*GULP* When you say "cull".....

[suzeqf]

If I have a chicks I know isn't going to make it because it's to weak, I prefer a natual death and usually let my daughter hold it until it dies most of them have been day or two old and have failed to thrive so far knock on wood I haven't had to put any older ones down I almost had to but she pulled thru. But if you have to it has to be quick and the best way is beheading or if they are teeny babies a very sharp pair of scissors to the back of the neck. I prefer a natural death but sometimes that isn't possible especially if they are suffering

 

[yinepu]

I use pruners on chicks and quail (when I butcher quail). a quick snip and it crushes the spinal cord and also slits the throat (caution.. unless it is REALLY far gone the body will twitch from muscle spasms which is perfectly normal).

For older birds my husband either shoots them in the head or I use the tree branch loppers to the neck. This is also the method we use when dispatching birds for the freezer (my husband shoots them then I remove the head with the loppers).

 

[Tressa27884]

I always try to nurse them back to health if I can. If I can't then I cull. I had to cull a pullet recently. I also use garden shears. I cried and cried after I did it, but I wasn't willing to let her suffer and die.
I hope to never have to do it again - but I am prepared to do it if I have to. I went out after I had to cull my chic and bought a really sharp hatchet. I want to be prepared if I have a sick chicken or if one is seriously injured.

 

[jdywntr]

I am also glad to see this in the raising chickens section. It is a necessary part of responsible ownership for many of us. I would not take an ailing chicken or duck to the vet unless they were a prized show/breeding animal and I don't show/breed so being able to read how others deal with the process is very helpful.
Thanks.

 

[AmyLM]

I hate to think of the idea of culling. As someone that used to breed and show fancy rats, bred fish for resale, and have had just about every pet you can think of. I have had to listen to people culling babies because they were the wrong color, not the right pattern, ext and I found that to be a horrific waste of a life. My opinion is that there is a difference between putting an animal down out of not wanting it to suffer an agonizing death due to illness, injury or accident and killing it just so you can say that you ONLY have show quality animals (or birds). There are always people who would LOVE to have well bred pets and who could care less if it matched some breed standard so I really don't buy that excuse at all. Killing an animal for meat is another reason that some can understand, others can't, but in this case and putting down a doomed animal I believe they should both be done as humanely as possible. Over the years I have had to put down literally thousands of animals. Every time is hard. But the worst was when I took in three little rescue rats from someone who contacted me off my website. The rats looked healthy when I took them in, but a few days later even though I was quarantining the babies at my friends house... the babies started to get sick... and because I hadn't showered after I had held them and filled my rats water bottles when I got home.... Id spread it to my rats. It turned out to be a HIGHLY contagious form of phenomia that is very difficult to cure and those that survive typically have life long problems. I watched helplessly as all 3 babies died, then my own rats started dying one after another. They died quickly, some I helped to die others just gave up quickly. Those that survived never thrived. I had to face culling some of them because they were just so unhealthy I knew that they were likely never going to get better and were also likely harboring the disease and could possibly start another outbreak. I had to make the heartbreaking decision to put down all my rats. I had treated them with every medical means and it just didn't work. After consulting with a lot of people, including my vet, I constructed a gas chamber from plans that I found on line and gassed them one cage at a time. I kept my emotions in check the whole time.. but that night I really broke down. My rats were very important to me, and for the first time in 20+ years... I had no rats. And I haven't been able to bring myself to having them again. Culling is very very hard to decide to do. But if it must be done, then there really isn't any other choice

 

[un-named543]

Now, on to methodology.

Quick and sure is humane. Everything else is for the benefit of the human not the quick end of the animal. The whole gassing, freezing, etc boggles my mind. Even read today of someone wanting to over dose with a lethal injection of insulin.

It's simple.
If it is a chick, just snip the head off with large shears.
Chop the head off swiftly with a meat cleaver.
Decapitate with a sharp axe on a wood block.
Twist the neck swiftly and surely, while pulling up. This snaps the neck and ends all suffering immediately.

Be determined. Do it hard. Do it once. Do it fast.

Compassionate, merciful dispatching shows we are humane.

X2!!!!

 

[Ole rooster]

This is really strange. Don't you understand cutting off the head? It's simple, easy, and effective. Then put it in the trash or bury it. It's the human emotion thing that makes it hard, but it's the responsibility we assume when we take on the care of the chickens. That's what Fred said.

 

[quintinp]

I have done it with a rock to the head, a shovel, and if I have to do it again, I will use butchering shears. I wont use an axe, either, because I don't trust that I won't cut something other than the head off. If it is a chick, shears. If it is a full grow bird, wrap it in a towel, and snip its head off with a pair of garden shears.


By the way. I wouldn't use the rock or the shovel, I used the rock the first time I ever had to cull. Now, I would use the shears.

 

[EweSheep]

3x

X2!!!!

Ive done engine starter fluid on baby chicks but I wanted something like "lights out" gone in an instant. Since I didnt have shears or an ax on hand, I wrapped the baby chick in a paper towel in a plastic bag, smash it HARD against the concrete wall or floor. I mean HARD! It was instantly quick.

With an older bird, I prefer a bloodless mess when I am dealing with a pet a chicken with a name, not used for eating, I would use the broomstick method. I don't have that much strength or not certain if her neck was snapped, this method I am most comfortable with and will continue to use it.

As for meat bird, slice the throat.

I studied to be a vet at school and we had to learn different methods of putting an animal down.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

When culling chicks, I use a sharp pair of pruning sheers. I put the baby in a paper bag first and do the deed inside the bag so I don't have to see it. Burn or bury the bag and all when finished. On adult birds, I use the broomstick method since I'm not confident enough to use a hatchet to behead them. You place the bird on a flat surface on its chest. Place the broomstick over the back of the neck, then stand on the broom with one foot on either side of their head. Then simply pull up on the feet hard and fast. The broomstick method works with chicks too, but they're alot more delicate and their heads will pop off if you pull to hard. I don't particularly like either method, but when an animal is suffering both methods are fast and humane. Good luck!