Dezie,
Here is some info I thought you may want to read. My boss used to bring home many pheasants or he would receive them as gifts when his friends would come over. They always snapped the neck (unless it was shot) . No suffering to the animal. He also hung the animal for 1-3 days in the fridge.
I will only eat meat that has been bled. To each his own.
Quote:
Then we hung them by their necks and theyll be sitting there like that for the next 8 weeks.
That is a long time to hang.....
It will have enough time to grow its feathers back.
Slaughtering:
With poultry, the jugular vein is cut to ensure good bleeding for a white carcase that is full of ‘bloom’. However, pheasants are dark-fleshed, and bleeding is not necessary. Some processors prefer to kill birds by dislocating or cracking the neck so that no bleeding occurs. This helps to maintain carcase flavour.
Hanging (for home consumption)
Hanging pheasants after killing is a traditional way to develop a ‘gamy’ flavour. There is no difference to the gaminess or texture of the meat whether birds are hung by the neck or legs.
After killing, birds can be hung either before or after plucking, with the viscera still intact or removed. Gaminess is increased if feathers and viscera are not removed. The temperature at which birds are hung, and the period of hanging, will depend on the degree of gaminess required.
Pheasants hung for 9 days at 10°C have been found by overseas taste panels to be more acceptable than those hung for 4 days at 15°C or for 18 days at 5°C. The taste panels thought that the birds stored at 15°C were tougher than those held for longer periods at lower temperatures. Pheasants hung at 10°C became more ‘gamy’ in flavour and more tender with length of hanging.
If carcases are kept too long at too high a temperature, ‘greening’ occurs followed by the development of ‘off’ odours. Greening first occurs in the area of the vent and is caused by hydrogen sulfide produced by gut micro-organisms. Although extensive changes take place in microbial flora in the intestines during hanging, the muscle tissues remain free of harmful bacteria. If too much greening has occurred then the carcase should be wiped over with a cloth dipped in vinegar.
In conjunction with the Consumer Education Freezing of Foods Council (NSW) preliminary trials have been conducted with taste panels using pheasant carcases which have been hung for varying periods of time from 0–11 days. For tasting purposes pheasant flesh from 18-week-old males was submitted fresh, and, after hanging for 3, 4, 6, 8, 10 or 11 days at a temperature of 15°C, the carcases were roasted in oven bags at 190°C for 1¼ hours.
The taste panel consisted of some members who had not tasted pheasant before and others who were used to eating pheasant meat. The age of members of the panel varied from about 20–50 years of age. All members of the panel agreed that pheasants hung for at least 3 days were more acceptable than those hung for a shorter period. Some members preferred birds to be hung for more than a week.
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/livestock/poultry/species/pheasant-raising/processing
