Performing an effective manual neck cut

Abattoirs may decapitate unconscious birds if they wish to be certain both carotid arteries and both jugular veins are severed. Decapitation is the preferred bleeding method if a shackle line becomes inaccessible after neck cutting, because once a bird’s brain (head) becomes detached from its body, operators do not need to be concerned for the welfare of the body. After decapitation, immediate mechanical maceration of the head will ensure a rapid brain death.

If decapitation is not the preferred method of bleeding, then operators must perform a deep, transverse cut across the throat, close to the head. This is called a complete ventral neck cut (VNC) (Figure 17a) and is a very successful way to achieve severance of both common carotid arteries and both external jugular veins. Two methods of performing a manual ventral neck cut, depending on how much time is available to the slaughterperson, are described below. Both methods are suitable for any species of poultry, although Method A may be particularly suitable for larger birds such as turkeys (it may make it easier to sever their carotid arteries which lie deep within the neck muscle). Assuming you are the slaughterperson:

Method A:

1. Hold the back/top of a bird’s head in your palm, with your thumb and fingers positioned either side of the bird’s head, over the cheeks (Figure 17a). This allows for a safe, firm grip and enough resistance for the knife to easily penetrate the neck.
2. Turn the bird’s head so the side of the head and neck are facing you.
3. With the knife pointing away from you, and with the blade facing the same direction that the bird’s throat is facing, position the point of the knife at the junction of the head and neck (ie just below the jaw bone) and slightly towards the ventral side of the middle of the bird’s neck so the knife is in between the vertebrae and the trachea (thereby avoiding the vertebrae) (Figure 17b).
4. Then push the knife into the middle of the neck and straight through and out the other side of the neck (as if performing a spear-stick cut) (Figure 17b).
5. Then, with the knife in the same position, pull the blade through the tissues of the throat to open the throat completely (Figure 17b).
6. If you are unsure whether both carotid arteries are severed, you should immediately turn the blade around so it is facing towards the bird and carefully cut back into the wound, up to (but not into) the vertebrae. It is important to manoeuvre the blade to also cut both sides of the throat, to ensure no blood vessels escape the knife.

Method B:

1. Firmly hold the beak and rostral part of the bird’s head, ensuring your fingers are not within the trajectory of the knife. It is important to maintain a firm grip, to provide resistance for the knife to work against.
2. With the bird’s throat facing you, position the blade on the throat, at the head-neck junction and on one side of the bird’s neck.
3. Press the blade onto the throat and, whilst applying pressure, pull the knife across the throat and round to the other side of the bird’s neck, in one smooth, uninterrupted action. (Cutting the sides of the throat in this manner (Figure 17c), may allow the knife to ‘follow’ and cut the muscle and blood vessels, if they are pushed to the side by the movement of the knife.)

Figure 17. How to manually restrain a bird's head and apply a ventral neck cut. Restrain the head using any of the grasps shown. b) relates to Method A: 4) push the knife through the middle of the neck in a straight line so it emerges out the other side; 5) then pull the knife through the tissues of the throat. Whichever of the suggested methods is used, after cutting, the throat should look like that of the bird held in c): the neck muscle and sides of the throat are visibly cut. (Consider wearing suitable personal protective equipment, eg chain mail glove.)

Immediately after performing the neck cut, the slaughterperson must look for two thin ‘jets’ of blood spraying under high pressure (Figure 18) – this indicates both common carotid arteries have been severed. Slow-flowing or dripping blood immediately after cutting may indicate the jugular veins are cut but the carotid arteries may still be intact so the bird should be cut again. No, or very limited, blood flow after cutting also suggests an ineffective cut, even in small species, eg quail; immediately perform the cut again, until sufficient blood flows.

Figure 18. A stunned turkey that has received a ventral neck cut. The turkey’s two common carotid arteries have been successfully severed, as indicated by the upside-down V-shaped pattern of blood flowing from the arteries which are embedded within the neck muscle. The high-pressure arterial flow typically subsides five to 10 seconds after neck cutting. It should be simple for slaughterpersons to self-check their neck cutting efficacy by checking that each bird displays this pattern of high-pressure blood-loss. Limited, or only dripping, blood flow may suggest the carotid arteries remain intact and the cut should be immediately performed again to prevent any possibility of recovery.

Types of neck cut that are likely to have difficulty severing both common carotid arteries:

• Dorsal neck cuts. Unlikely to sever the carotid arteries, which are located on the ventral side of the vertebrae.
• Unilateral cuts to one side of the neck only. Typically only severs one jugular vein and sometimes one carotid artery.
• Spear-stick cuts are made by pushing a thin knife through the middle of the neck and withdrawing the knife through the same wound, without further manipulation of the knife inside the neck. Inconsistently severs both carotid arteries.
• Mouth or beak cuts (known as per os); a knife is inserted into the mouth and into the throat where the cut is made, near the base of the skull. Typically only severs the jugular vein anastamosis or one jugular vein.

Next: Automated mechanical neck cutters