| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| jenn |
poultry dispatcherany ideas on where to get a reasonably priced one, we only have 2/3 cockerals to despatch or does anyone have one they dont need I could buythanks jenn |
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| RichardW |
You dont need one for such small numbers. Either do it by hand or use the broom stick method.
Best to get some one to show you both methods before you try it alone. |
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| jenn |
thanks richard my oh used to despatch them by hand when we had liots of poultry years ago but I think he is nervous at doing it by hand now, old age is creeping in
jenn |
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| mochyn |
There must be someone by you who does the broomstick method. It's very easy. | ||
| jenn |
not in oxfordshsire, we are very much a rare breed here LOL
jenn |
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| Chez |
Broomstick is good - you can both stand on it whilst one of you pulls - or even just leans back, if you are tall enough. | ||
| bodger |
Surely there must be a downsizer in the area who'll do the deed. | ||
| Bebo |
Don't buy one of those ones that you screw to the wall, put their neck in and pull the lever. I got one from Ascott and it's carp. | ||
| Hairyloon |
I think someone on another forum secured one handle of a large pair of garden loppers and used them one handed. They said it was a bit messy but very effective. I'd give you a link, but the site seems to be down at the moment. |
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| judith |
That's a shame. I was seriously thinking of getting one of those for larger birds. What is the problem with it? |
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| Rob R |
I think that a lot (not all) of devices are bought in place of confidence when really you need more confidence with them than doing it by hand, as you don't have the 'feel' of when you've done it right. If we were closer we'd happily help (and that goes for anyone who is closer). | ||
| Bebo |
It broke the skin but didn't break their neck. Tried different setting and three different cockerels, made a mess and they needed to be necked by hand to finish them off. Not very pleasant to be honest. | ||
| judith |
No, not nice at all. I'll have to rethink. Rob, my problem isn't one of confidence. It is more to do with logistics. I have no problems with smaller birds, but I just find that my arms aren't long enough to get enough leverage with ducks. |
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| Rob R |
Unless you're taller/stronger then the broomhandle method works well for ducks- I can do it fine for geese but I always overdo it with ducks & end up with a mess. 
If you get one piece of equipment I'd go for a killing cone and leave your hands free to do the deed. |
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| Nick |
Where else in the world would this quote make any kind of sense? |
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| RichardW |
I used to use one of the wall mounted ones for ducks & turkeys. The only time we had a problem was when it came off the wall due to too small or wrong type of wall plug in a cinder block wall. If it was cutting the skin it was set to tight & if it was not breaking the neck it was set to loose. That said it would be better if it had two fixed lower fingers & one movable upper one so the neck is held & cant get between the fixed & moving parts. | ||
| judith |
Rob, the cone probably does make sense, but I really can't do throat-cutting. Just can't. |
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| chicken feed |
 we use the broom method it works well but my OH is always making things the other weekend we picked up our dexter beef from another smallholder and he had a cone dispatcher he showed us how to use it then came the price £200 my OH said i can make one the first one worked but he said he could tweek it so the mark 2 version is now in operation and it works well he used one cone (traffic) sat in a wooden stand with two metal bars that pivot the birs goes in the cone (cut down to size) the metal bars go either side of the neck and pull down until you feel the snap the good thing about this is no flapping. next time we get it out i will take photo's
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| Bebo |
We've got cones (came with the second hand plucking machine that we bought), but don't fancy the throat slitting thing either. The two hinged bars sounds like a good idea though. I'll have to get the OH working on how to make something similar. | ||
| Rob R |
I didn't mean cutting, just neck dislocation. Cutting is too messy for me too there's nothing worse than having blood dripping down your boot whilst you pluck. |
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| judith |
Ah right. That sounds much more the sort of thing I need. Any idea where I can get one? | ||
| Bebo |
http://www.chicken-house.co.uk/acatalog/Large_Cone_chicken_turkey_goose_Dispatcher.html
Bloody expensive just to top a few chickens. I'll keep you informed if we work out how to make a DIY one. |
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| Rob R |
Ascott do one (I've never used the clamp thing, always prefer the hands-on approach, as above). I've also just found one a little cheaper from Wells, I'm sure there must be others out there too. | ||
| judith |
Ouch! That is just a bit out of my price range.
I wonder if Mr Bear might be interested in producing such a thing? |
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| Rob R |
I've seen wall mounted versions but not for sale- I imagine they are cheaper. BB should be able to knock something up I would think. | ||
| Chez |
Upside down traffic cone with a bit cut off the top?
The thing that freaked me out about doing the ducks with the broom and taking their heads off, is that a couple of times I've done it and I SWEAR the head stayed sentient for a handful of seconds afterwards. Not the more usual nerve thing; but really *alive*. It was most disconcerting. |
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| Rob R |
chicken feed's version sounds doable. Cones work well as inserts in the free standing one too.
What sort of reaction did you get from the duck's Chez? |
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| Chez |
They just looked alive. Their eyes still held intelligence. I can't explain it, really. It was very different from the usual nervous response that you get where the beak opens and shuts a few times and you have that moment where you think 'Has it gone?'.
I had pulled very hard, very quickly, because I was conscious that I didn't want to muck it up, so I do wonder if it was similar to the 'staying conscious when you have your head chopped off' thing. Or whatever physical thing happens to make it appear that people are. |
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| chicken feed |
ours is just the same idea as the ascot one just more rustic (home made) it only took and evening to make as i said i will take some photos when its next out total cost £0.00 we had everything lying around.
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| Rob R |
This one looks similar, though it doesn't look upto neck dislocation standard.
