How do you cull chickens?

[NestingMillenial]

Late to the matter, but I thought it'd be helpful to some who posted above to know that bleeding a conscious chicken out without fully removing the head is actually seen as an unacceptable means of euthanasia by the American Vet Association.

One would have to render the bird unconscious first, to make it acceptable, which is definitely not done by just holding then upside down. It's also just plain hard to do if you don't want to use ether or other chemicals. Trying to use brute force is unlikely to be very consistent and you'll have misses, and it'll be awful, so I wouldn't recommend anybody try to whack their chicken unconscious before bleeding them out.

And again, you don't want to bleed them out without them being rendered unconscious if you care about minimizing their pain: it can take full minutes (plural) for consciousness to cease by blood loss alone.

The point of decapitation is that it cuts the spinal cord (same as with dislocation) and THAT is what renders the chicken unconscious instantly and make the death painless.

It's well explained by a vet here: https://the-chicken-chick.com/how-to-humanely-euthanize-chicken-by-dr/

 

[Bigbluefrog]

Taking care of our chickens is a responsibility- some here love them like pets. I did too with my first 7, hand raised and named each one. Then we started losing them one by one 5 gone. Each loss broke my heart. The second batch of hens - I didn’t really name. Well Gimpy because she limped. And I lost more to a fox.
Once birds are free ranged they love to free range- the taste of freedom comes with risks. We didn’t get them for their eggs that was a wonderful benefit though.
We got them for tick control. I have seen my husband sick with lymes and another tick illness. It is a horrible disease. That being said the free ranging hens have reduced the tick population greatly- the animals have less on them.
Do I love my hens? Yes, in that I provide them a wonderful home, food, and good care.
And know when to cull is a part of life- it wasn’t a pleasant job, but one that needed to be done. I am okay with it.
FYI- when tipping this hen down she kept her head upright! So it was difficult to put her in the cone. And we delayed the deed a little longer -the broomstick was an easier method.
Maybe with more experience I could learn other methods.
Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and experiences. It was very helpful. It is good to know I am not alone.

 

[chfriedmam]

I find it helpful to mount the cone on 2 screws, but first hang a black garbage bag on the screws. The chicken goes upside down in the cone, inside the bag. The whole procedure happens in the bag. I Personally hold the neck until there is no chance of further movement. My gloved hands come out of the bag with often zero blood on them and the bird bleeds out calmly. Like others have said, it has to be done. Make sure the knife is sharp, like sharpen it before each bird.

 

[Cinnamon Roll]

I find it helpful to mount the cone on 2 screws, but first hang a black garbage bag on the screws. The chicken goes upside down in the cone, inside the bag. The whole procedure happens in the bag. I Personally hold the neck until there is no chance of further movement. My gloved hands come out of the bag with often zero blood on them and the bird bleeds out calmly. Like others have said, it has to be done. Make sure the knife is sharp, like sharpen it before each bird.

Bleeding out a conscious bird is not humane. The bird should be stunned beforehand.

 

[NestingMillenial]

Agreed. I already made my case above but, to sum up, if going for a kill cone method, just decapitate - the severing of the spinal cord renders the bird unconscious in seconds, while bleeding out will take 3-4 minutes of pain before reaching unconsciousness, for a chicken.

 

[colospgs]

Anyone know where to find a video using the lopper method?

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

1st time I had to cull she was already really sick, found her on the floor and thought she was dead. When I picked her up she moved a bit so I pulled her neck and she died. It was really easy.

2nd time I had to cull I tried to pull her neck and it did not seem to dislocate, so I quickly grabbed a broom and did the broomstick method, her head came off.

The latest time, a few days ago I used a sharp flat shovel, pinned her down then used my foot on the shovel for a quick decapitation.

I have to thin the flock to almost zero, I have decided for the next culls I will use a cone and loppers. The plan is to hang a bucket under the cone and line with a trash bag. Lop off head, bleed out and drop into the bucket and dispose of everything.

My family will not eat the chickens, not an option.

I am buying a new set of loppers that will be just for culling.

Going forward I am not naming them! Lol

I plan on rotating out on a schedule, get 6 chicks in the spring, then six more the next spring and so on, but only over wintering the 12 youngest birds.

Will see how that goes.

 

[WI chickens]

I just use my .22 caliber pellet gun. It's fast, easy, and, most importantly, the brain is destroyed so there is no chance of the chicken feeling anything. I still hate it.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I just use my .22 caliber pellet gun. It's fast, easy, and, most importantly, the brain is destroyed so there is no chance of the chicken feeling anything. I still hate it.

Do you do the same with smaller birds like adolescents or chicks? Sorry if it's obvious, I'm trying to find a way that works better for me than branch trimmers

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

I just use my .22 caliber pellet gun

I have a pellet gun, but it is a rifle so it is too long to hold up to their heads and I would likely miss trying to pick them off in the yard. A pistol would be better fo me at least.