It was an Americana, that's the bulk of the flock.

We normally butcher 8-10 at once, and I'm a "whack the head off & get 'er done quick" type, I don't normally bleed them out, even though that tends to make the meat better.

Nope - you need more mass than that. If your intention is to make a clean, fast kill, you need a machete or meat cleaver, or the "classic" hatchet. Everything else just sprays blood all over and makes a disgusting mess.

The throat cutting method is surprisingly clean, if you get it in once shot - that's what I did with the SAK's small blade. The thing that I mess up on consistently with the chicken gutting is getting the liver out cleanly when I want to have a whole bird to roast. I always seem to squish the bile duct and make a mess. If I'm parting out the bird and don't intend to roast it, I break it in half and that makes it MUCH easier to get out the organs we eat (liver & heart).

We used to do a bunch together on the farm. My uncle would hang them by their feet from a clothesline after whacking their heads off with a cleaver, sometimes just using a kitchen knife to cut them off. After 10 or so, the first one is settled down enough to take her down and start plucking. Oh, the good old days!

Doesn't anyone use the cone method? A lot easier and no headless chickens running around.

I chop & drop into upside down highway cone,

I use the cone on ducks.

I think I’ll go to Long John Silvers, it sounds like it would be a lot less messy…

"...Long John Silvers..."

Good idea, primo chicken!!!

... if you like chicken that tastes like fish...

That's nothing compared to my powers when using my faithful anvil and toothpick, young Jedi!!!!