Where I live, decapitating the chicken with a hatchet held in the other hand is the norm. The brain dies/falls unconcious within seconds even without stunning.

Where I live, decapitating the chicken with a hatchet held in the other hand is the norm. The brain dies/falls unconcious within seconds even without stunning. It is messy if you don't know how to do it, though. If you don't hold it right, the body will happily run off without the head, and it takes ~20 seconds before it dies. If you hold the legs against the chopping block when you do it, it's easy to keep the chicken in place.