Chicken hammock/sling/bag????

[canesisters]

Didn't someone on here post about putting chickens in a hanging sling to work on them???

I want to THANK that person!!!! Last night I was able to vent-check half the flock and trim butt feathers & spurs - ALONE - with NO struggle. It was SOOO NICE to be able to use both hands to work instead of trying to hold a chicken tucked under one arm and work with the other. I was AMAZED that they went absolutely still once I placed them in the sling! They were so relaxed that I had to coax them to LEAVE once I was finished and put them on the ground. It's some sort of chicken sorcery!
I used an old re-usable shopping bag - the tyvec/cloth ones. I just cut one side panel away completely for their legs/butt to hang out and cut a slit all the way down the other side panel for their head to poke out. The handles made hanging it easy.
So simple! But life changing. I will never put off care again because of dreading the ordeal.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I hadn't heard of that but glad it worked for you that well. I usually wrap a chicken in a large towel when I need to immobilize them. Wrap it around the wings but leave the head, legs, and rear free. it's amazing how calm they get but your method may work even better.

 

[Nyboy]

Bee did

 

[canesisters]

YES! @Beekissed - THANK YOU!!!

 

[Beekissed]

Cool, ain't it? Don't know why I didn't think of it 40 yrs ago, but I'm just glad I have it now. Makes working chickens a stress free, quick and thorough job.

So glad you liked it! Spread the news.

 

[Nenebynature]

Pictures of said sling?

 

[journey11]

Wow, even to trim spurs! Mine need done, but I can never get DH to come give me a hand. I will have to give this a try. What did you hang the handles from?

 

[so lucky]

Chickens just naturally relax when you hang them upside down, don't they? Or even put them on their back.
I wonder if hanging them upside down makes too much blood rush to their head, and shuts down their brain, or something.

 

[thistlebloom]

I think it affects their breathing in a bad way. They don't have a diaphragm to inflate their air sacs, it's air pressure related.

 

[Beekissed]

I think it affects their breathing in a bad way. They don't have a diaphragm to inflate their air sacs, it's air pressure related.

Nope...it doesn't affect their breathing at all from what I've seen over 40 yrs of hanging chickens upside down for periods of time for one reason or another. Their lungs lie within their rib cage so pressure of organs downward into the chest cavity has no affect on the lungs and there is a membrane there that divides heart/lungs from abdominal viscera, so not much pressure there. Chickens breath by expansion of the rib cage by the use of various muscles , so the lack of a working diaphragmatic muscle sheath doesn't hinder their ability to breath at all while hanging upside down.

Actually, carrying a chicken is more likely to compromise his breathing, as it can stricture his rib cage and not let him breath properly.

That whole hanging them upside down causes breathing problems and death is a recent chicken myth but has no basis in fact. If it were that easy to kill a chicken, folks could just hang them up and walk away, come back later and eviscerate.