Help with chick I had to assist hatch?

[flipflops]

I am going to have to cull this little one. She is no better, cannot eat or drink, and is getting weaker and weaker. I cannot bear to do the snip off the head. Please tell me how to do the starter fluid method - do I put her in a gallon zip lock bag with rags soaked in starter fluid or paper towels and then zip and let it set. I just want her to go to sleep and that be the end. I cannot put a hand on her. I know it might sound like I am being a wuss I just cant, and its hard enough taking a life for me.

 

[Rose Quartz]

I am going to have to cull this little one. She is no better, cannot eat or drink, and is getting weaker and weaker. I cannot bear to do the snip off the head. Please tell me how to do the starter fluid method - do I put her in a gallon zip lock bag with rags soaked in starter fluid or paper towels and then zip and let it set. I just want her to go to sleep and that be the end. I cannot put a hand on her. I know it might sound like I am being a wuss I just cant, and its hard enough taking a life for me.

I have a question, before you go there....

is her fluff dry and crusty kind of pasted to her? is it possible she's not uncurling because her fluff is stuck to her body

 

[flipflops]

She is dried out now. But the odd thing is she has very sparing hair. She is actually missing patches of fluff. There is one little crusty place on her back but no nothing else. When I move her or try and sit her up her head and whole right side of the body is literally curled to one side. Also one leg is smaller than the other and on the smaller leg there are toes that are itty bitty and on the other side normal size. She is about half the size of my other silkies who hatched also.

 

[Rose Quartz]

She is dried out now. But the odd thing is she has very sparing hair. She is actually missing patches of fluff. There is one little crusty place on her back but no nothing else. When I move her or try and sit her up her head and whole right side of the body is literally curled to one side. Also one leg is smaller than the other and on the smaller leg there are toes that are itty bitty and on the other side normal size. She is about half the size of my other silkies who hatched also.

I see... :/ doesn't sound good. I've never had to cull a chick. I almost did this year, I was thinking I would take it outside in the cold. I didn't know what else to do. It got a bit better on it's own and died a week later.

I've don't know how to do the starter fluid....

but I have read that a ziplock bag with a container of equal parts baking soda and vinegar will work. CO2.

 

[flipflops]

How do you do that method exactly?

 

[Fishkeeper]

It'll work, but it works by suffocating the chick, so I really doubt you want to do that.

You can use carbon monoxide from car exhaust. Put the chick in a near-airtight box, somehow fasten a hose to your car's exhaust pipe and into the box, and run the car. This is technically also suffocation, but it works differently. With CO2 suffocation, the body detects the excess levels of CO2 and causes the animal to panic. Carbon monoxide replaces the oxygen without triggering any alarm. The animal gets tired, falls asleep, and dies. It's why people commit suicide that way, and how people can accidentally die of carbon monoxide poisoning- it doesn't feel like anything is wrong. Works with all small mammals and birds, especially birds, but not on reptiles.

 

[flipflops]

I dont think we can really do that method, we really have no way of doing that both our vehicles have large pipes on them, so would not be very easy for us. Does the baking soda/vinegar or the starter fluid work the same?

 

[bobbi-j]

Honestly, the kindest way is to snip. It’s fast and over with in less than a second. All the other “clean” ways prolong her suffering and end her life with suffocation. If you can’t do it, maybe you can find someone who can.

 

[flipflops]

I know that would be quickest. I just have a hard time with stuff like that. I know if I am going to be doing lots of chickens and breeding etc I should toughen up with that but this is the first. I have begged my husband too as well and he said he just cant.

 

[Fishkeeper]

Do you have a neighbor who can do it?

Carbon monoxide poisoning is technically suffocation, yes, but that "can't breathe" sensation comes from your body's reaction to too much carbon dioxide. With carbon monoxide, that reaction never comes. It's why carbon monoxide leaks can be so deadly, people simply don't realize that anything is wrong. They get sleepy, maybe get a headache, and pass out. Carbon monoxide poisoning is considered a humane way to euthanize most animals because, on observation, there's minimal to no distress. Also because we've talked to people who've nearly died of carbon monoxide poisoning, and they describe it as being like falling asleep. It's not the same as if you smothered an animal with a cloth, which would cause a suffocation distress response. It takes longer, but it's about the next best thing to decapitation or crushing the skull, and it's peaceful.

You can read a similar discussion here, where they used carbon monoxide:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/non-violent-way-to-kill-a-chicken.259799/