First cull story

[HiEverybirdy]

Sounds like it was harder for you than the bird. So that's a good thing! You did your best for your bird and I am sure she appreciates you.

Big props for taking the time to plan everything so your hen could exit quickly. It sounds like she was very woozy already, so she probably simply stopped feeling pain when you did the deed.

This experience is how everything I do with chickens seems to turn out: plan the least stressful path for the birds; run into a series of figurative walls as I assemble all the necessary tools, usually in awful weather; and finally, end up spending as much time cleaning up as preparing. But in my story, there would be at least one chicken on my head with squish poop on her feet.

Thank you for sharing. Virtual hugs.

 

[jus10inla]

If your in a area where allowed, .22 bird shot to the head works extremely well. Outside of course...

U would have to be point blank for ratshot to be effective. Literally all its good for is rats..

 

[mowin]

U would have to be point blank for ratshot to be effective. Literally all its good for is rats..

And how close do u need to be to lop its head off? Point blank.

 

[bobbi-j]

OP, good for you for doing the best thing for your bird. The next one will go more smoothly.

 

[MickWithChicks]

Never fun to do and it sounds like you had a traumatising experience to boot. At least your hen is no longer suffering!

I'd also recommend the broomstick method in the future if you're not culling for meat. It's very quick, there's no blood, and the bird remains calm throughout the whole process.

 

[AOrchard]

Big props for taking the time to plan everything so your hen could exit quickly. It sounds like she was very woozy already, so she probably simply stopped feeling pain when you did the deed.

This experience is how everything I do with chickens seems to turn out: plan the least stressful path for the birds; run into a series of figurative walls as I assemble all the necessary tools, usually in awful weather; and finally, end up spending as much time cleaning up as preparing. But in my story, there would be at least one chicken on my head with squish poop on her feet.

Thank you for sharing. Virtual hugs.

Thanks! This made me laugh and feel better. I do seem to get pooped on less than most... My sister has held 6 chickens in her life and been pooped on 7 times . I've held them daily and only been hit a few times.

Thanks everyone

 

[AOrchard]

I'd also recommend the broomstick method in the future if you're not culling for meat. It's very quick, there's no blood, and the bird remains calm throughout the whole process.

I'd looked into it but I really don't like the idea of handling the bird during it. Its an unsettling idea to me to be touching the bird, especially while new to culling. Liked the small but notable distance between myself and the bird for the kill cone/loppers. For all the other things that happened, I was pretty confident I could get the loppers right on the first try, and that had a lot of value for me when deciding how to do it. Glad I did so for the first one, no doubt that my method will evolve over time though...

 

[AOrchard]

Sounds like it was harder for you than the bird. So that's a good thing! You did your best for your bird and I am sure she appreciates you.

It definitely was and that is such a good thing! Thanks for reminding me of that!

 

[aart]

no doubt that my method will evolve over time though...

It will...no doubt you now have that cone mounted and ready to go.

 

[ladybrasa]

I’m new to butchering (last year). Used a kill cone and loppers. Definitely emotionally easier with that little bit of distance from long- handled loppers! (Full disclaimer - I didn’t actually do the deed with my own chickens, but the girls definitely said it helped. This year I’ll graduate’ to doing their birds and they’ll do mine.) Anyway, as long as the loppers were sharp, they worked fine. For the cone I purchased one, then another of a different size because I had a wide range of sizes. So if you think all your chooks would fit in the cone without further adjustments stick with that! Otherwise it might be worth having a couple sizes and just stick them in the back of the shed until you need them (hopefully not!). Also, these cones had a single hole to hang. So I put a hook permanently in a big post and can take the cone on and off when needed. I stabilized the rest of the cone with wire wrapped around the cone and post. Sorry I’m getting long-winded! Point being, the hook is unobtrusive and easy to just hook up a cone when needed, and take down.

As far as traffic cones, I did see somewhere on here that one person said they used traffic cones and a very sturdy metal tomato cage. There wasn’t an image, but I think they meant the rounded ones that got wider at the top and had spikes at the bottom to put in the ground. They flipped it upside down so the spikes were pointing up. They folded out the spikes and were able to place the cone on that. The wide portion served as a base. A bucket could be placed inside. This sounded neat and very easy to set up without anything permanent. My only concern was stability- sometimes the chicks really flap afterwards ...