use a wall mounted dispatcher also very clean and 100% effective. pluck all the birds while warm.

[RUSTYME]

yes .. there is nothing worse than standing there shivering while plucking some bird !!!!

cheers

Russ

[r+lchick]

I despatched Ronnie and Reggie recently.  An accquaintance did the first one to show me how it was done.  Then it was my turn.  It is an unusual experience, not for the squemish as I could hear him exhale and pass out.  The hardest thing was breaking the neck.  It does take a lot of force and he took over to an extent as I was taking too long.  You have to hold them by the feet until they stop flapping.  I will be more prepared next time as I know how much force to use.  You also hear a loud click when the neck is broken.  Sorry if this has put you off but forwarned is forarmed.  (I didn't expect the exhale of breath).  The plucking too longer than I remembered.  You are also left with a very fine air (from the middle of each feather) which I scoulded off with a lighter.  The cut to gut them, I did vertically (taught that way - books say horizontally).  Didn't hang cockerals, infact they wer plucked and gutted before cold.  Didn't pluck very far up the neck.  When you cut the head off, do over a sink as the blood collects there - even if not hung.  Put mine over the sink.  Hope it is a help.   

[shetlandpaul]

i have a wall mounted gadet but im not keen i much prefer the old axe. the daughter hold the chuck i grab its head lay it on a piece of wood and its dead. with the despatcher i tend to end up pulling their heads off.

[harry]

if you pull to hard the head comes off, not hard enough it can recover during plucking, BUY A WALL DISPATCHER.

[harry]

although i like shooting things and setting fire to things ime not as dangerous as you , you are always cutting the heads off things......... adjust your wall mounted thingy so the skin doesnt get cut.

[harry]

you could try, a wall dispatcher, then pull its neck, shoot it then cut its head off.

[shetlandpaul]

that would work. maybe give the burning a miss thou. i leave that up to the wife.
it is one of those that you have it just does not seem to kill them so then i end up taking there heads off to be sure. i just dont want them to suffer.

[harry]

i leave pressure on the closed jaws for about 30 seconds, that does it

[shetlandpaul]

ta i will try that.

[plt102]

Hi there - we have a new wall mounted poultry dispatcher and 6 (now 5) cockerals and 11 meat birds and it is time to get them all ready for the freezer so we can let our bantam hens have more space and perhaps hatch off some more birds.

My other half had a really distressing moment last week where the adjustment was too loose in the dispatcher and it didn't do the job properly. Our cockeral was stunned a bit but then got up happily and started pecking around and crowing again. She had to get our farmer friend to finish the job off by hand, after catching him again.

We have now adjusted the dispatcher but are really nervous about getting it wrong again. The gap is now about 1/2 centimetre - will that do the job for smallish cockeral bantams (the dispatcher handily came with no instructions...) or should it be any smaller (would rather not chop head off if possible)

Also, we have been advised to pull the body when the clamp is still on to make sure the job is done properly. Is that a good idea?

We really don't want any of the other birds to suffer.

P.S. we don't have an air rifle but do own an axe if essential....

[little blue]

sorry, can't really advise, as our dispatcher is hand-held not wall mounted.
And yes, we've had a couple with broken skin & one that got up again!

I'd say... stick with it. We all have those horrible moments
Why not try a measure of your boys' necks with a bit of string, when they are the size you would kill them at.  Then check this against the size of the dispatcher's jaws.