How to cull a chick?

[Akane]

Doesn't that methond only work on like day olds and 1 week old chicks.. I have never tied it but I wouldn't think it would work on anything bigger than that or would it.

They do it to butcher quail so it should work with even older chicks provided your using a sturdy pair of scissors or shears. Even better a pair of actual gamebird shears would definitely do the job quick.


Freezing is absolutely horrible. Having had frostbite and living in a climate that can get to -20 I can assure you that you don't just "fall asleep" when you freeze to death. Even if it were quick and a freezer is a heck of a lot warmer than -20F. It's extremely slow and it's quite painful to the extremities. Do people who put them in the freezer say to go back 5 mins later? How about 10? 30? Usually it's suggested to wait at least an hour before taking them out or they might still be alive. That's one of the cruelest things I can think of. Cutting their head off may traumatize you more but it takes less than 1 second. Brain function ends before you can count to 1. Not long minutes to hours of feeling your body tingle with pain and go numb while panicking and shivering. I bet if you stood by the freezer door you could hear them crying. I know my chicks are extremely loud when just a little cold. How could anybody believe that's a good way to die?​

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Well, the freezer is what I had been advised to do by people I considered experienced professionals, those in the pet store business. I didn't do it because I lacked the courage to take better care of a dying chick. Besides, I think there's a difference in freezing a healthy, lively chick and one that is collapsed in a little heap struggling for every breath. I stayed to listen for signs of new distress and didn't hear any, just the already desperate cheeping getting lower & slower.

I'm going to ask around and let you all know what I find out from my chicken vet, the wildlife rehab clinic, and some breeders I know. This is an important bit of information we all need to know, plus we need to dispell any bad advice being given.

Meanwhile, I hope all our chickies stay healthy & whole and don't need us to help hasten their ends.

 

[sillybirds]

The way I finish off mice which are still alive in a trap is to put it in a plastic shopping bag, then slam in down as hard as I can on the concrete driveway with a whipping motion (being careful not to smash my hand into the concrete!). This puts it out of its misery without any pain. The sudden impact kills it instantly. It might work with a chick too if one absolutely had to put one out of its misery.

 

[Dill]

Freezing and drowning are both very cruel ways.

There's this gas stuff (I forget what its called) that people use to kill animals. Its supposed to be quick and painless.

 

[DTchickens]

Quote:
some people put the animals in the.. garage? or a box, turn their car on. hook a hose to it and let the exhaust fumes leak into it. supposed to be painless and very effective

 

[Dill]

Quote:
some people put the animals in the.. garage? or a box, turn their car on. hook a hose to it and let the exhaust fumes leak into it. supposed to be painless and very effective

I've never heard of that. The stuff i was talking about you're apparently able to buy somewhere and its a popular way to kill "feeder" animals.

 

[aiwetir]

actually freezing may not be cruel, it is often said that hypothermia is not the worst way to go. it's been said that some people reach a state of euphoria or giddyness and often remove their clothes.

i once had a discussion with an MD about good ways to die and he mentioned that hypothermia may be the best way to go, he said you feel euphoric, and warm and then go to sleep.

you don't die because your cells explode, you die because your body temperature drops to the point where organs cannot function.

having said that, i have no idea how i would cull

 

[Granolamom]

Honestly, I can't believe some people think of petstore owners as "experienced professionals". The only thing they are experienced in, is how to make a living selling innocent animals, who either came from puppy mills and other institutions of the same sort, or shipped thousands of miles from exotic places, suffering numerous cruelties along the way, and having a large percentage of their fellow animals die during the trip, all for the sake of making somebody rich. Does anyone really believe, that a petstore owner would have the sick animal's best interest at heart, when having to put it out of it's misery? Seems to me that the freezer method is in the best interest of the one who does the killing, not the one being killed.

 

[Dill]

Quote:
Ditto. No one at a petstore is "experienced professionals". Some things are even sold at petstores when they aren't even safe for animals. WHy do you think they sell them? For money.

Dill..you would or SHOULD if it was suffering!!..or you shouldnt own them..its cruel to let them suffer...i am a BIG animal lover, BUT,i know i could do it if i had to, becaus i care more about the animlas suffering than myself...its very selfish of people to let their animals suffer...when my RIR got stepped on..and i saw her flopping around on the ground in pain..i IMMEDIATLEY told my husband to go get the hatchet..and even though i am a whimp and it would have killed me after..i KNEW right then and there(when i saw her suffering), that i could and WOULD do it to end her pain..thankfully she passed before my hubby got back with the ax..(it was only a minute)..but, i would have done it in a heartbeat..for her..., Wendy

I'd bring them to the vet to be 'put to sleep'. Its alot harder than it sounds to kill an animal...​

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Ditto. No one at a petstore is "experienced professionals". Some things are even sold at petstores when they aren't even safe for animals. WHy do you think they sell them? For money.

Dill..you would or SHOULD if it was suffering!!..or you shouldnt own them..its cruel to let them suffer...i am a BIG animal lover, BUT,i know i could do it if i had to, becaus i care more about the animlas suffering than myself...its very selfish of people to let their animals suffer...when my RIR got stepped on..and i saw her flopping around on the ground in pain..i IMMEDIATLEY told my husband to go get the hatchet..and even though i am a whimp and it would have killed me after..i KNEW right then and there(when i saw her suffering), that i could and WOULD do it to end her pain..thankfully she passed before my hubby got back with the ax..(it was only a minute)..but, i would have done it in a heartbeat..for her..., Wendy

I'd bring them to the vet to be 'put to sleep'. Its alot harder than it sounds to kill an animal...​

ooh really?..how would you know?..you've never done it....and also, why should i drive 30 minutes with an paralyzed/smooshed chicken to a vets?..why prolong the pain?...think about it please...IF its supposed to REALLY be about the animals benifit...