May of 2023 was our family’s first experience with a chicken harvest. We learned a lot but thankfully we didn’t suffer the consequences of losing any edible chickens. We studied, asked seasoned homesteading friends questions and best tips, and DIY-ed as much as we could to help the process and save us money. In this post, I’ll share the video that inspired these chicken killing cones and our review.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. Johnson Home NC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and links to Amazon.com. As part of this Amazon Associates program, the Website will post customized links, provided by Amazon, to track the referrals to their website. And I thank you for using these links!
Why do I need a cone to kill a meat bird?
Family has told me they used a chopping block and a butcher knife to get the job done then just tossed the bird in the yard for the rest to happen as it wants to.
My Nana didn’t love that so she’d place the head of the bird under her foot, grab the chicken under the wings and pull up. This effectively ended the life of the bird quickly and without the mess.
To avoid as much mess as possible, a killing cone helps to hold down the chicken’s wings so it doesn’t flap about, slinging blood everywhere and bruising itself. It also helps to make the process a little easier too. At least that’s what I suspect. I wasn’t able to actually do the kill part myself. My husband is my hero.
Can I just buy a killing cone already made?
Sure you can! You can purchase them online from poultry equipment websites or here.
But as you can see, they’ll run you about $25-28 PER CONE.
Want to make one for about $5 or less? Keep reading!
The goal with raising and harvesting our own meat birds is…
- to know where our meat comes from
- to know how they were raised
- to know what they ate
- to save money
Paying $75+ for killing cones isn’t exactly saving us money even if we use them for processing days to come.
Materials
- 5 gallon bucket(s)- we used 3
- zip ties (5-6 per bucket)
- pliers
- permanent marker
- jig saw or tin snips to cut through thick plastic
- measuring tape
- painter’s tape
- drill
- clamps (or someone to hold bucket)
Sure, there are tools involved that you may not own but as any homesteader knows, borrowing and bartering is your friend!
How to make a 5 gallon bucket chicken killing cone
Marking and Cutting
Start by measuring 12 inches and marking the beginning point and ending point of those 12 inches with a permanent marker at the top and bottom of the bucket. Now use painter’s tape to connect the dots top to bottom in an X. Use jig saw to cut off the bottom of the bucket. You can use a hand saw to get a place started for your jig saw to continue through if needed. Then turn bucket upside down.
Next, use your jig saw to cut a V on the inside of your taped X formation. Then cut all the way down and through the bucket to open it up. Remove tape from bucket.
Folding and Tying
Now you’ll take the two cut edges and fold one under the other to make the cone as big or as small as you’d like it to be for your chicken (or turkey). Here you can measure your smallest opening to see what size you want it to be. The idea is for the bird’s neck and head to come through but not wings or breasts. Clamp bottom and top where you want the sizing to be to hold it in place while you drill. Or use your extra person to hold your bucket sides in place so you can safely drill.
Drill two holes close together through the two overlapped pieces. Then use your zip tie to thread through the holes and zip them closed. Repeat this 4 more times up the bucket until it is closed. Remove the clamps.
Smoothing and Finishing
Use jig saw to smooth or even off the top where the two sides overlapped if need be. Then use tin snips or pliers to snip off the zip tie extra long pieces.
Extras
Your killing cone is now done. We opted to leave the handle on for hanging the cone but we found after two birds that the nail we used wasn’t long enough. So for a fix on processing day, we used a hammer and a fence staple to nail the handle to the pallet we used for set up.
These buckets we have cost us $0 as they were gifted by a friend with extras; however, if you buy 5 gallon buckets from your local home improvement store, they run about $4-5 each. Zip ties are relatively inexpensive too. We rounded up to give you plenty of budget buffer with this project. Each killing cone costs about $5 and 5-10 minutes of your time.
Worth it, in our opinion.
To find free 5 gallon buckets, ask around! People who need to clean up their yard and garages may have some available for you to take off their hands.
Final Review of DIY Chicken Killing Cones
Overall, this project is budget friendly if you already have the tools or can borrow them from a friend.
Our first chickens were 7.5 weeks old with a cleaned weight between 3-4 pounds each. My husband says the cone holes were a little too big. A few times our 3 lb birds came all the way through during a thrashing moment and had to be put back into the cone to finish draining.
9/10 recommend this DIY project to save your pocketbook some money.
UPDATE: for our second set of birds which ended up being a little over 8 weeks old and 4-5lb cleaned weight, we did untie and tighten these cones. No birds fell through this time!
After harvest day,
Enjoy delicious one pot roasted chicken but we sure not to waste a bit.
More from our meat bird journey
HOW TO BUILD A CHICKEN TRACTOR
RAISING MEAT BIRDS ON LESS THAN 1/2 ACRE
Save for later & share it with a friend
Keep up to date on recent posts and sharings and more on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram: @johnsonhomenc and sign up for my weekly newsletter HERE.
If you try this recipe, come back and leave a comment or share a picture on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest so I can see it!
Leave a Reply