How to kill male chicks

[dazz02]

x2 And many of us have explained that, although it has not been scientifically proven that gassing causes pain, we can pretty much confirm that it does through the stress sounds and actions by the animals. Be responsible in culling the excess by using the most humane solution.

i don't think it was stressed, it wasn't running around or even tweeting. It just stood their and then after about 5 minutes was lead down and then when i came back 20-30 minutes later it was dead.

 

[mattsinger]

i don't think it was stressed, it wasn't running around or even tweeting. It just stood their and then after about 5 minutes was lead down and then when i came back 20-30 minutes later it was dead.

I still say its the wrong way...and I think others here have as well. If you are trying to someone to tell you that what you are doing is the proper way......the answer is no.
IF all you wanted to know is will it kill them.....sounds like you already knew that

 

[Ridgerunner]

There are some threads on this forum of how people use car exhausts to kill chickens or you can do an internet search on how to set it up. Doing an internet search is probably going to be the easiest way to find out how to set it up. I’m not sure what kind of scale you are looking at either. It’s sounding like you plan to do this pretty regularly instead of an occasional small hatch. That could influence how you set up to do this too.

I’ve never done it so I can’t speak to how humane it really is. People just die in their sleep instead of waking up when there is a CO2 leak. Birds have fairly delicate respiratory systems. That’s why miners take canaries into mines. If the canary falls over dead, it’s time to get out. The air is probably bad.

I also don’t know if it would taint the meat as far as food for reptiles. I wouldn’t think it would poison the meat but the smell may be enough to keep some reptiles from eating it.

I also don’t know what constitutes animal abuse where you are. That’s probably worth checking out. If you choose this method, I’d suggest doing outside and not in your garage where you could possibly be overcome by the fumes. It’s possible all it would take is one nosey neighbor to report you to get your name in the local paper. That could be true of any of these methods. Your trash pick-up may object to dead animals in the trash. Life is so much simpler out here in the country.

I don’t have any experience with it so I can’t really advise anything on that method based on experience. I’m just guessing.

 

[aoxa]

C02 doesn't taint the meat, and it is how they kill rats and mice for reptiles, so I can't see it being much different with chicks. However, I personally would use them for meat. Free range them and have some nice slow cooked roosters in 16 weeks.

 

[dazz02]

i don't believe it caused the bird to suffer which is why i am contemplating the idea for future use. I am wanting to sell the dead chicks for reptile food so am looking for a method that won't put reptiles off eating the chicks. I want a method where i can kill a group of male chicks at once as they are no use to me. I read that they freeze them but would have thought that is worse than gassing.

 

[mattsinger]

there are a lot more toxic gases in auto exhaust besides CO and CO2

 

[3 NH reds]

Storey's book on Turkey has a section on using co2 to kill off birds . I agree with the free range idea, I have a young rooster that is bottom of the chicken pecking order. He was getting beat up all day and I plan on eating him soon but I wanted to have a few birds to do in one day so he gets a few more weeks to go. I just let him go out and free range and he is happy not to be beat up and he is sticking right by the coops and the others look on in jealousy as he scratches for worms and eats greens all day

 

[dazz02]

Storey's book on Turkey has a section on using co2 to kill off birds . I agree with the free range idea, I have a young rooster that is bottom of the chicken pecking order. He was getting beat up all day and I plan on eating him soon but I wanted to have a few birds to do in one day so he gets a few more weeks to go. I just let him go out and free range and he is happy not to be beat up and he is sticking right by the coops and the others look on in jealousy as he scratches for worms and eats greens all day

so how do you plan on killing them. You can buy co2 but it is expensive and i don't want any more expenditure.

 

[3 NH reds]

Older birds I just use a killing cone and a sharp knife. I have not killed any chicks yet but if I had to I do have a co2 tank for beer. You might be able to get a nitrous oxide kit for whip cream cheaply and release the gas in a bag or box.I think some of them are less than $30

 

[1muttsfan]

Cutting the head off completely with SHARP scissors in one stroke over a container is the best, quickest, most humane way to cull baby chicks, IMO. It is not as messy as you might think.

This is as close as it gets to instant death, with no time for the chick to feel pain if it is done in one quick stroke.

Car exhaust contains many irritating substances, not just carbon dioxide - take a whiff yourself and you will see how it may be a tough way to go. there are threads on here which discuss ways of generating pure carbon dioxide in a small chamber, but I still think the scissors method is much quicker.