California - Northern

[SpringPeeper]

I imagine it is. I read on another thread on BYC that you can use ether (starter fluid) and put them in a jar with some on a paper towel and they just go to sleep and never wake up. I am probably going to go out and buy some in case this ever happens again. Is that a safe and humane way to put a chick to sleep?

http://www.einstein.yu.edu/administration/animal-care-use-committee/co2-euthanasia-of-rodents.aspx

I use a CO2 chamber when doing large batches of things for snakes. It is easy and humane IF done correctly, and a horrible dry-air drowning if not done correctly. A lot of people try to use CO2 because they don't have to see the suffering. To do it correctly, you need to be able to see what you are killing and that can be a problem for some people. If you're interested in the method, knowing it won't spare you from seeing them die if you do it humanely, I can give you more information.

The blue chick perked up! Can't tell which one it was now. They're all running around eating, fighting, chirping. Yea!!!! So I have 5 splash, 2 black, 2 blue, and one that is either a pale black or a very dark blue.

Yay! I had some that were that 'almost black' color, and they turned out the be the handsomest of the blue Orpingtons in the batch. I ended up with no blacks.

Handsome boy!

I am so glad you are pleased with the Jumbos. I am too and they will be one of the 2 breeds I will keep and breed. They can be vicious though, especially when they reach sexual maturity. They also heal up very quickly from the attacks. I am still working on the new pen for them. I can only work on it a few hours a day when the weather permits so it may take a another week. I think they will be much happier in it versus the old stacked one with 4 pens. Those were just too small.
Even prettier!


I would love to have your order 5 BLRW chicks for me...

If it had been one of my brown hens I would have gone all out to treat them. Birds I was already considering eating anyway were just a different matter. I'll mark the BLRW on the interest list.

 

[BCollie]

Quote:
I'm definitely interested. I am sure I could handle seeing them die that way as at least it will be peaceful, with no blood and flapping around. I think that's what got me today - knowing that I was going to have to watch my babies head fall to the ground, blood drip from her neck, not knowing if she was going to start flapping around like older chickens will do...That's all that was going through my head today as I sat there with a dying chick in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other. I sat there for several minutes just crying over a limp, dying chick. I know I could handle them going silently and peacefully in a CO2 chamber. But I would for sure want to make sure I do it right, my main concern is always that it's going to be as easy as possible for the bird.
I want to do more research on feeding quail to snakes, but when he's big enough, if it's a good option, I am very interested in hatching out a bunch of quail and killing/freezing them for him. I would probably start with 50 eggs, who knows how many I'd get out of that. Even if I got 50 chicks, which I'm sure is way more than he'd ever eat, I could feed the rest to my raw fed dog or sell them to other snake keepers. So even if he decided he didn't want quail, they would not go to waste. I would never kill an animal if I knew there was a chance of it going to waste.

 

[BCollie]

I ended up baking a batch of cookies for my neighbor and thanking him for taking care of the chick for me. He said that by the time he had a hole dug to bury her, she was gone. How sweet that he buried her.

He is so nice. I don't bury my chicks. I would bury my adult birds, but they don't get buried, they get sent off for necropsy. I feel bad about it but I place dead chicks in a plastic bag then gently set them in our big garbage can. I have no idea where I would bury them, our entire yard is just one big garden. I know some raw feeders will feed their "prey" animals that have passed on to their dogs, but I don't want to feed them to the dog when they die of unknown causes.

 

[sol2go]

I like the look of my blrw boy. Dude is a very mellow fellow.

I have found the BLRW Roos to have the very best personalities, and so people friendly. They are really my favorites.

 

[SpringPeeper]

I'm definitely interested. I am sure I could handle seeing them die that way as at least it will be peaceful, with no blood and flapping around. I think that's what got me today - knowing that I was going to have to watch my babies head fall to the ground, blood drip from her neck, not knowing if she was going to start flapping around like older chickens will do...That's all that was going through my head today as I sat there with a dying chick in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other. I sat there for several minutes just crying over a limp, dying chick. I know I could handle them going silently and peacefully in a CO2 chamber. But I would for sure want to make sure I do it right, my main concern is always that it's going to be as easy as possible for the bird.
I want to do more research on feeding quail to snakes, but when he's big enough, if it's a good option, I am very interested in hatching out a bunch of quail and killing/freezing them for him. I would probably start with 50 eggs, who knows how many I'd get out of that. Even if I got 50 chicks, which I'm sure is way more than he'd ever eat, I could feed the rest to my raw fed dog or sell them to other snake keepers. So even if he decided he didn't want quail, they would not go to waste. I would never kill an animal if I knew there was a chance of it going to waste.

