Blind Meatie worth keeping?

[cmchickens]

I got a delivery of Cornish X today. One of them has no eyes. Just sunken eyeball sockets covered in skin. Kind of creepy looking. It also has a funny shaped head and beak. It can walk. So far it won't eat chick feed unless it's mixed with water to form a soup and its beak is dipped in it. It is just a meatie but what do you think, is it worth trying to keep alive for 8 weeks? If it was suffering I would definably cull it, but it seems okay, just a little lost. I'm of the fence on this one.

 

[bobbi-j]

I'd put the poor thing down. I think the other meaties will keep it from eating, and it already can't eat properly. I'd guess it has other problems, too. Unless, of course, you want to spend the next 8 weeks babying it along and getting attached to it. (At least that's what would happen with me - then I'd have a harder time killing it for processing.) I honestly don't think it stands a chance of an independent life, though.

 

[cmchickens]

So how do you euthanize a 2 day old chick?

 

[bobbi-j]

I tell my DH about it and he takes care of it for me. He usually just gives the neck a quick snap and it's over. You can also use a sharp shears or knife and decapitate it. I know, sounds harsh, but it's over with in an instant.

 

[MeepBeep]

Painless and works well for small birds (and even adults if you up size) if you can't bring yourself to snap/cut the neck...

http://www.alysion.org/euthanasia/making-the-euthanasia-chamber.html

 

[alisar]

Sharp kitchen shears - snip their neck. It's very quick.

 

[cmchickens]

I'm thinking I'm going to go with kitchen shears. I wanted to try to keep it alive, but really I'm just going to get attached from babying it and it's a meatie, it will have to go eventually. I suppose my DH put it correctly when he said "a special needs chicken is worth it, but not when it's a meat bird." This will be my youngest cull. I hope I can do it.

 

[CluckerClubbie]

I'm thinking I'm going to go with kitchen shears. I wanted to try to keep it alive, but really I'm just going to get attached from babying it and it's a meatie, it will have to go eventually. I suppose my DH put it correctly when he said "a special needs chicken is worth it, but not when it's a meat bird." This will be my youngest cull. I hope I can do it.

How did it go?

 

[cmchickens]

Eh, I have to be honest, I haven't done it yet.I spent the day babying it. Its not suffering and I'm having such a hard time justifying culling it. Someone help me out here, tell me it's cruel to keep the poor thing alive.

 

[bobbi-j]

Think about the bird and the quality of its life. It won't be able to be in with the rest of the flock and chickens are flock animals. They're much more content when they're with other chickens. Put it in with the rest and it's possible that they will attack it because of its weakness. Or, they may just keep it from getting to the food and water by pushing it aside. How would you make sure it had feed and water while you were growing it out? Do you have time to spend all day every day doing that? I know it's hard, believe me. I have done my share of trying to save this animal or that chicken and in the end the animal usually died anyway and suffered longer than it had to. Sometimes the hardest thing for us to do is the kindest thing for our animals.