I rescued a Pekin ducking a couple of years ago. She put on a lot of weight very quickly, and once mature, wasn't able to walk normally -- it seemed like she just couldn't support her weight very well. She didn't forage, or groom herself: she'd increasingly just eat and lie on the ground. I have other meat ducks and never had this problem before, so I don't know what the difference was with her.
Earlier this week, I picked her up and noticed that she had developed a sore on her keel. I assumed it was a bed sore, essentially: she's always had plenty of straw litter, but I think it was due to the fact she was so sedentary. I decided that it was probably time to euthanize her, since her quality of life seemed low and declining.
Tonight, I noticed that she was really struggling to breathe for some reason; her body was heaving and she was making a raspy quack with every exhale. I decided, reluctantly, that it was time to put her down. I've never had to put one my ducks down before, and I was dreading it -- they're more pets to me than they are livestock, and I'm very soft-hearted. I'd done a lot of reading on methods, and decided the quickest way to dispatch her was with a powerful pellet gun fired point-blank through the top of her head, between the eyes and the ears.
It did not go well. It seemed to take a very long time for her to die, even after several shots -- despite the fact that I fired very accurately with very powerful (700 FPS) pellet gun. From what I'd read, I assumed it would be similar to using a penetrating captive bolt gun, but the results seemed neither quick nor humane. She appeared to continue breathing even after two shots, although her pupils were dilated and she had no eyelid response (which I've read are good indicators of brain death). Maybe thirty seconds after the third shot, she went into death throes, and it was over.
I'm torn up about it, to be honest; I hate the idea that she suffered, but I wonder if maybe the first shot stunned her sufficiently that she wasn't capable of feeling too much pain. I don't know. I also don't know why I'm posting this. I suppose I'm just looking to get it off my chest and hear what others have experienced.
I have a Pekin drake, rescued at the same time, that I was planning on dispatching at the same time: I have two drakes and not enough females, and I haven't been able to find him a home. I've kept him until now, but he's been a little difficult to manage. He and the female I just dispatched were bonded, so I thought it made sense to put them both down at the same time, but now I just feel stuck. At the moment, I can't imagine doing that to another bird -- and other methods seem potentially worse, to be honest. The female had a poor quality of life, but he's perfectly healthy, which just makes it more difficult.
I know this is very routine for some folks, and arguably just part of having animals -- but it just seems horrible to me right now.
Earlier this week, I picked her up and noticed that she had developed a sore on her keel. I assumed it was a bed sore, essentially: she's always had plenty of straw litter, but I think it was due to the fact she was so sedentary. I decided that it was probably time to euthanize her, since her quality of life seemed low and declining.
Tonight, I noticed that she was really struggling to breathe for some reason; her body was heaving and she was making a raspy quack with every exhale. I decided, reluctantly, that it was time to put her down. I've never had to put one my ducks down before, and I was dreading it -- they're more pets to me than they are livestock, and I'm very soft-hearted. I'd done a lot of reading on methods, and decided the quickest way to dispatch her was with a powerful pellet gun fired point-blank through the top of her head, between the eyes and the ears.
It did not go well. It seemed to take a very long time for her to die, even after several shots -- despite the fact that I fired very accurately with very powerful (700 FPS) pellet gun. From what I'd read, I assumed it would be similar to using a penetrating captive bolt gun, but the results seemed neither quick nor humane. She appeared to continue breathing even after two shots, although her pupils were dilated and she had no eyelid response (which I've read are good indicators of brain death). Maybe thirty seconds after the third shot, she went into death throes, and it was over.
I'm torn up about it, to be honest; I hate the idea that she suffered, but I wonder if maybe the first shot stunned her sufficiently that she wasn't capable of feeling too much pain. I don't know. I also don't know why I'm posting this. I suppose I'm just looking to get it off my chest and hear what others have experienced.
I have a Pekin drake, rescued at the same time, that I was planning on dispatching at the same time: I have two drakes and not enough females, and I haven't been able to find him a home. I've kept him until now, but he's been a little difficult to manage. He and the female I just dispatched were bonded, so I thought it made sense to put them both down at the same time, but now I just feel stuck. At the moment, I can't imagine doing that to another bird -- and other methods seem potentially worse, to be honest. The female had a poor quality of life, but he's perfectly healthy, which just makes it more difficult.
I know this is very routine for some folks, and arguably just part of having animals -- but it just seems horrible to me right now.
