City Chickens- How to cull?

[lomine]

I agree with many above, I don't think euthanizing a sick or severely injured chicken is the same as slaughtering. Does the law specifically say you can't kill a chicken at all?

I think the broomstick method and a deep hole sound like a good idea. Add a rose bush as suggested and you'll have lovely flowers every year to remember your pet by.

 

[rosemarythyme]

If you have a true medical emergency you probably won't have time to be waiting for a vet or an Amish neighbor, so have some sort of plan (or two) in place for doing it yourself. After a hawk mortally wounded one of my hens I tried the broomstick method but couldn't do it correctly (her neck was torn completely open) so I ended up using a branch lopper to break her neck. It wasn't what I had originally planned but it did the job in an instant.

 

[lazy gardener]

If you mis-judge when doing the broom stick method, and pull the bird's head off, the job is still done. Dead is dead, whether the cervical dislocation stops at the spinal cord and bones, or goes a bit further to the point of separating the bird from her head. It's a super fast kill. Any movement that happens after the fact is simply nerves firing, which happens no matter the cause of death, or what species.

 

[Mrs. K]

I agree with the above, however the flapping after the deed can be highly unnerving. Wrap the bird in a towel and fasten, or cut the toe out of a mans sock and pull over the head down over the body, then do the broomstick method. Then bury the bird.

I agree the intent of the law is that one cannot raise meat birds and process them next to your neighbors. And if your bird is sick, well the Amish will not want that brought on to their place that has healthy hens.

If you can find someone else to do it, it would be nice, but even if you are a bit shaky it can be done, and we know, we have done it. We had too.

 

[aart]

I would go to state thread, and raise the question.

Done https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ll-are-welcome.697050/page-4189#post-20241915

Disposal of corpse is probably more key than the actual killing(tho that's hard enough).

Cervical Dislocation is shown in this video at about 1:00,

it's the only CD video I've found that doesn't remove the head.
-Notice the slight divot in the ground under the stick and neck, this will keep the bird from being choked.
-Notice that she slowly stretches out the neck and legs before giving the short sharp jerk that breaks the neck close to the skull, this is key to success IMO.
I've found this technique to be very effective.

 

[Ridgerunner]

When you deal with living animals you sometimes have to deal with dead or injured animals, whether that is dogs, cats, or chickens. There could be many different reasons why they don't allow slaughter, I'm not even going to speculate.

My suggestion is to call your local animal control and see what they have to say about it. Your questions might range form euthanizing the chicken to how to dispose of the body.

 

[Mrs. K]

^^very good advice

 

[MIchickenlady]

If you have a true medical emergency you probably won't have time to be waiting for a vet or an Amish neighbor, so have some sort of plan (or two) in place for doing it yourself. After a hawk mortally wounded one of my hens I tried the broomstick method but couldn't do it correctly (her neck was torn completely open) so I ended up using a branch lopper to break her neck. It wasn't what I had originally planned but it did the job in an instant.

If you don't mind my asking, what did you do with the bird?

 

[MIchickenlady]

*thank you everyone very much for all the advice!!!!
I dread the day, but at least I have an idea how to handle the situation when the time comes now. I really appreciate it!! BYCers are great

 

[aart]

I dread the day, but at least I have an idea how to handle the situation when the time comes now.

Kudos for your Proper Prior Planning!!
I researched a lot before the fact...it really helped.