Slaughtered and hanged upside down

The chickens or ducks to be slaughtered should no have access to any type of food for about 6-8 hours. However, access to drinking water until catching them is advisable -especially in hot climates- so that the animals do not suffer unnecessarily. Moreover this will also have a positive influence on the quality and the tenderness of the meat afterwards.

Respecting these to advices will prevent the presence of food in the crop when this part is removed, thus risking to soil the product.
The Procedure:

Make sure the head of the bird is positioned downward so that the blood can flow down easily, and preferably in such a way that the rest of the body is well secured. Best is to use a cone (funnel) with a hole in the bottom to get access to the head to apply the bleeding cut, whereby the bird's wings cannot flap thus preventing also that blood would remain in the wing tips afterwards. It is important to try to drain as much of the blood as possible, without causing damage to the body.

The best method and most human way to kill the animals is to cut the jugular veins with a sharpest possible knife. This way they will quickly loose consciousness because the blood is drained from the head within seconds after the cut. Allow app. 1.5 - 2 minutes of draining in order to get the best possible bleeding.

Cutting off the head of the bird completely will result in less bleeding. Moreover the plucking afterwards will also be more difficult.