humanely culling young ducklings or chicks please !

[Cynthia12]

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Hi dsqard....nice meeting you the other day.

Now for this sad subject. I've had to do this a few times, it's never easy. Started out with my husband breaking the neck, but he had a hard time doing it. So, saw somewhere else on here, that using the car fumes works very quickly, no blood. We put the bird in a garbage bag, hold the bag over the exhaust and leave a small hole at one end. This helps with the bird only breathing in a bit of it at a time, makes it pass out, then we close the hole up to blow up the bag, give it two mins..and they are gone by then. Thankfully, we've only had to do this a few times with all of the chicks I've hatched..one for example had one leg considerably shorter than the other, it couldn't walk around from the very beginning. Much better than having to the "hands on" method, or see blood.

At least like someone else posted here, this is what works best for us, and we hope for the bird.

 

[GreenGoddess]

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I did see it, thank you.. Honestly, because I panicked I didn't think to just get the shovel (it's not rounded but more pointy and sharp) until the whole ordeal was over with.. I have a pair of kitchen shears but they are not sharp and this chick was too old to use them anyway.. Blood/guts don't bother me at all (I had to do a necropsy on a 9 month old pullet a few nights ago!) and I knew I had to cull him.. I did what I "knew" would work and when it didn't, panic set in and I became desperate but I couldn't think of other options...

I think the "scissors" that you have showed would be an awesome tool for someone that gets squeamish at the sight of blood but still wants to get the job done quickly.. Of course, you still have those on this site who don't want the "hands on" culling because (and I'm sorry to say this!) they want to spare their own feelings.. Unfortunately, this tool would not be used for them because they would still have to "do the deed" with their own two hands..

I see it this way.. We take on the responsibility of animals who depend on us for everything.. In taking on that responsibility, sometimes things happen that we cannot control and our animals get sick or for those of us who hatch with an incubator, chicks are hatched with deformities.. We then take on the responsibility of doing what is best for that chick and sometimes that means putting it out of it's misery.. Things like shrink wrapped, splay leg, missing toes/foot, deformed wing, missing eye/blind etc. can be overcome and the animal can live it's life with very little difficulty... Other problems like severe crossed beak, organs outside the body, open skull, etc cannot be overcome and it is cruel to make it suffer any longer than it has to.. If we cannot put our own feelings aside and do what is best in the fastest and most humane way possible, then we do not need to take on the responsibility in the first place!

I know some on this site may not agree with the above statement or my feelings on the matter but I am absolutely horrified and disgusted at some people's "humane" method of culling a chick on here.. But, to each his/her own.. I keep my mouth shut about the whole "debate" for the most part because different people believe different things and I'm not on here to fight with everyone or debate with everyone...

Goddess

 

[mrsfarmchick1]

I haven't read all the responses on this thread so it may have been covered already. A week ago I searched the forum for this topic and settled on the baking soda/vinegar method to dispatch a newly hatched deformed chick. It worked instantly, and I didn't have to physically hold the chick while it died.

 

[dsqard]

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Michelle, thank you for the item number. I am going to look these up.
Cynthia, it was really nice to meet you too on Saturday!

 

[michelle b 1972]

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no problems dsqard... we are all on here to help each other out !
thanks
michelle x

 

[xchairity_casex]

i seen another persons thread about a button chick with a deformity and thoght it over long and hard about culling. i breed guppies and sometimes i have to cull the new fry when they have bent spines but thats a pretty easy job they are tiny and i simply feed them to my betta one at a time and it takes no more then 2 seconds. but i really want a way to humanly put a baby chick to sleep as thers no way i could ever bring myself to break necks or cut off heads or drown or burn tiny lungs. No death is instant not even neck breaking or having a head removed though they may go limp and the heart may stop beating they are still aware for about 1-2 minutes afterward. if all else fails and i canot find somthing that puts them to sleep i live 4 blocks from the veternary clinic and will pay to have a baby chick put to sleep i think its well worth the costs knowing that theres no pain or fear involved.

 

[TarHeelBlue]

Sorry, guys, I just can't "cull" any living thing. If it is sick, I will do my best to get it healthy. I have a guinea that lives in my chicken coop because it broke its leg when it was very little and now can't run or walk with the rest because it is twisted. That little guinea lives there in the coop, isn't in pain and seems to be living a happy life. I always give it some extra scratch and make sure it is getting its fair share of food and love! I couldn't even read this thread because the first few posts made me cry. Guess I am not cut out to be a "big chicken rancher".

 

[GAchick]

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I feel sorry for you. At some point, you will have a situation where the animal is suffering so badly that it is crueler to let it live. Then you will be so freaked out, it will be worse on you than it needs to be. You need to learn to accept 'the circle of life', which unfortunately includes death. Not sometimes, not usually, but 'always' includes death. And sometimes it's just cruel to not 'put an animal out of their misery'. It doesn't have to be 'easy' on you, nobody should ever be blase about it, but sometimes you really do have to put on the big girl panties, and do what is necessary.

 

[Highlander]

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How could something possibly be "aware" for 2 minutes after having it's head removed?

 

[mrslb333]

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How could something possibly be "aware" for 2 minutes after having it's head removed?

2 minutes is no time at all especially if the alternative is hours of pain or starving to death.