how to put a rooster down without violence?

[shortgrass]

I know people have been doing it for years but I can not cut his neck..

Don't be so hard on yourself... I can't do it either


DH is getting to the point where he doesn't want to anymore either.. We have a couple of friends that will take unwanted roos for us and do what they will with them. We still get a few broilers and turkeys... But oddly, the last turkey also went to a new home, I got too attached to him and couldn't kill him.


And I was raised on a farm. Meat in the freezer has to come from somewhere but I just can't do the killing.


Do you have a husband with a stronger will than you?

DH uses a bar, gently puts the bird on the ground and somehow he uses the bar to hold them down and quick twist and they're gone.


I like the Craigslist idea. Free to good home, stew pot or not, at least you don't have to do it and someone else gets free or reduced lunch

 

[Hillaire]

I've always tried to sell any unwanted roosters first. If I cannot find a home for them and trust me I put off the other option as long as possible to the point where I am sure I annoy the craigslist and facebook group people.... after that amount of time I go back to my farm roots and do what I have to do... do I like it? heck no but unfortunately if I can't keep a rooster (especially a mean one who I don't want to pawn off on someone else) I have to face reality. Good luck I hope you find a new home for him.

 

[Fentress]

If you can't find a way to put an animal down, then you have no business keeping domesticated animals. Find a way that works for you and do it. You feel a sense of accomplishment and take big step forward toward being a credible poultryperson when you do this. Buckshot at close range is not very bloody and is as humane as any other method. There is no humane way to kill something, it's a relative term. Good luck.

 

[Necklace]

If you can't find a way to put an animal down, then you have no business keeping domesticated animals. Find a way that works for you and do it. You feel a sense of accomplishment and take big step forward toward being a credible poultryperson when you do this. Buckshot at close range is not very bloody and is as humane as any other method. There is no humane way to kill something, it's a relative term. Good luck.

Wow.. hope you don't feel the same way about cats and dogs. :/ I only have a few chickens I don't have a farm or raise them for meat. Thank you for the comment I think. :/

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Actually people that shoot their cats and dogs when it's time do so not because they won't pay $100 for the vet rather they don't want their pet getting anxious entire car ride and know something is not right at the vets to finally get injection ending all the angst. Death at home where your at peace if it's swift is usually prefered. For chickens I use an axe. The cone and knife is most prefered but for some reason can't bring myself to do that method. Research and find what will work best for you. Be confident and not stop midway or wince in the action so it's humane and quick for the animal. It's not so much the most humane method as they all work it's which are you most comfortable doing?

Perhaps you mistakenly received a cockerel that was suppose to be a pullet. So I'm not directing this at you but at large there are many that want to hatch chicks and so on with no thought as to what they will do with the boys later. BYC pages are flooded with "what do I do with these rooster?" when the answer is simply- don't get roosters in the first place. In this light I think you understand what people are saying. It's not a farm vs. backyard thing it's animal husbandry as a whole; called pets or not their all animals under our care.

 

[Quackems]

Necklace, from your words I sense sympathy for this rooster, who trusted you, his human, in the sense that you would oversee his care and provide him with a life of safety. I think you could explore other options, such as rehoming him or calling several farm sanctuaries, before you kill him "humanely" under the stewardship of people who regularly kill their own animals and thus, develop a callousness about taking the life of a defenseless creature of the feathered kind. There are several cow sanctuaries that might be interested in taking in a rooster. Why not think outside the box and acknowledge the probability that this rooster, who depends on you for everything, does not actually want to die? If you are still tormented by this morbid idea that you should learn how to kill him yourself, then ask yourself the question, "If I were this rooster, would I want to be killed by my owner just because I became a nuisance and behaved the way many roosters do?" You'll find the answer from your rooster, not from those who accept the culling and killing of animals as a reality of sustainable living. And since this rooster is your responsibility, the question should be, "What does he want?" rather than "What do I want?"

 

[Poultry parent]

I have actually only killed 4 of my chickens (and 1 duck), I know that it's not a great thing to kill them, but I always think about the kind of life the bird would've had in a commercial facility. In comparison with that my birds lived long, and very happy lives.

 

[Quackems]

That is a very good point, Poultry Parent. If I may quote Alfred Lord Tennyson, "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."

 

[Poultry parent]

It makes it easier when if you end up have to kill a bird. They really have lives that are so much better than at a commercial facility

 

[Necklace]

Actually people that shoot their cats and dogs when it's time do so not because they won't pay $100 for the vet rather they don't want their pet getting anxious entire car ride and know something is not right at the vets to finally get injection ending all the angst. Death at home where your at peace if it's swift is usually prefered. For chickens I use an axe. The cone and knife is most prefered but for some reason can't bring myself to do that method. Research and find what will work best for you. Be confident and not stop midway or wince in the action so it's humane and quick for the animal. It's not so much the most humane method as they all work it's which are you most comfortable doing?

Perhaps you mistakenly received a cockerel that was suppose to be a pullet. So I'm not directing this at you but at large there are many that want to hatch chicks and so on with no thought as to what they will do with the boys later. BYC pages are flooded with "what do I do with these rooster?" when the answer is simply- don't get roosters in the first place. In this light I think you understand what people are saying. It's not a farm vs. backyard thing it's animal husbandry as a whole; called pets or not their all animals under our care.

Yes I understand.. when we bought the chicks they were suppose to be all girls.. so a rooster was not planned..