I feel awful, had to kill my best rooster...

[honeyforde]

Hey everyone,

I hope this is the right place to post this, but I need some information. A fox got into my henhouse this morning and nearly killed my best rooster. It injured his neck so he was just laying on the ground twitching, and I knew he needed to be put down. I love my birds and hated to have to do it, but I didn't see anything else to do. I don't have a gun or an axe, so I took a big heavy rock and tried smashing his head and neck, hoping that would be a quick kill. I feel absolutely awful now because when I did that he started flapping his wings hard enough that he got out from under the rock, so I did it a couple more times as hard as I could trying just to end it quickly. Looking back I probably should have set him on a hard surface first, not just on the ground. Gosh I feel terrible. I knew chickens run around after their heads are cut off but I feel like I was just torturing the poor guy, he twitched so much. I feel horrible, do you think I did the right thing? Is it possible the wing flapping and twitching meant I killed him or was he just suffering a ton? And before you say I'm a wimp, I know I am. I just love all my animals and hate to have any of them suffer.

Thanks,
Honey

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I hate doing it too but when we keep animals we have to take responsibility. You did the right thing.
The wing flapping likely meant he was dead. A hard surface would have been better.
You can do the broomstick method. That's where you put a broomstick on the neck, stand on it with both feet, grab the legs and pull up hard to snap the neck. You can also Grab at the base of the neck and just snap the bird to break the neck.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hey everyone,

I hope this is the right place to post this, but I need some information. A fox got into my henhouse this morning and nearly killed my best rooster. It injured his neck so he was just laying on the ground twitching, and I knew he needed to be put down. I love my birds and hated to have to do it, but I didn't see anything else to do. I don't have a gun or an axe, so I took a big heavy rock and tried smashing his head and neck, hoping that would be a quick kill. I feel absolutely awful now because when I did that he started flapping his wings hard enough that he got out from under the rock, so I did it a couple more times as hard as I could trying just to end it quickly. Looking back I probably should have set him on a hard surface first, not just on the ground. Gosh I feel terrible. I knew chickens run around after their heads are cut off but I feel like I was just torturing the poor guy, he twitched so much. I feel horrible, do you think I did the right thing? Is it possible the wing flapping and twitching meant I killed him or was he just suffering a ton? And before you say I'm a wimp, I know I am. I just love all my animals and hate to have any of them suffer.

Thanks,
Honey

Hi, welcome to BYC!

So sorry for your experience.

Chances are the flapping was because he was dead and that was the death twitch. I see it time and time again in my cone, and I assure you they aren't suffering at that time. It is a natural convulsion of the muscles that takes place. The brain is no longer processing thoughts.

Since he was twitching already when you found him, there probably wasn't much chance of recovery. I think you did the right thing... which sometimes is very difficult.

Hope you feel the love and support of the many helpful and caring BYC community members!

 

[honeyforde]

Thank you for your support! I'm glad the wing flapping thing is usually the normal death twitch, that's a relief.

 

[honeyforde]

I hate doing it too but when we keep animals we have to take responsibility. You did the right thing.
The wing flapping likely meant he was dead. A hard surface would have been better.
You can do the broomstick method. That's where you put a broomstick on the neck, stand on it with both feet, grab the legs and pull up hard to snap the neck. You can also Grab at the base of the neck and just snap the bird to break the neck.

Good to know! I'll use that in the future if I have to.