How To Humanely Euthanize A Chicken..

[spotsplus]

Quote:
Same thing as baking soda and peroxide but w/o wasting gas and FREEZING her is a terrible idea. I definatly would not like to be froze if I was a chicken! Its inhumane as leaving a dog outside in a snow storm!

I agree with that one. A vet told me one time to put my dying rat in a freezer & itll be quick. I dont agree at all.. it seems painful & very inhumane.

Twice I put a bird in the freezer and twice I went back 10 minutes later and they were still alive. I can't imagine freezing is "easy" for them and I'd never again use that option.

 

[jupitergirl]

NEVER freeze a bird to kill it. Chickens can survive in freezing temps. Use carbon monoxide if you can't snap the neck or use a hatchet. See above for some very humane methods involving car exhaust and hoses etc. I work in animal control and could never reccommend freezing. In fact we could prosecute for leaving an animal out to freeze to death. I even think drowning is more acceptable than freezing according to AVMA.

 

[ANGELCHICK]

Take it to the vet, can't cost that much. Peace of mind is worth it. I had to have my 90 lb Lab put down only cost $30. Still not easy.
Good Luck with whatever decision you make.

 

[mdbokc]

$90 vet bill to put one our cats down.

 

[JReedy72]

My initial thought on putting one of my chickens down, was that it would be easy...after all - it's a chicken (I know - blasphemy!). I mean, hey, I eat a lot of chicken, but then, if I were standing there with a hatchet and a stump, could I do it? I was at the feed store this weekend, and complained that they have started eating more and laying less. I assume it is because the weather is cooling down. But you know what? They stop laying...I start eating. I joked that it would be easier to go to the megamart and buy a chicken for $5, and the guy told me that there is a HUGE difference in taste when you have your own chickens. Now I am curious. But, could I actually kill a chicken. I spent 8 years in the army. I have hunted numerous types of animals. I still do not know if I could kill one of these chickens. I am not concerned so much with a humane way of doing it...I would think an ax would be the quickest and most humane (since it is the quickest), but just not sure if I could do it.


Jason "the weaker"

 

[#1California Chick]

This is an old thread -- BUT it was very helpful for me today!!

I had a three year old hen that began limping about 4 months ago. She got around OK and did all the normal chicken things: eat, dust bath, lay eggs, etc. so we just kept a watch on her. Her limping got worse in the last month - but she still seemed to enjoy all things chicken. In the last two weeks, she appeared to go from the "top" of the flock to the "bottom" and I really felt sorry for her. Then over the weekend, she spent all her time in the coop and sometimes needed help to get down from the roost to the feed and water. I knew that it was "time" to think about her well-being.

This morning I called my dog/cat vet - they didn't know how to help (no easy veins in chickens). I called a vet that I had used before for my chickens - $85 to put her down! No way! (My daughter informed me tonight that the Humane Society would have done it for $20 - also via carbon monoxide).

My husband and I read over the comments on this post and decided that the carbon monoxide method was the best for us. We put her in a box, put in the hose -- and it was literally over in two minutes.

We bundled her up (with ice packs) and sent her via Fed-Ex to UC Davis for a necropsy. I really want to know what was going on with her!

But I have to say THANK YOU to all the posters from three years ago!!! I didn't have to wait hours to get an answer to my questions!!! Another reason that BackYardChickens is TOPS!!

Cindy

 

[Robins nest]

Sorry for the loss of your chicken. I know that I'll probably be faced with the same problem along the way, so thanks for the post. I can't put my chickens in the freezer after they stop laying. They will be free range until the end.

 

[GreenGables]

There should be a chicken farmer nearby in Central New Jersey. Maybe they would help you.

 

[OldGuy43]

Those who keep kosher believe the most humane way is to slit their throat.

 

[Chickenfan4life]

I don't think anyone should go with euthanasia from a vet. We had a dying pet rat that we wanted euthanized but it costed $150 to do so. We refused and she died in her cage.

This thread would have been handy earlier today, when we found a wound on our naked neck rooster. It was infected, and full of dirt and poo and the chickens were pecking it and, well, eating it! My dad dispatched him via shotgun, but it was NOT pretty. The first shot he was shot right through the chest. It should have killed him: it didn't! The second shot, in almost the exact spot, and he was STILL alive! Finally, my dad shot his head off. It was NOT a pretty sight! By that time, there was hardly anything left of him. There were 2 feet, and some of his body. There was a hole right through him. Oh, it was HORRIBLE!!!

I would not recommend death by a shotgun unless you shoot the head off. It was horrible!