How to Kill a Chicken

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Kill a chicken

Commercial meat farming is a real problem, with animals treated poorly for the duration of their short lives, then dispatched sloppily.

The result is a poor quality meat, from a chicken that spends most of its life in misery. This is why so many people are taking up for meat birds, and breeding their own chickens and killing them at home.

However, if you don't know what you're doing, the process could be difficult and drawn out. Killing a chicken should be quick, clean, and simple.

Here's how to do it.

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If you're going to kill a chicken, you first need to think about how you're going to do it. There are two traditional ways. The first is to cut off the chicken's head. This is messy, but will ensure that the chicken is dead.

The second is to wring its neck. This is cleaner, but if you don't know how to do it, the chicken could survive, and you might need to try again.

Either way, you'll need to prepare the area to kill a chicken. If you plan to cut off the head, make sure you have a chopping block, a bucket, and a sharp knife ready, as well as a few towels.

Wear clothes that you don't mind getting dirty, especially the first time. If you plan to wring the neck, make sure that you have a good space to do it in, away from the rest of the chickens.

Blood or a frightened chicken will make them nervous and distrustful.

Catch the chicken when it's not paying attention, and hold it upside down by the ankles. This prevents it from being able to peck you or escape.

Expect the chicken to flap around. However, if you continue to hold the chicken, it shouldn't be able to escape. Catching the same chicken again will be difficult if you let it go.

Killing a Chicken

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Place the chicken on the chopping block and strike quickly and without hesitation. The knife needs to go through the neck in one clean stroke. Immediately place the beheaded chicken upside down in the bucket to allow the blood to drain.

Don't be surprised if the body continues to twitch, or if you get blood all over you. Killing a chicken this way is harder than it seems.

To kill a chicken by wringing its neck, hold the feet and take hold of the neck firmly. Pull down on the neck, then twist it upward, fast and hard.

You'll feel a snap, then the chicken will begin flapping its wings. This is a nervous reflex - the chicken is not still alive.

Some people hold the chicken until this twitching has stopped. Others put it down and let it run around (thus - "like a chicken with its head cut off"). This can be very disturbing after killing a chicken.

Once the chicken is dead, cut its jugular and hang it upside down in the bucket to drain the blood. Then you can proceed to plucking and dressing it.

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