Chicken Tonight Guillotine

[Frank S]

About 5 or 6 years ago a friend asked me to design for him a way to chop the heads off of chickens.
OK many of us who either live or have lived on a farm would simply take the chicken by the head and flick our wrist or place the head under a hoe handle and pull still others would hold the chicken with one hand and chop the head off with a sharp heavy blade.
Sorry if all of that sounds a little graphic but fresh home fried chicken does not come from the magic fast food machine.
I designed a guillotine for him and sent him the plans to build it since he was located in a country several thousand miles from me
I thought I would share a few Jpeg renderings of my actual drawings.
If the forum administrators do start the new plans page I will gladly supply a full set of drawings there
in this first image you see the guillotine in the raised and locked position

After placing the head in the grove lower the head lock

this image shows the double lock safety mechanism in the locked position
before the blade can fall the lower handle must be raised. It is impossible for the blade to fall if the trigger handle is depressed unless the safety lock is held open with the same hand

then apply pressure downward on the upper handle to release the trigger plate holding the blade while holding onto the legs of the bird

the head will fall in the bucket you place the bird in another bucket or drum with a catch and hold net much like a very small basket ball net to allow it to bleed out this prevents it from flopping around and bruising the meat while it bleeds out.

Somewhere I may have some actual pictures of the device my friend built using the drawings I provided for him but they are very graphic so I do not believe suitable to be posted

[DIYer]

Thanks Frank! We've added your Chicken Guillotine to our Farm and Garden and Culinary categories, as well as to your builder page: Frank S's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Chicken Guillotine by Frank S

tags: guillotine tool

[KMoffett]

Wow! In my day, as a kid on the farm, I dispatched hundreds of chickens with a tree stump, two 10P nails and a sharp hatchet.

Ken

[nevadablue]

Yes, a full set of plans would be appreciated!

[ncollar]

Frank
Just give me an axe and chopping block.
Good day

[Frank S]

ncollar, you have to realize that not everyone has the skills to wield an axe with 1 hand while holding on to the legs of a chicken.
Also it is forbidden to eat meats that are not dispatched in a certain manner. Chickens must have their heads severed in 1 clean cut no closer than the 2nd vertebrae from the base of the head and no further than the 4th the guillotine chopping block was perfect for the guy I designed it for

[JohnMTO]

OY ! Would this work for circucisions as well?? Such an invention!

[ncollar]

If you hold the chickens head in your hand and on the wooden block, one can with one swift remove it head as close to the skull as one want to. My grandfather taught us very young that yard birds were Sundays dinner.