Culling with baking soda and vinegar

[Moonthistle57]

You know, I agree with you in theory. Sometimes people don't understand when they are standing there looking at that puppy, kitten, duck, chick, etc., what exactly that means at the end of the animal's life. The reality of it. I've had cats all my life and I've had to have several of them put down. It's not the same as killing an animal yourself however, so I'm more inclined to have compassion for the OP trying to do the right thing and being misled by misinformation on this site about a method of culling.

Your experience and knowledge is valuable to a lot of people on this site and because of people like the OP, you and several others, I would not choose the baking soda/vinegar method if I ever had to cull another bird. So thank you for that.

 

[asif asghar]

i think we should not do mercy killing let GOD do whatever He like the best comfortable way for the animal. You just have to be patient and prey to GOD for ease

 

[Pooman]

i think we should not do mercy killing let GOD do whatever He like the best comfortable way for the animal. You just have to be patient and prey to GOD for ease

Im sure this god u talk of will make sure of a long, painful and terrifying drawn out death.

Apply your compassion. Humans of free will

 

[aart]

Certainly a hard lesson to learn about the V&BS....but why let an animal suffer for 6 months with paralyzed legs?
Cone and a sharp knife is how I deal with it, fast and efficient.
Not pleasant, no...but responsibility is often not pleasant

 

[Pooman]

Ahhhh. Its sad. I have a chick 4 days old... Swollen hock, cant seem to relocate the tendon. Not sure if its that even. But is swollen and scabby. Im gonna check him then probabily chop the poor bugger. He isnt travelling very well. Bugger, i hate this bit

 

[ochochicas]

This has been a rough week. Our rooster was attacked by a predator some weeks ago and started to recover but they crashed. The humane thing to do was end his suffering, so I had to go out with an axe and put him out of the pain. It was horrible to do, but he was already really lethargic and there was no drama involved.

Since I was already having a horrible week due to losing our favorite Roo, I decided I would cull the little cockerels that were a result of a hatch a few weeks ago. I researched the methods and used my prior knowledge. I used to work in a lab where they put animals down using CO2. The animals do panic and I didn't want to use that method. But if I hadn't had my past experiences how would I have known? The OP did the best with what she had researched. You did the right thing by your hen in the end.

Ether and other anesthetics work much better, so I decided to go with the starter fluid. I put three chicks in a bucket, sprayed fluid in another container and then placed the smaller container in with the chicks and put the lid on. They peacefully went to sleep quickly and I thought it worked well. Then I picked out two more chicks to cull, but ended up only being able to do one of them since the second is my favorite and I am weak! I put the singleton in the bucket and he just wouldn't pass on. He was groogy but still alive. I added more fluid and moved the bucket to the garage. After 30 minutes he still was alive so I decided I would have to decapitate him. That part was totally horrible. He was flapping all over and got loose in the yard before rolling down the hill. It was totally traumatizing, but somehow I didn't freak out. I had to get a flashlight to find him on the bottom of the hill. He was finally gone, which what the only relief to the whole ordeal. I really don't think I can snip a neck again. My thoughts on the failure of the starter fluid on the last chick are that since there was only one in the bucket it didn't use up all the oxygen like the others had. It was also colder since I had moved the bucket outside, so maybe the ether didn't evaporate well at a lower temperature. If I have to do it again I will use a smaller bucket or do more chicks at one time. I LOVE chicks and doing this myself was horrible. It is part of the business if I plan to breed chickens, but it will definitely take a long time to get used to.

The only thing I considered that might better is carbon monoxide from car exhaust. Apparently it just puts you to sleep and you don't feel a thing. It seems rather labor intensive to hook it up to a car though. I'd also worry about a neighbor looking over and wonder what I was up to. They probably wouldn't ask, but I can see the rumor mill starting up already.

 

[grannyhowie]

Thank You for your kind words.

 

[grannyhowie]

i think we should not do mercy killing let GOD do whatever He like the best comfortable way for the animal. You just have to be patient and prey to GOD for ease

God gives us a choice, and I chose to end needless suffering.