http://www.thereddragonsden.com/co2.htm

This is similar to what I usually use. A lot of the ones online show you how to use baking soda and vinegar- for rodents, this is okay, they don't seem to mind the smell. Other animals seem to be alarmed by the smell, so I would advise against that method if you can avoid it. Don't prime the animals' tub with Co2, don't over-crowd. Place them in, very slowly leak CO2 until they drift off, then when they are ALL asleep raise the CO2 to a lethal dose. In studies, this method is shown to generally kill without visible signs of distress, and without causing the release of adrenaline and stress hormones that would indicate panic and pain. There are limitations- it works better for some animals than for others. I have not used it on quail, I can try to find if it is an effective method for them. It works well for most rodents and chicks. It's always better to leave them in a bit longer than you think you need to, if you pull the CO2 too soon and let them start to come around they will be distressed.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of snake do you have? I keep mostly Kenyan Sand Boas and Rosy Boas, but also a few pythons and colubrids.

 

[sol2go]

Faverolles are great birds. I had a hatchery Faverolle cockerel named Lucky. When I got him I kept wondering why he wasn't going to the feeder and eating and drinking. I kept dipping his beak in the water every few hours and putting him in front of the food. Eventually he caught on. It wasn't until later that I realized he was almost completely blind! He grew up and went to live with my grandson and ended up saving his flock from a raccoon attack, but he was mortally wounded in the process and later died. Despite his disability he learned to cope and ended up being a hero.

happy, and sad...

 

[sol2go]

I've gotten very good at answering the "pullet or cockerel?" question myself, thanks to you guys. I have 4 Blue Laced Red Wyandottes that I got from Jeff. One is no doubt a pullet, the others are cockerels. They got bright red faces with big combs and wattles long before the pullet did...actually, the pullet still has very little color to her face. No crows and no eggs still, at 6 months old!!!

Today I decided that I'd like to have these cockerels butchered and processed when my parents get back from their vacation next week. So, probably next weekend. They'll be about 25 weeks old. I was picking them up to bring them inside and weigh them, one at a time. Got the first two pretty easily, they're not that flighty. The biggest is 5lbs, the second one was 4lbs 14oz. Went to pick up the third one and had to have my herding dog help me a bit as he's a little flighty. Managed to grab him by the tail, and I held on tight. He started squaking and trying to fly away, but I didn't let go. I had his entire tail in my hand, so I wasn't hurting him at all. I placed my hand on his back to gently push him to the ground so that I could more easily pick him up. And then, he squatted.
I'm not joking. I was positive this chicken was a cockerel. I mean, look at these long, pointy, rooster-y neck feathers and these long, pointy, rooster-y saddle feathers.





I tried to make him squat again after I brought him back outside after I weighed him, but he wouldn't. But, I have PROOF that he squatted when I went to pick him up! Pictures! He had put his wings back against his body by the time I got my phone out to take a picture, but he had been doing the submissive squat identical to how my girls do it.






Or should I not be calling him a "he" anymore? I am so confused right now!! What's your guys take on this?

EDIT: Enlarge that first pictures so that you can see his neck and saddle feathers well.

I had 3 lavender ameraucana chicks, they all squatted, but one turned out to be a Roo...it probably saved him. I kept him long enough to get attached and find out that he was not only very people friendly but could merge with other flocks/roosters. His cockerel offspring have been very similar, so they are now in charge of the rooster run.

 

[sol2go]

Wow! That's going to be a great coop.

x2!

 

[HighStreetCoop]

Yay! I had some that were that 'almost black' color, and they turned out the be the handsomest of the blue Orpingtons in the batch. I ended up with no blacks.

Awesome. I'm going to band them tomorrow, so I'll keep track of which chick that is.

 

[Nikon]

The chicken house is almost ready for the chickens. We will be working on the room dividers today. There is an urgency to get them out of the old house before the tree falls on it.

Wow! That's almost bigger than my last home. Is that hardwood flooring?!