Had to cull my first chick today

[Scubadeaux]

Big hugs

I am so sorry to hear things ended up that way. You are not alone

Just had my first hatch, 5 did not hatch, but were fully formed & feathered. I feel like I did not even try to help!!! I discovered hatching not for the faint of heart

Be strong, you did the right thing!!

 

[ICallMyselfCherie']

I'm very sorry.

As everyone else said, you did a very brave thing. I hope the cold wasn't too horrible for him. But I can't really think of a better way short of physically killing him, which I could not have brought myself to do, I'm quite sure. I wonder if, next time, there is type of medicine you could get ahold of that would be instantaniously lethal at a certain dose. You could probably get ahold of a hypodermic needle at a medical supply store -- but I'm not sure. I don't know. I don't know how easy it would be, or if it wouldn't wind up being worse for the little guy.

Oh well. I know it was hard for you, but you did a good thing.

 

[Woods_Woman]

Thanks all for the support..I know it was for the very best, just feel so guilty. I'm going to research the valerian tincture HeatherLynn suggested, and see if I can get some of this to have on hand..Only thing is, if it involves a syringe I may not be able to use it. Thanks again everyone..you all are wonderful.

 

[whytedragon]

I'm so sorry

However, correct me if I'm wrong, but i've always heard that freezing to death is a VERY painful way of dying. Not trying to make you feel worse than you already do...just wanted to mention that the freezer might not be so quick and painless. I once put a live rat in the freezer for my snake to eat, because I couldn't stomach to kill it, thinking it would just go to sleep...and mentioned it to some other snake enthusiasts and got a bad reaction. Now I feel really sad when I think of what I put that poor thing through...no animal deserves that.

 

[HeatherLynn]

The valerian tincture I just get from the health food store. I just used an eye dropper to get the birdie to drink. Its not instant but its peaceful. They just sort of go to sleep and don't wake up.

 

[lemurchaser]

I'm sorry you had to cull one, its not an easy thing to do.

I do want to second that freezing them is not humane unless they are already unconscious (although it is easier on the human). I've done the scissors before and its horrible, but there are some other hands-off methods. I would probably put them in a rubber maid container and run exhaust fumes into it, or there is a engine cleaner (or some other automotive fluid) that does the same thing. Carbon dioxide from mixing vinegar and baking soda is also considered humane (don't put them on it, just have them inhale the fumes).

 

[PNightbird]

My heart goes out to you! And please know you did the right thing, no matter how you did it. When somebody feels bad about something that happened, it doesn't help the person to nitpick at the details. Know in your heart that what you did was right for that baby chick, and that it was You who stopped it's pain and suffering...end of story.

Also know that in the big pasture in the sky, it is walking around pain free right now, eating all the scratch and bugs it can catch, along with all the other baby chicks who were waiting for it's arrival...

 

[MiniBeesKnees]

Geez...I know I might have to cull someday and meant to ask about methods. I'm a big believer in the last loving act we have to do as caretakers to our loving companions...I've had dogs for the last 13 years as constant company. Pugs, Chihuahuas, and now a rat terrier mix puppy. I owe them a last loving act. I'm obligated. I'll have a vet do it though.

All my chicks so far have been raised by the hens and I've had some losses...but now I have 26 eggs in the incubator. The others were the hen's responsibility but these are mine. And I might have to cull an injured grown chicken some day. I know they are meat, but I'm not gonna be able to just take a hatchet to them.

I have pairs of big heavy Gingher scissors sharp as razor blades, but I'm pretty sure I'd not be able to decapitate a chick. I just don't have it in me.
I thought about the freezer, but reading this today that doesn't sound as kind as the just slowly and easily dying as I thought.
I guess I could make some box contraption to hook to my Blazer's exhaust...how long does that take? How long in the box? It is some sort of a nightmare thought that I'd half kill one, and it would recover, and I'd have to rekill it. Ever read The Plague Dogs?
It would probably be more merciful to just put it in a zip lock freezer bag, wrap that in a towel, tuck it under the wheel, and run over it. I might be able to do that.

Where I live you can buy all the syringes and needles you want at the Farmer's Co-op. I might be able to do that... But what do I put in it? I'm not into putting various things into one and trying to see if they work. Plague Dogs again.

When I was a teenager...like fifty years ago...my Dad used to go to the drug store and buy ether by the two pound can. He used it to start heavy equipment in the cold CT winters...he was an excavating contractor. We had to use Dial shampoo because it came in perfect orange squirt bottles that he'd put the ether in to squirt in carburetors. The stuff is unbelieveley flammable/explosive. So I doubt it is for sale at drug stores anymore. He used it too to put animals down. Easy, soak a rag with it, put it in a closed box. But I'm not sure if I could even get the stuff, that there is any safe way to store it. He kept it in an old safe in his workshop.

I had a vet when I lived in NC that I could ask these questions...but I don't have the same relationship with the fancy, expensive hospital I take the dogs to here in TN. And I'm not about to spend fifty bucks to take a chick to the vet to have 'put to sleep'...

What do you guys do?

 

[Orchid]

I'm so sorry you had to do that, but you did the right thing.

I guess most of you don't live in an area where it is okay to fire a gun? We live way out in the middle of nowhere and my husband takes care of things that way if he must, bless his heart. I can't do it. Of course I'd rather have the vet do it whenever possible, but sometimes it's just not.

 

[MiniBeesKnees]

Well, there are lots of guns in my area...actually I have a carry permit and carry my .38. Unusual for an old lady, but not that uncommon. I think for chicks that would be overkill, no pun intended.