Humane Culling for Pet Chickens: Chopping Block or Kill Cone?

[HoopyFrood]

Can you still eat the birds if you use this method? Or will it taint the meat?

They're pets. We wouldn't think of eating them.
It's a slow oxygen depletion (asphyxiation). That may impact meat quality, you'd have to ask a person who processes meat birds. That's why they use kill cones: to die quickly and get the blood removed as quickly as possible.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

I think OP said this because you’re putting it in a container, and until you open it the cat (bird in this case) is both alive and dead.

It's quantum mechanics

I spelled his name wrong though. I'll go edit that

*fixed it. Sorry I misspelled. I has teh dumb

 

[Cluckcluck1215]

I have personally never ever killed a bird by myself, as I am way to soft to do that. (I cried because my cat jumped on a butterfly and I had to put said butterfly out of its misery, so there is no way I can put down a bird) But, my dad says that the fastest, easiet way is shooting them, or the broomstick method, for pet bird that need to be put down.

 

[casportpony]

That's exactly what I had hoped to do when we first decided to get them. But I have been completely unable to find a euthanization substance. What do you use and how do you acquire it?

I sure hope we can make that work. That would be my preferred method for sure.

So sorry for your loss.

You can make co2 chamber very easily, all you need is a small bottle of co2, which you can get at a welding store, a plastic hose, and a plastic bin large enough to hold the bird.

I looked into the ether method, but the ether sold at auto parts stores has very little ether in it and a vet here on BYC mentioned that might not be very humane.

Here are two websites that explain how to make the chamber:

• http://icwdm.org/management/euthanasia/carbon-dioxide/
• http://www.happyhillbilly.com/co2/

Edited to add:
https://mikethechickenvet.wordpress.com/2017/02/16/euthanasia-for-backyard-birds/

 

[BantyChooks]

I think I would feel better if I saw a scentific study of a MRI brain activity during the "death throes". I'd have to know they're in no pain. I'm a huge softy though. Always have been. My dad recalls me running out to the garden to prevent him from killing a mole. Now I have three traps set up to catch them because they tear up my yard. But everything takes place below ground. I never have to see it. I wont even touch the mouse and rat traps if we catch something. I got in a big fight with the SO last time I did...I let a ground squirrel go free. He was only caught by the paw! Now I just stay away from the traps. I dont want to look at them alive because they are going to die...and I dont want to look at them dead...because I feel responsible. Guess I at least know I'm not a sociopath

I'd love to see one too, but alas, I'm not a millionaire so I settle for checking corneal reflexes. I've found that birds lose all corneal reflex long before they quit flapping, which indicates brain death to me. I do manual cervical dislocation.

 

[FlyWheel]

Well..My son Culls my sick birds by shooting them in the head. Dead instantly without mess. I don't butcher either..

Personally, I chemically euthanize my chickens. It's a painless process, and they simply fall asleep and never wake up.

I like these methods much better than beheading. Even after the head has been severed the brain is still alive and can take minutes to finally die from oxygen deprivation (basically asphyxiation - which I hear is definitely NOT pleasant!). A bullet through the head destroys the brain before it has time to feel or experience anything. If you don't or cannot use a gun then a hammer can be just as effective. The idea is to instantly and completely destroy the brain. anesthesia would be my second choice.

 

[so lucky]

Wow I had never heard of that. I thought starting fluid was like ether, not that it was ether That's certainly a method worth considering! I've heard of lots of people trying to asphyxiate birds with CO or CO2... But I almost asphyxiated in a airtight bivy on a cold night once. It was one of the most terrifying experiences I've been through! I wouldn't want to do that to any other living thing. Ether is a much better idea!

I nearly asphyxiated my (then) 10 year old son on a cold night drive with a Christmas tree in the trunk of my car, and him in the back seat. Exhaust coming in from the trunk that was tied shut with the tree in it. Lucky the drive home wasn't 5 miles longer.

 

[BantyChooks]

I like these methods much better than beheading. Even after the head has been severed the brain is still alive and can take minutes to finally die from oxygen deprivation (basically asphyxiation - which I hear is definitely NOT pleasant!). A bullet through the head destroys the brain before it has time to feel or experience anything. If you don't or cannot use a gun then a hammer can be just as effective. The idea is to instantly and completely destroy the brain. anesthesia would be my second choice.

I was under the impression that the total loss of blood pressure induced an unconscious state. Am I wrong? I'm no nurse, that's for sure!
I agree that total brain destruction is ideal, though.

 

[BantyChooks]

So sorry for your loss.

You can make co2 chamber very easily, all you need is a small bottle of co2, which you can get at a welding store, a plastic hose, and a plastic bin large enough to hold the bird.

I looked into the ether method, but the ether sold at auto parts stores has very little ether in it and a vet here on BYC mentioned that might not be very humane.

Here are two websites that explain how to make the chamber:

• http://icwdm.org/management/euthanasia/carbon-dioxide/
• http://www.happyhillbilly.com/co2/

View attachment 1913697

Edited to add:
https://mikethechickenvet.wordpress.com/2017/02/16/euthanasia-for-backyard-birds/

I personally wouldn't use starting fluid on adult birds, but I've used it on chicks and it works extremely quickly without much distress.

 

[Cyprus]

I personally wouldn't use starting fluid on adult birds, but I've used it on chicks and it works extremely quickly without much distress.

I'll share that I used it on an adult bird and it worked well. Not as little distress as with chicks, but it was still a quicker deather than bleeding out. I did try to bleed her out, but my hands were shaking so bad that I couldn't even get close to her throat. So, that wasn't happening.

I can handle a lot of things, but bleeding out a pet is not one of them.