Our chicken Coco, began to show signs of Marek's disease. Imbalance, falling asleep constantly, and random comatose like state. We euthanized another chicken, Berry, a couple weeks ago through a vet, so this was somewhat dreadfully expected.
Our family was going through some other tough emotional times and my wife and I were pretty distraught. We wanted to put her down but no vets were gonna be available until after the weekend. I sort of hastily researched easier ways to euthanize a chicken. There were 2 choices for doing it at home; A: Do it physically by decapitation or breaking the neck, or B: chemically through CO2 or ether.
I thought about A, but it sounded violent and I wasn't confident in my ability to do it right. So I looked up B. I read somewhere that creating CO2 with baking soda and peroxide is easier for smaller birds, and I was really afraid of the possibility of something working only halfway. And then I saw that someone did it with the exhaust out of their car. They said it was quick and effective. I saw a good amount of negative feedback on this but for some reason I ignored it.
We said our goodbyes to her, wrapped her tightly in a blanket, put her into a styrofoam box I had made that connected to a hose running from the car exhaust pipe.
We put her in the box, my wife stepped away, and I began to hear her. She struggled with way more energy than I thought she had left. I felt like was gonna jump out of the box so I pushed down on the lid. She began to squawk softer and then she went. It felt like it took about a minute, maybe more. The event was numbing and surreal.
Euthanasia means "good death" from Greek. This was NOT a good death. She struggled and she sounded like she was clearly in pain, or at least complete panic. I did this earlier today and have not been able to sleep, thinking about the sounds she was making and the struggle she put up. My wife and I have been completely traumatized by the event and I am largely responsible.
As her owner/caretaker, I have the responsibility to be as compassionate as possible to these vulnerable animals, especially those who are sick. I could have done a little more thorough research about how to euthanize a chicken or just simply waited until a vet was available to take her. Instead, I chose a way that was easy for me but not easy for the Coco.
For those who thought about doing it this way, please reconsider. It's something I deeply regret doing and I will remember it forever. Coco was a great chicken to us and she did not deserve the death that she received.
I highly recommend using a vet, as they will tranquilize your chicken before they are put down. It's peaceful, truly painless, and feels dignified.
Here is a helpful site I should have found/listened to that explains in detail about dislocation/decapitation:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2017/02/how-to-humanely-euthanize-chicken-by-dr.html
Our family was going through some other tough emotional times and my wife and I were pretty distraught. We wanted to put her down but no vets were gonna be available until after the weekend. I sort of hastily researched easier ways to euthanize a chicken. There were 2 choices for doing it at home; A: Do it physically by decapitation or breaking the neck, or B: chemically through CO2 or ether.
I thought about A, but it sounded violent and I wasn't confident in my ability to do it right. So I looked up B. I read somewhere that creating CO2 with baking soda and peroxide is easier for smaller birds, and I was really afraid of the possibility of something working only halfway. And then I saw that someone did it with the exhaust out of their car. They said it was quick and effective. I saw a good amount of negative feedback on this but for some reason I ignored it.
We said our goodbyes to her, wrapped her tightly in a blanket, put her into a styrofoam box I had made that connected to a hose running from the car exhaust pipe.
We put her in the box, my wife stepped away, and I began to hear her. She struggled with way more energy than I thought she had left. I felt like was gonna jump out of the box so I pushed down on the lid. She began to squawk softer and then she went. It felt like it took about a minute, maybe more. The event was numbing and surreal.
Euthanasia means "good death" from Greek. This was NOT a good death. She struggled and she sounded like she was clearly in pain, or at least complete panic. I did this earlier today and have not been able to sleep, thinking about the sounds she was making and the struggle she put up. My wife and I have been completely traumatized by the event and I am largely responsible.
As her owner/caretaker, I have the responsibility to be as compassionate as possible to these vulnerable animals, especially those who are sick. I could have done a little more thorough research about how to euthanize a chicken or just simply waited until a vet was available to take her. Instead, I chose a way that was easy for me but not easy for the Coco.
For those who thought about doing it this way, please reconsider. It's something I deeply regret doing and I will remember it forever. Coco was a great chicken to us and she did not deserve the death that she received.
I highly recommend using a vet, as they will tranquilize your chicken before they are put down. It's peaceful, truly painless, and feels dignified.
Here is a helpful site I should have found/listened to that explains in detail about dislocation/decapitation:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2017/02/how-to-humanely-euthanize-chicken-by-dr.html
