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

[horsecrazy]

my semi-paralyzed chicken has gone downhill fast. yesterday she could stand and take a few steps, now she flops over to her side every time. I don't think there is any way for her to recover. what is the best way to put her down? I am NOT going to wring her neck, chop her head off, etc.

 

[Emzyyy]

I'm sorry, I don't see how you all know the chicken feels "nothing". You don't know that. A dog would feel it so why wouldn't a chicken. If its best for you, you could always have a vet do it.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

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.

 

[skyedobb]

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.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

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.

 

[Buff Hooligans]

Quote:
Horsecrazy, I'm very sorry to say that the head chop is the most efficient and humane, although it seems vicious, violent and bloody to us humans.

Sorry...

 

[PhilErvin]

...sorry but I'd have to agree with the head chop. Good luck

 

[Emzyyy]

When my chicken was too sick she completly stopped eating and was just wasting away. I got a old cooler put a wire mesh bottom on it and fillet the bottom portion of the cooler with baking soda and peroxide put a towl over the metal mesh and set her inside the cooler and shut the lid. She was asleep within minutes. Sorry about your girl and ,Goodluck. It's hard to do.

 

[OutInTheStiks]

First, I don't think there is an easy way. I think the first thing you have to do is make the decesion that you are going to do what is best for the bird, not what is best or easiest for you.

That being said, I use the broomstick method. Lay the chicken on the ground. Place a broomstick or whatever you have across the back of the chickens neck. Place a foot on each side of the brookstck, grasp the chickens legs and pull sharply until the neck breaks.

It's effective for me. And there is no bloody mess.

 

[possumqueen]

Quote:
I'm with harrelldjr, with an added comment: You'll know the chicken is dead when it suddenly starts flapping really hard. That means it's done, and the chicken feels nothing. You've done it right.

Hardest for you is easiest for the bird.