Chicken Cone

by shinkley in Living > Homesteading

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Chicken Cone

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Our birds spend their lives as they were designed to do: dust-bathing, bug-chasing and free-ranging. It is important to us that they live and die in a manner which is both dignified and humane.

First, let’s talk about how the killing cone works. The bird is placed head-down into the cone The bird, when upside down, goes into a sleepy trance-like state. We then kill the bird quickly by severing the main artery in the neck with a very sharp knife. The bird then stays in the cone while the blood drains out into a bucket below. But how does one make the cone? Here are step-by-step instructions on making a cone from a 5-gallon bucket

You Will Need:
5-Gallon Bucket
Zip Ties (Heavy Duty)
Drill, with multiple Drill Bits
Jig Saw w/ Plastic Blade or Open Hacksaw

Step 1: Cut Out the Bottom of the Bucket

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First we will Cut off the Bottom of the Bucket, I used a Drill and Small Drill bit to act as a saw (jig saw is broken)

Step 2: Making Our Cuts

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So here we want to Cut a V out of the side of the bucket, I quickly drew two lines and cut it out with a Bread knife
shhhh don't tell my wife

Next we will cut the V out along side the rim of the bucket

Then lastly we will cut straight down the middle of the rim in the center of the V

Step 3: Making the Cone Shape

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First I found a Drill bit to match my Zip ties

then we Pull the Bottom of the buck together, there will be some overlapping, make the hole in the bottom big enough for your Birds, we also will be doing turkeys so I made mine a Little large

Drill two holes about 1/4" from each other, Now thread the zip Tie through the Holes and Tighten, repeat 3 - 4 to secure the Cone

Don't Forget the Zip tie the Rim as Well,

Step 5: Re Attach the Bucket Handle

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In This Step we will drill two holes in the rim near, the back of the Bucket (Seam) this is to re-locate the handle so we can hang our Cone

Step 5: Trim the Cone

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In this last Step, I took a pair of Tin Snips and Cut the corners off the Cone over lap to make it more presentable and to prevent the Chickens from getting hung Up

Finished!

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You can Either Use the Handle to hang from a Hook or Nail, or Screw the Cone into a Post (more permanent/Secure)

You Can read up on how to use the cone here
http://www.raising-chickens.org/killing-chickens.html