How long does it really take to bleed out?

[Hummingbird Hollow]

Hi folks. My goal, like many of your goals, is to raise my chickens in as healthy and natural an environment as possible, to treat them with kindness and gentleness until it is time for them to go and then to make the actual killing as quick, painless and trauma-less as possible.

I use a killing cone, first using the pithing method followed by the slicing of the side of the neck to open the carotid artery and let it bleed out. I always stay with my bird through the whole process, usually putting my hand down into the cone against the chicken's chest once the bleeding has slowed and any thrashing has stopped. I can feel a few moments of trembling, perhaps the heart trying to keep beating and then it is over. I give a sigh of relief and go on to the next step of the process.

It always seems to take forever from that first cut to the "It's over" phase and I am left wondering if I'm doing a good job or whether I'm causing unnecessary trauma (either for myself or for the bird) because I'm doing something incorrectly or incompletely.

So, I'm asking you to tell me how long it takes for you when you are butchering from that initial cut to knowing that the heart has stopped and live signs are completely gone. Please don't give me a quess. I'm asking you to time the procedure the next time you butcher...maybe with one or maybe with more than one and let me know your findings.

I have to butcher several 18 week old DP roosters this afternoon and I'll consult my watch and let you know what I'm experiencing. OK?

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

Hmmm, maybe not as long as I thought...although it seems to last forever. Last night I remembered to time two of the four DP roosters I was butchering. From the initial cut to the carotid artery there was about 60 60 - 90 seconds of good strong blood flow. Then the thrashing starts (worst part for me) for about another 60 seconds and then a period where there are signs that it isn't over, movement of the feathers, movement of the feet that takes another 60 seconds.

So about three minutes in the cone was my finding. Does that sound right? Anything I can learn to ease the process for my birds I'd appreciate.

 

[Realtree4]

Maybe we did this wrong but....we strung our roosters upside down and my husband had a VERY sharp knife and took off the entire head. The thrashing started in about 5 seconds and maybe only last 15 - 30 seconds? I would say that the entire process from start to completely not moving was a minute...maybe less by a few seconds. But we have never butchered in a way that we only bleed them out. Maybe by removing the head completely and removing the brain, it goes faster?

I'm in no way an expert...we have only processed two so far. And that's the only way we have butchered.

 

[vehve]

We processed our first rooster on Monday. I used a sharp pair of hedge shears. The idea was to take the head clean off, but the feathers jammed the blade a bit, resulting in the neck not being completely off. It did however slice open the jugular on both sides, resulting in a good flow, and also severed the neck. We then raised a trash bag around him to collect blood, and calm him down. The trashing took about 10-15 seconds.

 

[slingshotandLAR]

I would say a minute or so.....

Another thing you can do that we stared doing was cutting behind the head first. This severed the spinal cord and instant death. Than make the cuts on the side of the neck.

It's also very easy with a sharp knife with little effort to take the head right off. Hold around the head and beak, slice and push slightly the knife will go clean through. This is with them in the cone.

It gets much more efficient with practice once you do a few you will get more aggressive and make sure you do it right.




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[m7boondocker]

We butchered 22 CornishX last week, took a large traffic cone and cut the top off until the chicken's head would fit through. Then using a very sharp stiff knife, remove the whole head. There was very good "flow" for about 10-15 seconds, and then we let the bird drain for a minute or so. We had two traffic cones setup, which allowed the process to move smoothly and still give time for the bird to bleed out.

Last year we used the hatchet method with a wood block and let the bird flop around. I very much prefer the cone method and removing the whole head. Bird is calm up until its "time", I think the bleed out is much faster with the whole head gone.

 

[sparrow.star]

Maybe we did this wrong but....we strung our roosters upside down and my husband had a VERY sharp knife and took off the entire head. ... Maybe by removing the head completely and removing the brain, it goes faster?

I read where slitting the throat from ear to ear is the best way to get the best bleed and that cutting off the head you'll get half to 2/3 as much as you need to. Severing the spine will work, but it will lead to tougher meat and you'll have to soak the remaining blood out of the carcass.

 

[HomesteadNowhere]

We hang a cone on a post. You take a piece of twine and make a loop. Put the loop around the head and pull it down and slightly away, then using your domain hand cut the head off. This keeps the head pulled out and your fingers safe.
I like cutting the head all the way off. You get a good whack on it and it falls away or you second whack a bit of connective skin. That's it, it's off and for sure dead. And using a good sharp hatchet or old fashioned butcher knife it's over in half a second.
The flailing is just going to happen. The brain has been disconnected. The body is firing off with whatever energy it has left. The brain tells the muscles and everything what to do, but it also keeps them from just doing whatever.

Technically we all die from lack of oxygen to the brain. It's just a matter of the cause of lack of oxygen. I always do my best, as you said, to do it as quick and painless as can be managed. Take heart, the flailing doesn't mean they suffer or are still alive, it's just unnerving.

 

[trudyg]

I was wondering about how long it takes to actually get most of the blood out, not worrying about the thrashing around. Some of mine stopped dripping in about 2 minutes, others dripped for 5 minutes. I guess you just see if it's dripping fast? I don't like to get one to the table and then have a gush of blood to wash away.

 

[HomesteadNowhere]

I forgot the bleeding part in my last post. My bad. After they stop flailing I move them from the cone to basically a clothesline where they hang. Our system was to head and hang about 6 or 8, that's how many were in each cage to bring them near the butcher area. Then you go to the first one that was hung up and take it to dip and pluck. Then the second one, third one,... It seemed like they mostly bled out by the time they stop flopping around but this gives them at least ten minutes or so to hang before dip and pluck.