a tough topic, but, just in case, culling newly hatched babies

[emjay]

Now that my eggs are hatching, I have to be open minded that they all might not be perfect. If for some horrible reason I have to cull one, what is the fastest, most humane, less painful for me method ??

 

[Ms.FuzzyButts]

You will get varying opinions on this.. There really is no easy way for us. The most important thing is that it is quick and painless for the chick. I have had to do it when my DH wasn't around. The chick was in miserable pain from a birth defect and wouldn't stop chirping for love nor money. So after trying to nurse it to health, I saw it wasn't helping. So I just took some handheld branch pruners and put it's neck in.. I got the blades snug enough around it's neck that I could let go of the chick.. Once I let go of the chick, I turned my head the opposite way and squeezed the handles very quickly. It only breaks their neck.. It doesn't actually cut them. But the chick was dead instantly.. I felt horrible for a few minutes. But come to the realization that the chick was miserable and was now better off and not suffering anymore.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I usually put them in a butter tub on a paper towel, give it a good squirt with some engine starter fluid then seal on the lid. It knocks them out quickly then they die painlessly shortly afterwards. Starter fluid is primarily ether which used to be used as an anesthetic and still is today to a limited extent. Fifteen minutes or so later I dispose of the remains.

Never had a failure with this.

 

[emjay]

A.T. Hagan :

I usually put them in a butter tub on a paper towel, give it a good squirt with some engine starter fluid then seal on the lid. It knocks them out quickly then they die painlessly shortly afterwards. Starter fluid is primarily ether which used to be used as an anesthetic and still is today to a limited extent. Fifteen minutes or so later I dispose of the remains.

Never had a failure with this.

oh, like that one, seems fairly painless. that's the main thing.​

 

[chicmom]

I put them in a brown paper lunch sack, close it up, and I set it in the freezer and walk away. I come back about a half hour later and the deed is done. I don't even have to see them.

 

[GreenGoddess]

Many ways that seem "quick, easy and painless" are more so for US and not the chick! This is one place we need to put our own comfort aside and not think about ourselves... When I began hatching almost two years ago, I read MANY opinions on this.. I've read about freezing, gassing, drowning and even placing in a paper bag and running it over, smashing it onto a floor or hitting it with a big rock!!!!! I was mortified!!!! I know we all have to deal with things in our own way but this is one place that we MUST think to ourselves, "Would I want that done to me?!?!"....

With that said, I have learned to put my feelings aside to "do the deed"... I go outside and dig a hole... I then bring the chick outside and hold it over the hole.. With a sharp pair of scissors, I decapitate it and then bury it.. It's not the easiest thing to do but it truely is the most "quick, easy and painless" for the chick! I've had to do this several times.. There is no blood, no mess and only takes a split second for it to be over...

This subject is a very touchy one and I'm sorry if some don't like what I have to say... MANY topics that have been started on this subject have been locked because it often leads to arguments.. Do what you feel is right.. But always ask yourself, is this how you would want to die if your life was in some else's hands...

Just my honest opinion... I don't want anyone to argue with me in open but if you must voice your opinion against me, feel free to send me a PM...

Goddess

 

[Karrie13]

I think this is the hardest part about owning chickens. Culling chicks. It seems like the adults are almost easier to do then the chicks.

My husband used to do it for me but now that he is an OTR truck driver I have had to start doing it myself. I remove the head from the body. I cant watch when I do it either, the chick is wrapped in a paper towel or rag. It isn't the easiest for me but I think it is the easiest for the chick. That is all a part of owning animals, having the ability to realize that the animal is in pain or not going to have a quality life and culling or having the animal culled so that there isn't any unnecessary suffering.

 

[quintinp]

well... i have not hatched many chicks, so i dont experience this type of thing to often, but whatever you do dont smash its head, i had to do so, and i did it quick, but it wasn't painless, because the chick squealed when i did it,,,,,,,,, i hate to have to go through that type of thing, but when i will have to do it again, i will use a shovel to cut it's head off, and put it in a little hole

 

[gallatea]

Quote:
This is horribly morbid, but it's necessary to talk about. Honestly, yes that's what I'd want if someone had to do it - I mean quick decapitation, right into the ground for a burial. Suffocation of any kind seems so awful.

 

[silkiechicken]

Quote:
YES! Approved and official ways to put animals down are largely human centric too, which is why gas chambers are still used on animals. A solid black box gas chamber is much easier to look at than a clear one, since in a clear one, you can see the little animals jump around and gasp their last air.

Suck it up, break it's neck right, or chop off the head. Remove the brain from the body and the job is done before you or them knows it.