most humane way to put down a chicken at home :(

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If it is it can't be for more than a fraction of a second. Arterial blood runs extremely fast and as soon as that stops consciousness stops. Thats a problem that they have with fighter pilots because when they make hi G turns the blood rushes from their head and they lose consciousness. So that is why lopping the head off is one of the most humane ways of killing something just like HEchicken said. It literally is more painful for us than it is for the chicken.
 
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Cut a small hole in the corner of a heavy duty feed bag, put the chicken in the bag and put its head out the hole. That way, the flapping will be controlled, this is what we do when we process. (er well, when I watch from the window while my husband processes!)
I also want to say that once it is over.... be it head chop or broom handle...... you will feel much better. The tough part is over anyway, you have determined that it has to be done. So just do it, and let it be over.
I did like the baking soda method, but I only did that with a few day old chick. I have not tried it on a bigger bird.
It does not suffocate the bird..... it can still breath, there is just no or very low 02 in the air that they breath. It is the same as c02 poisioning that humans experience in houses, they feel nothing.
 
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Awww, I'm so sorry you have to deal with this. But your bird is depending on you to help her over to The Other Side of the Road as quickly & efficiently -- therefore more humanely -- as you can.

I use different methods to dispatch & bleed out my meat birds, but with dear laying friends I use a less messy method. I use a post hole digger to dig a deep hole near a tree or bush, then carry the bird out there. I hold her under my left (less dominant) arm, talking to her soothingly. Then I steel my nerve, take hold of her head with my right (dominant) hand and quickly, decisively, pull out and bend the head up to finish. You'll feel a crunch of the neck bones dislocating and the head should hang limp. You can continue to hold her until her flapping ceases, or lay her on the ground and walk away until it does. Then I place the bird in the hole, refill with the dirt, and cap it with a rock. This way she will nourish the ground & help the plant to grow, and in that way, continue to live.

Or you could enlist a friend or neighbor to do it for you, perhaps offering to dispatch theirs if ever necessary. Sometimes it helps to have an impartial party doing the Deed, they can focus on doing an efficient job without being emotionally attatched to the bird.
 
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Thanks BR, that's good info to know. Everyone's healthy right now, but I'm sure that some sad day in the future I'll have to do the same thing.
 
I had to do this last spring to a bird I was trying to nurse back to health, but who never got better. It was cold and I had a heat lamp on her (w/60 watt bulb) but she got herself so close to it that it burnt the feathers on her back in two places. There was certainly plenty of room for her to get away from any heat, I was just trying to keep her warm in hopes of trying to get her well. However, when I found the burnt areas, I knew she was suffering and needed to be euthannized. This was my first experience with this. I had read about the broom method and tried this. I don't know if I didn't pull hard enough or even maybe I did it right, but the flapping was FREAKINg me out and I had convinced myself she was still alive. I think her neck wasn't hanging very limply and with that plus flapping...well, I was just losing my mind over the whole situation. I was sobbing and I have no idea if she was dead or not. Honestly, I can't remember clearly anymore. I then grabbed a knife that I thought was plenty sharp to slice her neck to finish the job. We didn't have a hachet or cleaver that I could use. It eventually worked but it's a wonder I didn't cut myself with all the sobbing I was doing. I just felt so bad that she was suffering from whatever had made her sick, and then I felt as bad as I've ever felt in my life by ending her life what I felt was such a horrible way. Maybe 2nd time around wouldn't be so bad, but I haven't had to go there yet. However, now I have a hachet and stump available. I can't imagine feeling the bones break in my hand with a neck twist. I don't like to step on bugs or spiders and feel the cruch, let alone an animal I care about and have nursed.

If you can make sure you break their neck swiftly, this is humane, as is chopping off the head and produces instant death and no pain. Using CO2 methods don't bring consistent nor timely death to be considered humane in an animal as big as a chicken, IMHO. All in all, also IMHO euthanasia is the best thing we can do for these animals that we are caring for when their time comes. Vets will do the procedure, but you will pay. If you're like me, you put more money into your birds that you want to anyway, and this would be just one more expense. If you can "get over yourself" (I'm still working on it!) or have someone else who will do it for you, ultimately you're doing the best for your birds.
 
I recently used the car exhaust chamber method- just put her in a box - cut the whole and places it behind the car. she just went to sleep and had stopped moving in about 20 seconds - however we left the box for a couple minutes just to be sure.

I'm so sorry for what you are going through, I know exactly how you feel. I couldn't (nor could my bf) actually physically break her neck or chop her head off either.
 
hugs.gif
Awww, I'm so sorry you have to deal with this. But your bird is depending on you to help her over to The Other Side of the Road as quickly & efficiently -- therefore more humanely -- as you can.

I use different methods to dispatch & bleed out my meat birds, but with dear laying friends I use a less messy method. I use a post hole digger to dig a deep hole near a tree or bush, then carry the bird out there. I hold her under my left (less dominant) arm, talking to her soothingly. Then I steel my nerve, take hold of her head with my right (dominant) hand and quickly, decisively, pull out and bend the head up to finish. You'll feel a crunch of the neck bones dislocating and the head should hang limp. You can continue to hold her until her flapping ceases, or lay her on the ground and walk away until it does. Then I place the bird in the hole, refill with the dirt, and cap it with a rock. This way she will nourish the ground & help the plant to grow, and in that way, continue to live.

Or you could enlist a friend or neighbor to do it for you, perhaps offering to dispatch theirs if ever necessary. Sometimes it helps to have an impartial party doing the Deed, they can focus on doing an efficient job without being emotionally attatched to the bird.

I took my bird to the vet today to have sent to bird heaven. She told me wringing the neck as described above is the most humane way and they don't feel a thing. It was quick and she took the bird away to the back so I didn't have to see the wiggling, then she gave her back to me in a body bag. It was awful but I feel so much better now that I know she is no longer suffering.
 
IMO this is among the top 10 things all chicken owners need to know: how will you end the suffering of a sick/injured bird? It's fine if your answer to that question is to take it to the vet or have someone else do it, but you'll still need a Plan B if ever you're faced with the decision and it's after hours or no one else is available.

Our chickens rely on us for all their needs and unfortunately sometimes that need is to be put out of their misery as soon as possible. It's best to have a plan in place and hope you'll never have to use it then to be faced with this issue and not know what to do.

My kids were doing the chicken chores late one night and came in to tell me one of our hens was missing. We searched the yard with flashlights and I found her standing over by the fence. But my joy in finding her was short-lived when the hen, zombie-like, pulled what was remaining of her head from under her wing. The poor dear must have tangled with an opossum who had chewed off her comb & the top of her skull, and half of her beak. I don't know how she could remain standing, let alone try to run from me when I walked over to pick her up.

I was grateful that at least I knew what to do to end her suffering, there was no time to take her anywhere else. Since her head was so mangled I used the broomstick method: I held her legs and laid her on her keel on the ground. Then I gently laid a broomstick over her neck and held it in place with my feet, one on either side of her head. Then I grabbed her legs with both hands and gave a quick decisive pull upwards until I felt that crunch of her neck bones breaking. I knew she had Crossed The Road when her wings made that rapid reflexive flapping.
 

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