I've never taken that much notice Chez- weird 
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| Nick |
All this, from a duck? These are the creatures that fight with each other for stale bread. Any intelligence you see in a duck's eye is a reflection. They are at least as stupid as chicken, and God, are they dim. |
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| lottie |
I've had this happen with a duck, never with a fowl or turkey it's extremely upsetting. | ||
| Chez |
It doesn't happen every time; but I'm glad it's not just me that has had it occur. I try not to look now.
We aren't talking measurable IQ here, Nick
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| dpack |
i know what you mean chez i hated that and have two ways of avoiding owt but instant, first is pull and twist ,a destructive attack to medulla oblongata results in instant brain death ,then bleed out
other is a very good machete and once the bird is on the block (from a cuddle to a lie down with head out ,takes practice ,mind fingers )cut behind the eyes through the head again destroying the med .ob.this is instant front and back but bleeds out as the heart still beats until deoxygenated flapping at the back is not too distubing but an aware eye is horrid and seems to be common if an intact head is seperated from the body rather than massive brain damage from a pull or sharp trauma |
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| Chez |
It doesn't happen with chickens, though. I do tend to like the head to come off, because at least you know they're dead. I just can't see myself going for the machete thing. I need to work on my twist-and-pull 
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| Rob R |
I wouldn't describe it as twist nor pull, more push & flick. | ||
| Chez |
I need a lesson next time we visit, please? | ||
| Rob R |
You wanna to see my technique?
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| dpack |
the words are different not sure about the method
i hold the bird under my left arm with hand round neck from below, gently but firm ,right hand then grasps behind head from above between first/second finger ,thumb under to lock the hold ,twist neck qurter turn with each hand while pulling body back and head forward in an arc in a broad ,fast and robust move seems pretty instant re brain death how does your method work ? |
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| Chez |
Yeah. But only so I can show Arvo how it's done.
I just put them down gently on the ground, one hand holding both legs, one hand under the breast. The ground has to be perfectly flat and hard - grass or soil is no good. Then I place the broomstick gently across the neck near the base of the skull and my feet either side of the head on the broom, with the weight on my heels. (If you have someone to stand on one side of the broom whilst you stand on the other it works well, too - and is good for moral support). And then I simultaneously bring my weight forwards on to the broom handle and stretch the legs of the bird up vertically, pulling smoothly and firmly. If you do it right, you can feel it 'go' and you get a very strong flapping reaction. If you don't do it quite right, the flapping is less strong and at that point I always have a second go. And if you pull a bit hard, the head comes off. I would rather that happen than have to have another go at it and potentially be causing the bird distress. But it's messy. |
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| stumbling goat |
jenn,
you have a pm. sg |
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| Ixy |
I use the broomstick for anything bigger than a hen, but not ducks. I tried necking a duck and it didn't even feel it. The next time I had to kill one I tried the broomstick - I just severely hurt it because I didn't have the strength to finish the job (I'm not exactly a wee thing either) and had to act fast with a knife to kill it - one of the worst things I've ever seen/done, and I've not killed a duck since that batch.
Personally, I don't believe necking does kill a chicken instantly. I like to tell myself the movements are just reflexes but in my gut, I feel it's not and that they are still feeling pain. I also think this is the case with stun guns. |
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| Rob R |
iirc the animal is [should be] motionless when stunned and the twitching starts when you slit the throat. | ||
| gunners71uk |
whats the broomstick method pls | ||
| chicken feed |
 go back to page 1 for the broomstick method.
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| bodger |
I feel a Downsizer killing meet coming up. Whose first ?
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| chicken feed |
great idea bodger.
we are more than happy to show anyone in our area how we do ours. |
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| Ixy |
That's not why I think the stun gun doesn't stop them feeling pain - it stops movement and IMO, we like to then tell ourselves that they can't feel pain. They're not completely motionless though, they quiver. |
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| bodger |
I thought that the scene on the Effing Gordon Effing Ramsey Effing programme where they stunned the turkeys before killing them was particularly gruesome.
Lord knows, I'm not particularly soft and I know that we shouldn't attribute turkeys with human senses but how must they have viewed the procedings ? A stranger in a white coat grabs hold of them, ties their legs together, suspends them up side down and then sticks an electric probe down their gob and all this before they got down to the real business. Turkeys are killed by their brain being turned off. Unless the brain is destroyed instantly and in its entirety then there's always going to be short time when the brain retains some residual sense. That goes for instant decapitation or neck dislocation. As I see it, in the case of the last two methods, brain death is caused by the organ being deprived of oxygen. I think that we owe it to our birds to make their death as painless and calm as possible. You pick your birds up quietly and keep whats going to happen to them from them for as long as possible. A familiar person in familiar surroundings and then bingo! They shouldn't know whats hit them. On a slightly different tack, I think that its a shame that quick and efficient home slaughter has been made so difficult for larger animals but I do understand, why this is. |
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| Rob R |
The key is the rapid drop in blood pressure that renders them immediately unconcious. The only way we can possibly understand how it feels is to have experienced it and not many of us survive such a drop in blood pressure. In that respect stunning should always be followed immediately by bleeding IMO. Some of the methods do seem rather faffy. 
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| Ixy |
I don't see the point of the stunning bit - I don't think they don't feel pain after stunning, they can even come round again (which is why they are then bled) so why not skip straight to the blood pressure drop like we always used to? | ||
| Rob R |
Efficiency & personnel safety, I think. | ||
| gunners71uk |
ahhhhhhhhhhhhh now i know | ||
| Ixy |
Yep. |