i feel guilty for haveing to kill my baby chick

[trailchick]

Pulling the head off is another way to end the suffering...
There are many ways to end the life of a creature that would not
have a quality life, or is suffering...
There are many ways to do this, & some may not choose that way.
Some of us cannot deal with that kind
of trauma, so we go another route....
With chickens, breeding or having farm animals, it will happen eventually.
Dont feel bad about it. Some times, ending a life may seem barbaric
to others. You did the right thing, next time, research, or contemplate
& you will be sure your are doing the right thing... .

Welcome to BYC, wish circumstances were better for you..

 

[jojochook]

For the first time I've just killed the male chicks from my latest hatching and I feel terrible. It seems such a pointless waste. Maybe I'll feel less bad in a few days time and I know I had to do it but I may grow the next hatching on for eating.
I appreciate the sensible and sympathetic posts- it does help to know that many people feel the same way.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

The fact is, this makes you a responsible animal owner. The reality of chicken keeping is that sometimes you have birds that need to be culled. Some people see it as such an ugly word, but culling isn't just about "that bird doesn't look right to show" or something, it's about "This bird is not thriving" or "this bird will not have a good life" or "this bird is always sick" or "this bird can't reproduce/isn't producing"....

The fact is some people aren't willing to take responsibility for their birds. Laying hens and layer breed roosters are ending up in animal shelters at record breaking rates as people get them, have them for 3-4 years and then they stop laying (or they have them and they turn out to be roosters) and they don't know what to do with them because they don't want to feed a bird not laying eggs and don't want to eat a "pet". Part of keeping chickens is the all important fact of managing your flock responsibly and not just passing that burden onto someone else.

So thank you for managing your flock responsibly. If they reproduce, the remaining chicks will be stronger for not having the sick chick in the flock. It improves the genetics of all birds when you do that. If not, your flock will likely be healthier anyhow!

 

[AQHAchick22]

I'm glad that I read this thread. I just dropped off 4 of my roosters to be processed and that killed me and I'm feeling horrible and guilty. I was expecting to do it from the beginning but I just didn't expect it to be this hard. It's nice to read that the fact that I feel awful is normal. I couldn't keep 4 extra roosters and they had a great life. My hens will now be happier and at least I will be able to feed my family with the meat instead of them going to waste.