Am I an horrible person to consider euthanizing?

[the_peep_squad]

x2

Im not going to rehome my dogs. The issues with my husband are not going to be solved by getting rid of animals who have been with us their whole lives.

I have had to euthanize a pet before. Last year my GSD had a blood clot in his spine that made it so he couldn't walk. We had to make a difficult decision based on his quality of life. I saw many posts on the various forums about treating wry neck for months at a time and wasn't sure I could do that.

My oldest dog is on palliative care. He is not in pain, still enjoys most of his life. He occasionally has comprehension issues, but overall the vet says he is doing well. We decided not to have chemo or surgery because of his age and how hard it is on his body. The 8yr old is doing well on meds.

 

[PioneerChicks]

I understand that it's hard seeing people suggest culling their chickens so often but it's always in the best interest of the bird. Chickens hide pain so once they are showing discomfort it's usually a sign that they are in a lot of pain. Then add in that sometimes we cant figure out what is wrong, it's the most humane thing to do for something that is suffering.

x2 chickens work hard to hide their pain because in the wild they wouldn't want to seem weak and vulnerable. Once I had a hen who was eggbound for over a week, and her feet clenched into balls. We had to cull her. I would have done it sooner if I had known how much pain she was in!

Often times it is for the best.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

totally! Hey, I haven't you in a while! how are you!

I am doing good, working on hatching some eggs, we'll see (not very promising)

 

[Aapomp831]

No. You are the opposite of a horrible person. I look at it this way - most roosters don’t get to even live, and if you provided even just a few weeks of a good chicken life, that’s a win. Part of animal ownership is making these hard decisions - a horrible person let’s an animal suffer. And don’t feel bad about having other things going on. It’s part of life.

 

[the_peep_squad]

Has anyone treated an inner ear infection? My husband was researching options for Harley and found chicken ear infections.The symptoms fit. Is there any non vet treatments you guys can suggest? The closest avian vet is 2 hrs away. We want to try everything we can before we make a permanent decision.

 

[LaFleche]

Has anyone treated an inner ear infection? My husband was researching options for Harley and found chicken ear infections.The symptoms fit. Is there any non vet treatments you guys can suggest? The closest avian vet is 2 hrs away. We want to try everything we can before we make a permanent decision.

Antibiotic treatment should work.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Please do not attempt to re-home a sick bird and risk making someone else's animals sick.

Agreed. Especially since Marek’s is a possibility. I had an adult rooster who also showed symptoms of wry neck. He didn’t get better, and I believe he died of Marek’s disease. I regret not euthanizing him.

To the OP, if you do find out he has Marek’s disease, I would contact the people that you gave away your other roosters to.

 

[Silexian]

I am struggling with my rooster's wry neck. We have been treating him for about two weeks but he is not getting better. People keep telling me that it can take months to heal. Am I a horrible person for not wanting to treat this for months? For considering euthanasia?


1. I work in a very stressful field. I am a Special Education Teacher's Assistant at a residential treatment facility for children who are a danger to themselves or others. I also function as a mental health technician and also help out in the kitchen. By the time I get home I am emotionally and physically drained.

2. My husband has OCD and feces is one of his big issues. This means I have to wear gloves every time I touch the chicken or anything the chicken touches. He tries to help but his issues limit how much he can help. Having a poop machine in the house is freaking him out.

The chickens are my pets, he had no interest in chickens.

We are also struggling as a couple and talking about divorce. This added stress is not helping.

3. My dogs have medical issues. My 14yr old dog has dementia and cancer. My 8 yr old dog has epilepsy. This is eating up most of our available money.

4. Im not actually allowed to have roosters and I rent a home with close neighbors even thoughI live in the boonies. I rehomed all of the other roosters. Harley has always been my favorite and we decided we would keep him if he remained quiet. He has started crowing.

5. I want to hatch chicks eventually. Several breeders suggested that I not use him as a breeder because we can't be sure what is triggering his wry neck.

6. I know chickens are flock animals and separating him seems to add more stress. My two older (9mo) layers peck him. His only friend is Dorcus, whom we got from the same breeder at the same time as Harley. The other three roosters were rehomed a couple of days before the wry neck symptoms started.

I've never had to make this decision before... Help! Advice please!

I am struggling with my rooster's wry neck. We have been treating him for about two weeks but he is not getting better. People keep telling me that it can take months to heal. Am I a horrible person for not wanting to treat this for months? For considering euthanasia?


1. I work in a very stressful field. I am a Special Education Teacher's Assistant at a residential treatment facility for children who are a danger to themselves or others. I also function as a mental health technician and also help out in the kitchen. By the time I get home I am emotionally and physically drained.

2. My husband has OCD and feces is one of his big issues. This means I have to wear gloves every time I touch the chicken or anything the chicken touches. He tries to help but his issues limit how much he can help. Having a poop machine in the house is freaking him out.

The chickens are my pets, he had no interest in chickens.

We are also struggling as a couple and talking about divorce. This added stress is not helping.

3. My dogs have medical issues. My 14yr old dog has dementia and cancer. My 8 yr old dog has epilepsy. This is eating up most of our available money.

4. Im not actually allowed to have roosters and I rent a home with close neighbors even thoughI live in the boonies. I rehomed all of the other roosters. Harley has always been my favorite and we decided we would keep him if he remained quiet. He has started crowing.

5. I want to hatch chicks eventually. Several breeders suggested that I not use him as a breeder because we can't be sure what is triggering his wry neck.

6. I know chickens are flock animals and separating him seems to add more stress. My two older (9mo) layers peck him. His only friend is Dorcus, whom we got from the same breeder at the same time as Harley. The other three roosters were rehomed a couple of days before the wry neck symptoms started.

I've never had to make this decision before... Help! Advice please!

I had two come down with it at once. I treated them for two weeks. I couldn’t provide the constant around the clock supervision they required. I couldn’t handle finding them laying upside down and wondering if it had just happened. Or if they had been like that the entire time I had been outside taking care of other animals. So I made the hard decision to cull them.

 

[MetroMutt]

Yeah, no animal can compare to human companionship!

Animal companionship is better then human companionship in my opinion, humans judge you all the time but animals dont

Plus every friend ive trusted before ditches me so its mainly because of my experiences

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

Animal companionship is better then human companionship in my opinion, humans judge you all the time but animals dont

Plus every friend ive trusted before ditches me so its mainly because of my experiences

True, but it is natural to want fellow human companionship.