culling chicks...

[dunedin]

How do people cull chicks? I'm proficient at slaughtering grown birds with a killing cone but if I want to cull little cockerals how should I do it? Sorry to ask such a gruesome question.

 

[MohicanHase]

How old? If it was me I would wait till about 10 weeks then you can get some meat from him.

 

[SD Bird Lady]

I just did some 4-6 week olds. I just use the old chopping block method with a hatchet. They dont have much meat but were not wasted as the cats and later the "wilderness creatures" ate every last bit.

 

[donrae]

Kind of depends on how old the bird is, For day old sex links, I'm planning to use something like this

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...sYCYBA&usg=AFQjCNFo4n5FLbwWA1Cb70yjlnjzpDdIow

I used it on a malformed chick and it did the trick nicely. I talked to my local wildlife rehab about donating my cockerels, and they said they would take them live and euthanize them in pretty much the same manner as the above link, just on a larger scale.

Older birds, pretty much any of the butchering methods work. Decapitation, slitting the throat, cervical dislocation/wringing the neck are the top three, as a rule.

 

[dunedin]

Thank you Donrae. My hubby likes that idea (Science!) At the moment I'm raising 5 cockerals to a slaughterable size (or until they start crowing) and at 12 weeks they just aren't worth the effort. In the future I'd rather cull as small chicks because I have limited space and the boys are taking up space a hen could use.

 

[dunedin]

SD Bird lady, I thought about that method too (as there is no way they'd fit in my killing cone) but worried about accidently chopping off my hand. How do you hold them down?

 

[SD Bird Lady]

I hold then by their feet and let them hang for a bit to calm. Then just lay them on a sturdy table or old stump (breast down works best)if they don't lay their next out try again. Then chop and let go.

 

[donrae]

Thank you Donrae. My hubby likes that idea (Science!) At the moment I'm raising 5 cockerals to a slaughterable size (or until they start crowing) and at 12 weeks they just aren't worth the effort. In the future I'd rather cull as small chicks because I have limited space and the boys are taking up space a hen could use.

I so know what you mean. My plan had been to cull all my cockerels at hatch. Then, they were just so darn cute, I didn't. I rationalized saying I should grow at least one all the way out so I could show folks what they'd look like, if they were looking for a rooster. Well, that one is now 5, plus the mixed breed guy I had to wait to sex, plus the three Oops cockerels from hatcheries, plus the straight run bantam cochins....I'm quite cockerel heavy, and space is becoming an issue. I'm advertising birds for sale now, I need to get pens shuffled around. I think this has cured me of the cuteness factor, next hatches all cockerels will either be euthanized or donated.

 

[bobbi-j]

I so know what you mean. My plan had been to cull all my cockerels at hatch. Then, they were just so darn cute, I didn't. I rationalized saying I should grow at least one all the way out so I could show folks what they'd look like, if they were looking for a rooster. Well, that one is now 5, plus the mixed breed guy I had to wait to sex, plus the three Oops cockerels from hatcheries, plus the straight run bantam cochins....I'm quite cockerel heavy, and space is becoming an issue. I'm advertising birds for sale now, I need to get pens shuffled around. I think this has cured me of the cuteness factor, next hatches all cockerels will either be euthanized or donated.

It's handy that you have a place to donate them! We just grow 'em out here, but we also have plenty of room for them. I can't say how our little deformed chicks are killed, because I just tell hubby that there's one that needs to go, and he takes care of it

. Yeah, the cuteness factor gets me, too, as well as the helpless factor. I'm more of a "want to make it better" person, but I've learned through the years that sometimes trying to make it better sometimes just prolongs suffering or leads the poor animal to live a poor quality of life.

 

[donrae]

It's handy that you have a place to donate them! We just grow 'em out here, but we also have plenty of room for them. I can't say how our little deformed chicks are killed, because I just tell hubby that there's one that needs to go, and he takes care of it

. Yeah, the cuteness factor gets me, too, as well as the helpless factor. I'm more of a "want to make it better" person, but I've learned through the years that sometimes trying to make it better sometimes just prolongs suffering or leads the poor animal to live a poor quality of life.

I used to do just that. I figured he was so getting the better end of this marriage deal, he should be the one to dispatch things, right?

But, then I decided to run an incubator and thought I should put on my big girl panties and take care of it myself. I cried the whole time, but got the job done.