Tried PITHING, bad idea

[Judy]

I don't think you did it wrong, I think you scrambled the brain, so I doubt there was any brain to feel pain. I think your problem was you had the misconception that pithing kills them. The whole idea of it is to scramble the brain but leave the heart beating so it will pump all the blood out.

Sorry you had this experience, but I wouldn't give up; sounds like you had it right.

 

[honeydoll]

Quote:
Thanks for the encouraging words. Yes, that was my misconception, I thought they died. But he jumped and made a cry, will they still do that after being pithed? I am new to this pithing thing, so please excuse the newbie questions.

 

[tammyd57]

Quote:
Are you talking about commercially? Because I could understand that. But pithing has been practiced in backyard & farm flocks for many many years.
As far as I know, there aren't any diseases that humans can get from chicken brain matter. If I'm wrong, please enlighten me.
Your statement needs a lot more detail. Such as where you got your information and whether it pertains to chickens or cows or what?

 

[honeydoll]

Quote:
Are you talking about commercially? Because I could understand that. But pithing has been practiced in backyard & farm flocks for many many years.
As far as I know, there aren't any diseases that humans can get from chicken brain matter. If I'm wrong, please enlighten me.
Your statement needs a lot more detail. Such as where you got your information and whether it pertains to chickens or cows or what?

I would like to see that too. If there is soemthing I haven't heard of I would like to know as well...always good to learn something new.

 

[ChickyLaura]

Eek! I just ordered my first meaties, and DH and I intended to slaughter them ourselves. Now I'm getting 2nd thoughts!!!

 

[Stacykins]

Quote:
Are you talking about commercially? Because I could understand that. But pithing has been practiced in backyard & farm flocks for many many years.
As far as I know, there aren't any diseases that humans can get from chicken brain matter. If I'm wrong, please enlighten me.
Your statement needs a lot more detail. Such as where you got your information and whether it pertains to chickens or cows or what?

There have been no reported prion diseases in chickens, which is what causes transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (mad cow disease). Thus far, prion diseases have been almost exclusively limited to mammals. PrPSc is the infectious form of a prion, which attaches to healthy prions PrPC, and converts them to PrPSc. Essentially it is a continuous chain reaction which then causes a diagnosable disease.

Prion diseases were around and known long before the Mad Cow Disease hype. Could it be possible for there to be an avian form that can cause a disease in humans? Theoretically, yes. There is a non transmissible form of spongiform encephalopathy that affects ostriches, and some catalyst could make it zoonotic to humans someday.

 

[gmendoza]

On my last post it was for processing larger animals for food.I dont think the article pertains to chickens.Therefore I retract it.

But here is the article anyways:

pithing
[pith′ing]
Etymology: AS, pitha
the destruction of the central nervous system of an experimental animal in preparation for physiologic research. It is usually done by inserting a blunt probe through a foramen.

pithing
1. destruction of the brain and spinal cord by thrusting a blunt needle into the vertebral canal and cranium, done on animals to destroy sensibility preparatory to experimenting on their living tissue.
2. an abattoir method of euthanasia; the animal is stunned by a captive bolt pistol and a cane or coiled wire passed into the cranium through the hole. The brain is destroyed by moving the cane about.

Pithing is a slaughtering technique in which the brain of the animal is destroyed by a tool called a pithing cane or rod, which is inserted into the hole which is created by captive bolt stunning. Trained slaughtermen will be experienced in the use of captive bolt weapons. After stunning, the rod is inserted into the stunning hole and pushed to its full length, the rod then remains locked in the hole and is disposed of with the animal. Pithing destroys the spinal cord, thus killing the animal, and also may reduce the reflex kicking which occurs at stunning, and so contribute to the safety of the casualty slaughterman. This method is also used when dealing with diseased animals in the case of epidemic or notifiable disease. Pithing is viewed as a humane way of killing an animal that is going to be slaughtered or destroyed for disease control or humane reasons, for example an animal which is severely injured in an accident. When animals must be killed humanely on farm for disease control purposes or in an emergency situation, disposable pithing rods allow the slaughterman to adopt best practice. They ensure humane slaughter, seal the stunning hole reducing bleeding and so provide good biosecurity protection and eliminate the need to bleed out the animal. Disposable devices will help to ensure that the rods do not represent a risk of disease spread, and that they remain with the animal when it is disposed. In the case of outbreak of notifiable or epidemic disease, government agencies and welfare organisations may develop contingency plans. ‘Planned stocking’ may be necessary to ensure that rods are available at short notice in the event of a disease outbreak.

Today, pithing is not practiced on animals intended for the human food supply because it may lead to the spread of fragments of neural matter through the carcass, but this method is encouraged for animals in emergency or disease control situations where the meat will not be consumed. U.S. regulations are currently in place disallowing importation of beef from cows which have been killed in this manner, due to risk of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or "mad cow") disease. The European Union has also banned the practice on animals intended for human consumption.

This method also refers to a procedure used in biology classes to immobilize a specimen, by inserting a needle up through the base of the skull (from the back) and then wiggling the needle around, destroying the brain. It allows for dissecting the frog, as well as observing its living physiology, such as the beating heart and expansion and contraction of the lungs, without causing unnecessary pain to the animal. The specimen remains living because respiration continues through the skin without cerebral control.



Im also asking why go to these measures that I call extreme? Just chop it head off.If your birds are livestock,there is no cruelty on good old fashioned twisting the neck or chopping.You might do this,and I wont discourage you in doing this. Not my cup o'tea,thats all.

 

[honeydoll]

Stacykins, thanks for that excellent tutorial on all that.

Gmendoza: Thanks you for elaborating.

Lots of good points. I really appreciate all the input. Pithing does seem more cruel, after doing it and seeing the results but if you were to pith after of course that is moot. But I don't see a point to that for myself.

THis has really helped me narrow things down, I think I will have my hubby try cutting the arteries next time. I just think I'll get a better bleed out.

 

[Stacykins]

Your welcome, hopefully it was easy enough to understand? I know microbiology and epidemiology can be an intense and confusing subject even for those who have studied it!

 

[mstricer]

YEWWWWWW I'm always dragged to these threads, I don't know why either, within seconds I shudder, If I say the word out loud around BF, he stops with this look on his face and says, "Thats all bad" its a sadden look. Says he'll never do it again.