how do you cull?

[goldtopper]

Killing cone, very sharp pruning shears. Very quick, not messy and painless.

 

[Christie Rhae]

Well, I asked the original question and now I realize why it was so hard to find a straight answer about culling before. It is kinda a touchy topic.
Killing is unpleasant for just about everyone. All this info is great and I will file it away in my brain and hope I don't have to use it too soon.

 

[jennifersouza]

OK, bringing this thread back from the depths but I have a chicken who seems to have slipped into a coma.....should I just let her go or actively cull her? She was sick for a while and the treatments didn't take.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Note to others: ***This is GRAPHIC***

I culled my first rooster or cockerel a few weeks ago. I had too many, and wanted to be the one to do it as my other adoption options gave him an uncertain future as well and I didn't want a botch job on him or a traumatic car ride, etc. There's a youtube video I watched where a lady wearing an apron sat down with the bird, keeping it calm and kept the wings in-- kind of swaddling it in the apron and then took a sharp knife and cut the juggler tipping the bird so the head was down. they Bleed out pretty fast and it was minimal stress on the bird and she always soothed it until it passed. Mine stayed very relaxed through the whole thing and I think his passing was calm. He didn't squawk or cry out. I didn't enjoy any part of it and he's still in the freezer waiting for us to be alright with a chicken dinner again...LOL. Good luck.

 

[bobbi-j]

OK, bringing this thread back from the depths but I have a chicken who seems to have slipped into a coma.....should I just let her go or actively cull her? She was sick for a while and the treatments didn't take.

If it were my chicken, I'd just put it down if it's that bad off. We use the hatchet-and-stump method here. If the chicken is in a coma, a good sharp knife will do the same thing.

 

[justinschkz]

Well im a big hunter and it def doesnt bother me to cull a chicken especially to put it in a gumbo. But i have to say i would never drown one that just seems torturous.

 

[Christie Rhae]

Wow I had almost forgotten I started this thread.
Since I first posted the question I have had to put down a couple chicks and we have processed a bunch of roosters.
I found that I really could not harm a tiny chicks body... couldn't cut it, couldn't break it. I just could not make myself do it. I did drown the chicks. I put them in a bag and just dunked them into a 5 gallon bucket. They did not struggle and I feel it was peaceful.
To do that to a grown chicken would be ridiculous.
We hang them upside down and just slit the throat. I think it is quick.
Getting to the point that I can eat them was not quick... lol. I have eaten them and have a bunch of cockerels to process soon so I will be using my new brine recipe and plan to get my head around the fact that "it is just chicken". lol