how do you cull?

[In His Service]

We had to cull a hen with a prolapse and a mean roo. My husband did the deed with a hatchet or ax....not a pretty sight. Later we got cornish x chicks. I found some people who were processing 30 birds and went to help and learn. When we were ready to process our meat birds, we got a couple of orange cones from Lowe's, cut the ends off so the opening was big enough and attached them to a board attached to 2 trees. We held the bird upside down by its feet for a minute until it stopped flapping and became very calm, then placed it head down into the cone. Hold the head in one hand with your fingers on and just above the comb, and your thumb on the "chin". Use a very sharp knife and with a quick, smooth flick sever the carotid arteries on each side of the neck. (Hold onto the head for a minute to prevent splatter as the body will jerk around a bit.) Using the killing cones is quicker and easier for us, and I believe it is about as humane as possible.

 

[Mrs. K]

I agree with the above post. I used milk jugs, but only did 5, the orange cones would last longer. But that worked great, quick and done.

 

[jamband]

I agree with folks supporting the quickest most humane way possible and i will never be convinced drowning is humane at all. Less messy yes but humane? would you choose to drown?

The animal deserves the respect of being eaten and not thrown away if possible.

Also just wanted to say that commercially produced organic poultry is not much more humane in practice. They use organic grains and yes the house of 3000 birds has 2 chicken doors to a concrete pad and the chickens get 18 inches of space to stand on their own poop for 8 weeks. Just sayin.......find a local farm where you can see the birds.

 

[ParadiseFoundFarm]

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[JoePa]

I bet to differ - drowning is painless - cutting it with a knife isn't completely painless - when a person drowns it is actually the fear of what is happening that is upsetting - humans have the ability to anticipate what is going to happen whereas animals don't have that ability - you put a chicken's head under water it doesn't have the foggies idea what is happening - very quickly the brain has no oxygen and the bird dies - I think we incorrectly think that animals experience the same feeling as humans - they don't - sure they can feel pain but they can't anticipate it - they operate on instinct and from what they have experienced in the past - a chicken comes running to you not because they love you - they come because they associate you with food - that even applies to fish - I can walke around my pond and a bunch of fish follow me around - why - because when they see me they associate me with the worms I often throw into the water - guess think when you go to the dentist and have a filing - your sitting in the chair hoping that this is not going to hurt - put a chicken in the chair and it lays an egg -

 

[ParadiseFoundFarm]

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Just asking here so don't bite my head off ( or drown me or freeze me or ...)
I was thinking about it very much and agonized quite a bit.
I surmised that drowning and freezing would take a longer time to kill.
Drowning victims have agonized looks on thier faces ( seen it as I was a resue/recovery diver for our municipality here)
Freezing, as was reccomended to me, would take a while too.
Cutting the neck viens would more quickly starve the brain of oxygen and blood it needs and so result in a death of the body AFTER the brain - which is what I was hoping to protect.
Your Ideas on My Thoughts?

 

[ralleia]

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I was shocked when I saw individuals on the boards advocating drowning. According the the American Veterinary Medical Association, drowning is NOT an acceptable means of euthanasia. It is considered inhumane and if you've ever nearly drowned yourself, it is quite terrifying and uncomfortable. See page 35 of the guide on euthanasia. http://www.avma.org/issues/animal_welfare/euthanasia.pdf

 

[Stacykins]

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It isn't about anticipation, it is about actual biological responses. Hypoxia induced by drowning IS painful. The body sets in motion panic responses when it detects hypercapnic hypoxia.

The problem with using CO2 OR drowning for culling is because the chemoreceptors that detect levels of carbon dioxide. The body knows when it is suddenly experiencing hypercapnic hypoxia (high CO2, low O2), and triggers a panic response that includes hyperventilation in an attempt to correct the situation. The animal will lose consciousness eventually, but such a death isn't pain free, if you've even been denied breath for a short amount of time you know it is incredibly painful.

Anyway, OP, when I had to cull a chick recently I used cervical dislocation. That and fast beheading are among the fastest ways to kill a chick with minimal suffering. They are more up and personal for you, which can be traumatic.

I am glad that nobody has advocated freezing yet. The animal does not just go to sleep. It remains conscious as the water in its cells begin to crystallize and lyse. Ever gotten frostbite before? That extreme pain is the freezing of your cells, they rupture and die.

 

[ParadiseFoundFarm]

Thank You StacyKins
The O.P. is just behind me in this research and I was watching this thread with great interest. I shared what I had heard and what I knew but to hear you explain it in such terms with body reponses to each method has cleared everything up for me. I am no longer in doubt about making it harder on myself to spare the chick trauma.
I really can't thank you enough.
Denise

 

[JoePa]

Well - after some time of high powered thinking - and to satisfy all those who think that drowning in inhumane - I have come up with the perfect way to cull a chicken - first you must realize that getting knocked out is painless - I'm very familiar with the art of boxing - when you get hit with a punch and get knocked out it really doesn't hurt - but it puts your lights out - and for a length of time you don't know what is happening - so now apply that to culling a chicken - knockout the bird first and then it will not feel any pain when you use a knife, axe, hammer, chain saw or whatever to end it's life - one way to knock out a chicken is to put a pellet gun against it's head and shoot it - you surely will knock it out or even kill it right off the bat - either way - death is painless - I suggested a pellet gun because some places you can't use a firearm - if you can then put the gun - a .22 - against it's head and shoot it - Now if anyone says that this method is inhumane - I give up -