Cervical dislocation may seem kind of violent, but it’s one of the most efficient and humane ways to dispatch a backyard chicken. [2] X Trustworthy Source PubMed Central Journal archive from the U. S. National Institutes of Health Go to source For this method to be humane, you must be swift, confident, and strong. If you hesitate, it could cause the chicken harm. Take your chicken to a vet or ask someone else to do this for you if you’re especially attached to your bird.
If your chicken starts flapping their wings when you grab their legs, wrap your non-dominant arm around the chicken’s body and tuck them against your hip instead. [4] X Research source
The inside of your palm should point to your backside. Keep your grip loose. You don’t want to scare or alarm your chicken while you’re getting them in the proper position. Some people prefer to slide the chicken’s neck in between their index and middle finger. If that’s more comfortable for you, go for it.
If you’re holding the bird by tucking it against your hip (instead of gripping the feet), keep the chicken’s neck upright.
Again, it’s extremely important you do this with strength and speed. You will cause your chicken less pain by pulling as hard as you can. In the extremely rare chance that the first motion isn’t fatal, immediately pull the neck out again.
The movement should stop in a few seconds. Chickens have a ton of nerve endings in their neck—way more than most animals. This is where the phrase “running like a chicken with its head cut off” comes from. Those nerves fire when the neck is snapped, which causes a fluttering of random motions.
This option is best if you have some experience handling an axe, hatchet, or butcher’s knife. A dull blade is less likely to cut cleanly through the neck, which can cause the bird pain in its final moments. The sharper your blade is, the more humane.
You have to kill the bird quickly once you’ve stunned it to ensure a humane death, so finding the striking spot ahead of time will make this process smoother.
Keep your hands and fingers away from the nozzle of the gun when you pull the trigger. If you cannot hold the bird still to do this, set them upside-down inside of a poultry cone to restrain them. It’s important to stun the chicken first because chickens can theoretically experience pain for a few moments after their head is removed. Knocking it out first is more humane. [13] X Research source
Take a step back immediately as soon as you remove the head. Your chicken is going to flutter, shake, and move around. Blood might spray everywhere, so make some room. Bury or burn the chicken once the involuntary movement stops.
The killing cone is considered the most humane device for bleeding a chicken. You can theoretically bleed a chicken without one, but a chicken will struggle after the first cut, which can extend how long your chicken suffers. This is the method small poultry farmers and homesteaders use when they’re killing a chicken to be eaten, since bleeding a bird causes the least amount of damage to the meat.
If the chicken’s head won’t stay still and you can’t get a good shot off, grip the chicken’s beak to hold them still. Just make sure you don’t accidentally shoot your hand with the bolt.
A boning knife is perfect for this, although you can purchase a special poultry sticker if you want a tool designed for this. Humans actually have the same carotid arteries. If you want to envision where the veins are, drag your fingers along the sides of your neck to find them.
There are two arteries, but you only need to cut one to kill the bird. If there’s a huge burst of blood immediately, you’ve made a perfect cut. The bird may twitch for a moment involuntarily, but it’s still unconscious. It is experiencing no pain here.
Wait a minute for the bird to stop bleeding out before you lift them out of the cone by their feet. Bury or burn the bird once you’re done.