 

[grannyhowie]

This has been a rough week. Our rooster was attacked by a predator some weeks ago and started to recover but they crashed. The humane thing to do was end his suffering, so I had to go out with an axe and put him out of the pain. It was horrible to do, but he was already really lethargic and there was no drama involved.

Since I was already having a horrible week due to losing our favorite Roo, I decided I would cull the little cockerels that were a result of a hatch a few weeks ago. I researched the methods and used my prior knowledge. I used to work in a lab where they put animals down using CO2. The animals do panic and I didn't want to use that method. But if I hadn't had my past experiences how would I have known? The OP did the best with what she had researched. You did the right thing by your hen in the end.

Ether and other anesthetics work much better, so I decided to go with the starter fluid. I put three chicks in a bucket, sprayed fluid in another container and then placed the smaller container in with the chicks and put the lid on. They peacefully went to sleep quickly and I thought it worked well. Then I picked out two more chicks to cull, but ended up only being able to do one of them since the second is my favorite and I am weak! I put the singleton in the bucket and he just wouldn't pass on. He was groogy but still alive. I added more fluid and moved the bucket to the garage. After 30 minutes he still was alive so I decided I would have to decapitate him. That part was totally horrible. He was flapping all over and got loose in the yard before rolling down the hill. It was totally traumatizing, but somehow I didn't freak out. I had to get a flashlight to find him on the bottom of the hill. He was finally gone, which what the only relief to the whole ordeal. I really don't think I can snip a neck again. My thoughts on the failure of the starter fluid on the last chick are that since there was only one in the bucket it didn't use up all the oxygen like the others had. It was also colder since I had moved the bucket outside, so maybe the ether didn't evaporate well at a lower temperature. If I have to do it again I will use a smaller bucket or do more chicks at one time. I LOVE chicks and doing this myself was horrible. It is part of the business if I plan to breed chickens, but it will definitely take a long time to get used to.

The only thing I considered that might better is carbon monoxide from car exhaust. Apparently it just puts you to sleep and you don't feel a thing. It seems rather labor intensive to hook it up to a car though. I'd also worry about a neighbor looking over and wonder what I was up to. They probably wouldn't ask, but I can see the rumor mill starting up already.

I am so sorry for what you went thru. As I know firsthand how traumatizing it is. I have never purposely harmed or caused pain or suffering to any living thing in my life. That said, I do believe now that the fastest way is the best. I understand that once you sever the spinal cord that even though the chicken still moves around that they no longer feel pain because the nerve endings are not connecting to the brain. To a lot of us I don't think it would ever come easy, but because of people like us who care is why many animals live happy lives just being what they are.

 

[grannyhowie]

That's it exactly. We have responsibility to our animals. First we took the wild animals and bred to our purposes. Made them totally dependant on us for our benefit. From birth to death every aspect is our responsibility and if one is not totally prepared for every aspect of that from the joy of birth to the despair of death then one has no business owning an animal.

Whether you are a consumptive owner of animal like myself or just a compassionate soul seeking animal companionship it matters not because it's our

I had to put down a chick who was sick, getting sicker and not eating or drinking no matter what I tried. I really had to work myself up to it. It was not "emotional issues" that delayed my action all day. It was two things really. One was that I had never killed an animal intentionally and it isn't something to be done lightly. The other was that doubt. What if I was wrong? What if the chick would have gotten better? When I looked at the poor creature, I knew what I had to do and I did it. It was hard and I cried a lot. But in the end, I know she was suffering and my "contract" with the animals I take into my life is to avoid having them suffer and of course, sometimes that means I have to make hard choices.

The point I am trying to make is that is exactly what you did too. You did what you thought was best for your hen. You put her first or you wouldn't have even contemplated putting her down at all. No one should attempt to lump you in with people who let their animals suffer for ages just so they don't lose them. The fact that you then got on here to warn other people about the method you used in order to spare their animals and them from the trauma you experienced, shows what a wonderful, caring person you are.

Go ahead and grieve. Then forgive yourself for what you didn't know and hold your head high.

Thank You for being understanding and your kind words. For that is the reason I went on line was to warn people what not to do.