humanely culling young ducklings or chicks please !

[Stacykins]

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

I am pretty sure the two minutes estimation is an over exaggeration. Even the "Living Heads " from guillotine victims didn't last for that long. Essentially a scientist was trying to figure out how long a decapitated head stayed aware. That is just a link to a Wikipedia blurb on it, nothing gruesome.

 

[Katy]

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I seriously doubt than any animal that has it's neck broken or head removed is aware of anything for 1-2 minutes. Using ether (starter fluid) is my method of choice for small chicks or ducklings because they simply go to sleep and don't wake up. Ether is what they used on humans for surgery not that many years ago. For adult birds or larger juveniles I use a 22 rifle.

Culling an animal humanely is kinder than letting it waste away and die a slow death. It has to be everyone's personal choice on how they chose to do it, but if you have animals long enough the time will come for you to have to make that decision. I hope for your animals' sake you can make the right choice for them....and slowly dieing isn't it.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

This is an essential issue that EVERY poultry keeper needs to consider, because it's fairly certain that at least one time in your experience you'll be faced with an ailing or injured bird that needs your help to Cross The Road quickly to end its suffering. It's best to figure out now what you can manage to do on your own. It's good to also have a Plan B, and even C, in case the help on which you're relying upon isn't available.

In keeping poultry there's a wide spectrum of personal criteria for culling. Some folks are willing and have the resources to keep injured or ailing birds going long past their expiration dates. Others can or will not. This forum is a great help for advice on tending to those birds' needs or for support in the decision to cull.

There's also a wide spectrum of behaviors among chickens. I agree that you can keep more than one roo together in a flock, or keep several together in a bachelor pen. But it depends on the disposition of the individual roos, and their attitudes as they age. What may work for some roos, at some times, won't work for others or on other days.

My preferred method for culling young birds is to use the sharp scissors. In order to make it more bearable for me I do it with my hands holding the chick inside a paper grocery bag or a box, or over the hole it will be buried in. That way I can still give the chick a quick humane end but I don't have to have that sad image burned into my visual memory. Yes, I'm careful to first have the bird in hand and the scissors in place before I hide my hands in the bag, so I'll be certain to snip in the right place & not lose any fingers in the process.

 

[Livinwright Farm]

Well.., I feel sick to my stomach now. I just had to cull a chick that hatched around 10pm EST. I left it overnight because I thought it might just be disoriented(it hatched upside down) and that that was the explanation for it falling over & laying on it's back.

This was my first time culling a chick... and I don't expect it to get any easier with time. I decided to break it's neck, but did it behind my back so I could not witness it's going. I have to say it was one of the most sickening, heart wrenching things I have done in my entire 27 yrs of life. But I did it. I know it is for the best of the flock as a whole and even for the chick so it doesn't starve and slowly suffocate itself for days... It's just hard... to kill a baby anything.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

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I'm so sorry you had to do that, but it was for the best. We had to cull one of our guinea keets last year. He got sick and began shaking, then couldn't walk, then couldn't hold his head up: I asked my husband to do it. I am with you...it is heartbreaking to have to do this, but in the end far better than watching the little guys suffer

Hope the rest of your little ones are all happy healthy little guys and gals.

 

[galanie]

Here is the problem: You are killing a creature. You don't want to kill anything. But you must. There is just no way to kill anything so that it doesn't know it's dying and doesn't suffer at all without giving it some sort of drugs in it's veins, and even that is debatable. Just kill it, however you can, the easiest and fastest you can. Many people think over this same thing quite often, and in the end, you just either have to do it, or not. There is no perfect way.

 

[Livinwright Farm]

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I'm so sorry you had to do that, but it was for the best. We had to cull one of our guinea keets last year. He got sick and began shaking, then couldn't walk, then couldn't hold his head up: I asked my husband to do it. I am with you...it is heartbreaking to have to do this, but in the end far better than watching the little guys suffer

Hope the rest of your little ones are all happy healthy little guys and gals.

thanks. There is only one more chick left to hatch, not sure if it will... I candled the remaining 5 eggs this afternoon and none of them showed signs of life(no visible or audible movement). So, I began the eggtopsies. Making a small hole in the bubble end of the egg, just incase for whatever reason the chick was sleeping or something, I wouldn't puncture a vein and kill it. I slowly chipped off pieces of the shell moving down the shell towrd the chick. no movement. i took my pinky finger and gave the chick a nudge... there was a slight movement, then nothing. the membrane around the chick looked pretty dry, so I put 1 drop of water on the membrane to soften it and keep it from shrinkwrapping. I then placed it back in the bator. So far, nothing much is happening. it just lays there, heart still beating, but sleeping. I am not sure if it is weak, or hasn't fully absorbed the yolk, or what... but I will check back on it in the morning.

