Building Your Own Killing/Restraining Cone

Before building this cone I shopped around with the intent of purchasing one (<– links to Amazon items). However, what I found was that they were all too small to contain a large bird like a Muscovy Duck and just barely large enough to contain a full-grown rooster. Also, the price seemed a bit high considering the cones are just made from a sheet of metal shaped into a cone. Thus I set out to create my own killing/restraining cone from a roll of sheet aluminum I had laying around from some ducting work around the house. Here’s the template I made. Feel free to download it for yourself.

1.) Using a pair of metal shears, cut a wedge shape about 24″ at the top and 18″ at the bottom.

2.) Fold about a 1/2″ down from the top of the cone to form a smooth edge. Then crease or hammer this flat, similar to sewing a hem on a piece of fabric.

3.) Roll a cone shape with an opening smaller at the bottom and larger at the top. For Chickens, the opening at the bottom should measure about 3.5 – 4″ at the bottom and 12 – 14″ at the top. Larger if you plan to prepare turkeys or large Muscovy Ducks.

4.) Using a hand clamp, temporarily secure the bottom opening at the desired diameter.

5.) Since I don’t have a spot welder, I used my grommet kit (<– links to some examples) to secure the cone at the top, middle and bottom of the cone. Place grommets about every two inches along the seem to secure and strengthen the edge. Nice thing about using the grommets is they allow for easy hanging during processing.