How do you cull a chick?

[gardenknitter]

Coopcrazy...oh. I see what you are saying. I was just thinking that personally, that seemed the least violent method and something I could actually handle doing. Which I imagine is why people would be drawn to it over the other methods.

He did pass away on his own. Didn't seem to suffer any.

RIP little chick.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

There are a LOT of folks of the opinion that the freezer method, while easy on the owner, is harsh & cruel to the animal. It may be quiet, but it is suffering unnecessarily.

I use sharp kitchen scissors to quickly snip off the head and INSTANTLY send the chick to The Other Side of the Road. Certainly it's unsettling to hold the fuzzy lil' chick and see the deed be done. That's why I wrap the chick in a paper towel so it doesn't wriggle, and hold the chick inside a paper bag/cardboard box or the burial hole ready-dug. As soon as I snip through I let both the head & the body drop inside. The chick may have residual reflexive movement but you have to know it is beyond pain.

You can still have the burial, just not open-casket. Another method that is quick, humane & approved is cervical dislocation, where you hold the chick's feet & with fingertips behind the head pull quickly outward. It keeps the body intact, but I dislike the feel of that, so prefer the snip method.

I'm sorry for the misfortune, but it's inevitable when raising baby chicks.

 

[TriciaHowe]

I do carbon dioxide. Vinegar and baking soda mixed in a pot with tight fitting lid. Was very quick and seemed painless.... Chick had major unfixable leg deformaties....

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

I euthanized a 2 month old 2 days ago. It's never easy and I always cry but this time I did it a bit differently and it as very quiet, calm and not stressful for the baby or I.

I held baby in my lap so she was comfortable. I sprayed a corner of one of the washcloths with starter fluid "ether" and layed it gently over her beak/nostrils. After about 15 seconds she was in a deep sleep. I continued to spray the corner with additional starting fluid and then covered her in my lap with a plastic bowl to help hold the ether in and be sure that she was going to receive a lethal dose...not just a deep sleep. There was no fasciculation (jumping muscles)...just easy respirations until her heart stopped. I'm always careful to feel for a heartbeat and wait for awhile to bury...just in case.

Never easy but this was the easiest way I've ever done it. Seemed much more humane for her and for me.