dispatching unwanted cocks in the uk

[waynem1983]

Im sure this is here somewhere but just wanted clarification.

im about to recieve my very first batch of chicks and only wish to keep the hens. I expect to get at least a few cock birds which I do not want and rehoming is not exactly easy.

I planned to simply chop the head of any unwanted cockerals, however im a little worried about the repercussions with regards to animal welfare.

5 years ago I pulled the neck of a pidgeon (wild flying rat type) that got crushed under a fallen sky dish and had a broken wing. A local neighbour reported me to the police and I spent 3 hours in cell before rspca said I did nothing wrong.

Was just wandering if there are any laws I need to be aware of before I despatch any potential cockerals. I am in the UK.

Thanks

 

[Kelsie2290]

You might want to post in the UK thread to see if people near you know about the local laws or what other bird owners there do https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/2199/anyone-in-england as for the "legal" reaction to the pigeon, all I can say is Wow... I begin to see why SSS is so popular in disposing of pests etc (Shoot, Shovel, Shut-up).

 

[happyhens1972]

There are no laws against doing it as long as it is done humanely. It's not something I would shout about round the neighbourhood, some people are very sensitive and will look on you as a monster for doing it but it is an accepted part of chicken keeping. Actually, as a matter of interest, there are no laws against killing ANY pet or livestock animals as long as it is humane. You could 'cull' your family dog if you wanted to and if reported, it would be down to a court of law to decide on whether the animal suffered, not on how 'justified' the killing was.

I am NOT for a moment suggesting anyone culls their family dog so please don't be upset, I just meant that we often assume illegality in these things where none exists.

I read an article on this (chicken culling, not dog culling!!) and a spokesperson for the RSPCA stated that methods classed as humane were the broomstick method, mechanical dispatchers, coned decapitation and electrical stunning follwed by exsanguination. Shooting was NOT deemed as humane, nor any form of killing which involved another animal (ferret, dog, bird of prey etc), manual neck breaking was a no-no and so was manual stunning (bashing over the head with a baseball bat or similar!)

So go ahead and cull your cockerals but be warned that many people will find it deeply disturbing and would report you for it....then there would have to be an investigation anyway, as you found with the pidgeon incident!

 

[ChaoSS]

You've learned your lesson, make sure you do it where nobody can see it.


As has been said, might want to check in the UK area, see about laws pertaining to "approved methods" but if killing a cockerel was animal abuse you wouldn't have any meat processing plants.