One of my chickens, a 13 week old pullet, got an inflamed eye a week ago. I've given her antibiotics but the swelling hasn't ever gone down and she's lost a lot of weight. Now the other eye is swelling up too. She cries quite often and scratches at it so I know she's in pain and I just can't seem to get this under control for her so my options are to either wait until she dies or put her out of her misery. I've never killed anything before in my life so I need a little guidance here. I know this is the best thing to do for her so I just need to deal with it, it's part of owning pets, but how do I do it humanely and without a lot of blood? I live in the country so I can shoot her if I need to I guess, is that what most people do? I'm at a total loss. Please help.
So sorry you are having to go through this.. It is a hard judgement call to wait it out or cull. For no blood, I would ring her neck. But living in the country myself, I would most likely shoot it. It is somehow easier for me to do that than to actually have to put my hands on her to do it. Just be advised to make a well placed shot. It can be rather disturbing if it isn't.
Quote:I'm sorry you have to ask this question. Here's a thread that I contributed to that may be of some assitance to you: "How do I put down a hen, humanely"
I saw a recent thread about using automotive starter fluid, which is ether. Ether was a common anesthetic years ago. This person took a rag, sprayed a generous amount of starter fluid on it, and held the rage over the nostrils, beak of her ailing bird until breathing stopped. Essentially, you're giving an overdose of anesthetic.