 

[dwegg]

Thanks for this thread guys. It is something that we all need to be prepared for and to have thought about at least whether to cull or not. Then how to cull...as a relative newbie I appreciate all the experiences and wisdom from you all. It won't make it any easier but I appreciate the debate and the opinions are interesting...unforuneatly I agree with both sides to cull and to save (in some circumstances)... It is very sad but unfortunately unavoidable for most of us at one time.

I am going through this debate with myself right now...I am just conflicted as to what to do. What IS best for my chick? Can she be saved? Will she live a full life? Is she in pain? Am I just giving up because of the convenience? Will she get better? Can I afford the time, effort and cost? Why am I trying to keep her alive?...the list goes on....

But thanks for the topic. I will be keeping up with this thread.

 

[Kelly G]

I think (for me) ether is going to be the way to handle what is inevitable if you're hatching chicks....they go to sleep....you can even use a glass jar to keep them in familiar surroundings to keep stress to a minimum.

Sometimes....just sometimes....there are worse things than living. Dying a slow, pain or hunger-filled death is one. For me, anyway.

Requiem.

 

[Kimmyh51]

The warm water method is fairly easy. You just hold the baby in warm water and gently stroke it they just relax and peacefully pass away under the water. Less messy and seems kinder than chopping heads off, lol.

Im not aware of any veterinary or wildlife organisation or experts that would consider drowning, which I assume is what you are meaning? As a humane method of euthanasia. In face most reputable organisations specifically state this is not an acceptable (and in many countries, legal) method of euthanasia. It might be less bloody than some of the other methods, but thats maybe thinking more about how easy it is for you, not the bird in question.



Please people, before you ever attempt to home euthanise a bird, do your research, check out reputable sites and scientific evidence rather than just peoples opinion (or if someone has a method you think is best, research it independently of the forums or websites where you were recommended it).



While gory and boloody at least the cervical dislocation methods, as far as I can tell are recommended by experts because they immediately sever any chance for the bird to be conscious and feeling.



Drowning, requires you to be under water and conscious, until you, having been unable to reach the top of the water to gasp in some air, are forced to breah in water. Anyone who has eaten something that went down the wrong way and the. Coughed their lungs out, or anyone who accidentally reathed in even a drop of water by mistake when swimming, will know that inhaling water is one of ghoe most horrible experiences, one your body instinctively reacts dramatically to. One of the worst ways to die in my opinion (and for context i love to swim, am not afraid of deep water oor of having my head under water and actually demonstrated as a child/young adult a new series of training methods for schools and swimming clubs. So my opinion that drowning would be a horrible death is coming frim someone who loves swimming and beung in the water,and feels perfectky at home there..... much like a duckling. I would never,ever drown one. If i were in an emergency situation where a duck or duckling was in a huge amount of pain or distress and no vet was available (or things were so bad that even spending the 40-60 mins driving from my rural home to a vet was too long), id use the cervical dislocation method if i knew i could do it well (which atm i cant)



Or probably use my air pistol to end things thru the area at the back of the head where you are supposed to kill them. That would involve blood and me inflicting obvious physical injury, and id ensure my air pistol was fully loaded with a fresh cartridge, and as it does 10 shots without reloading or cocking, that it wasfully loaded with shot, and id ensure i had it aimed right and id fire at least 3-4 shots all atonce and immediately if any sign the bird was conscious probably go for the eye next.



Disclaimer: Ive never done this, I have had vets euth birds, but if a vet was unavailable thats what i would do. I would not ever drown a duckling,ive seen and rescued drowning ducklings.

And its terrifying for them, if a bird goes quietly this me, i can only assume its too weak and tired to fight,NOT that it is not suffering.



Regardless of your reasons for having poultry, a humane death is the last and maybe most important service we should be giving those who have been our friends, our pets, our food, or even just our income.



Here is one of a number of articles where the suffering during drowning has been researched:

https://www.researchgate.net/profil...WQiLCJwcmV2aW91c1BhZ2UiOiJwdWJsaWNhdGlvbiJ9fQ