Is there something in the way that chickens are slaughtered that is
more compassionate to the chicken? In other words, the method is less
painful.

Thanks, 
yesmam

Hi yesmam,

Thank you for your interesting question. 

 
The Hebrew word for ritual slaughter is 'shehitah' and is performed
by a specially trained slaughterer (shohet) who is licensed and
supervised by the local rabbinate.

The Hebrew word 'kashrut' is the collection of Jewish law dealing with
what foods Jews can and cannot eat and how these foods must be
prepared and eaten. "Kashrut" means fit, proper or correct and
"kosher," describes food that meets these standards.

=================================================

http://www.giveshare.org/Health/health5.html

"The Jewish shehitah slaughtering ceremony is still done today. The
specially trained slaughterer, or shohet, first recites a prayer.
Then, he takes a special razor-sharp knife that has a smooth edge with
absolutely no nicks, and makes an incision across the neck of the
animal or fowl. The cutting must be made by moving the knife in a
single swift and uninterrupted sweep, and not by pressure or stabbing.
The cut severs the main arteries, permitting the blood to drain from
the body, as well as making the animal unconscious.

Animal-rights activists have objected to this method of slaughter on
grounds of cruelty. But scientific opinion indicates that severance of
the carotid arteries and the jugular vein by one swift movement
results in almost immediate loss of consciousness, and any
afterstruggle is muscular reflex. As a youth, I assisted my father
when we had to slaughter and butcher cattle. We shot or stunned them.
The humane and gentle shehitah slaughtering, is more in line with the
Eternal?s ways."

=================================================

Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues - On Kashrut
http://www.fishponds.freeserve.co.uk/where...nd/kashrut.html

Shehitah was designed in part to limit animal suffering and at present
no alternative method of animal slaughter can reliably claim to be
more humane.

=================================================

Frequently Asked Questions About Judaism and Animal Issues
http://www.jewishveg.com/schwartz/faq_animals.html

"Judaism teaches that we are forbidden to be cruel to animals and that
we must treat them with compassion. Since animals are part of God's
creation, people have special responsibilities to them. These concepts
are summarized in the Hebrew phrase tsa'ar ba'alei chayim, the
biblical mandate not to cause "pain to any living creature."

[edit]

"4. How are farm animals treated today? 

As we have seen, the Jewish tradition stresses compassion for animals
and commands that we strive to avoid causing them pain (tsa'ar ba'alei
chayim). Unfortunately, the conditions under which animals are raised
for food today are quite different from any the Torah would endorse.
Chickens are raised for slaughter in long, windowless, crowded sheds,
where they never see sunlight, breathe fresh air, or get any exercise.
From hoppers suspended from the roof, they obtain food and water,
along with many chemical additives according to a programmed schedule.
Crowding is so bad that chickens cannot even stretch their wings. The
results of these very unnatural conditions are potential
feather-pecking and cannibalism. To avoid this, the lighting is kept
very dim, the chickens are given special contact lenses, and more
drastically, they are "de-beaked." De-beaking involves cutting off
part of the chicken's beak with a hot knife while its head is held in
a guillotine-like device, a very painful process.

Ruth Harrison describes the results of her observations of current
methods of raising chickens in her excellent book, Animal Machines.
She found that the chickens seemed to have lost their minds; their
eyes gleamed through the bars, they viciously pecked at any hand
within reach, and they pulled feathers out of other chickens' backs
looking for flesh and blood to eat.

Because so many birds are killed daily in continuous operations by the
vast breeding companies, a prayer which should be recited upon the
ritual slaughter of every bird has become a prayer for every thousand
birds."

[edit]

"17. Aren't animals raised for the kosher food market treated more
compassionately than other food animals?

Unfortunately, animals raised for the kosher market are raised under
the same conditions as non-kosher animals. It is only the process of
slaughter that differs."

=================================================


Best regards,
tlspiegel

When eating chicken, kosher, or not, I really don't want to think
about their methods of death. Perhaps, I'll just eat 'em in the form
of nuggets to disguise their relationship to animal form.
Thanks,
yesmam

From what I understand, chopping their heads off is pretty much the
most humane, quickest, least painful method out there.  It results in
instant death, and has no side effects on the quality of the resulting
meat.

When the brain is detached from the remainder of the nervous system,
there is no path to transmit pain.  When you, for instance burn
yourself on the finger, the pain receptors from your finger send a
message to your brain.  The brain returns a signal of pain to your
hand.  Technically, the pain is in the brain, but is relocated to the
hand.  This is one of the body's defense mechanisms, so that you
remove your hand from the heat before permanent damage is done.  Many
people with leprosy lose this function along with the function of
rehealing, which is why, well, look up leprosy yourself if you want
pics...

When you chop of the head, that pain trasmission path is destroyed,
not allowing the pain to render itself in the neck in this case.  The
incredibly large amount of blood loss, meaning oxygen loss, causes the
brain to shut down immediately, which basically "knocks out" the
chicken instantly.  Cells begin to die without oxygen, as they can no
longer have energy to sustain life, and the chicken dies.

Some info about cattle:  Typically, in the US, cows are slaughtered
with a bullet in the brain.  While this achieves much the same
purpose, the slower death is sometimes considered far less humane.  In
some parts of Japan, cattle are beheaded instead of being shot.

FROM THE EMPIREKOSHER.COM website:

Meat: Meat must come from a kosher animal, as outlined by Deuteronomy
14. An animal is kosher if it has split hooves and chews its cud:
Cows, sheep, goats, etc. Certain birds, which are not birds of prey,
are also kosher: Chickens, turkey, duck, geese etc. Special rules
govern the entire processing of poultry. Making a kosher chicken,
turkey or duck takes about three times as long as a non-kosher bird.
Many steps are still performed by hand, with extra care, extra time.
Specially trained rabbinical inspectors check every single bird for
any signs of abnormalities or disease, often rejecting birds that have
already passed required government inspections. This assures the
consumer of getting a completely healthy bird, processed in accordance
with the highest standards of cleanliness, purity and wholesomeness.

Hi yesmam,,

Thank you for the 5 star rating and tip!

Best regards,
tlspiegel