It's official. I'm not a cold-blooded murderer after all ....

[Junebugsin]

... I'm a pretty bad one.

Some of you may have read my post from a few days ago: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...d-blooded-murderer-need-some-support.1316877/

Last Saturday night, I killed my chicken. I threw her in the woods behind my house, onto a brush pile down the hill into the woods. We have coyotes, foxes, owls, racoons, fisher, bear, etc.

She was a-gonner.

Except that, while my husband and daughter were doing archery in the backyard this afternoon, Lunch limped out of the woods and scared them both to death. I'm a little stunned and horrified too. Saturday night she couldn't walk. She couldn't even perch. She could only lay on her side and flop around. She had stopped eating and stopped drinking and I had done everything I could do for her. So, I "did her in" and tossed her into the woods for the critters.

Apparently, she didn't like that idea. My husband said that she can now stand and she's limping pretty badly and using one of her wings for balance. She only takes a few steps at a time and then she sits down to rest.

So, as of now, she has survived:
1) a fox attack, where she got bitten badly at least twice, and sustained injuries to her back, breast, both legs and one wing;
2) two weeks of me trying my darnedest to nurse her back to health, with little to no success;
3) being stuffed in a sling that she didn't like and kept escaping from;
4) me, supposedly wringing her neck and tossing her into the woods, with a high arc, onto a brush pile;
5) all of Saturday night;
6) all of Sunday, in the pouring rain, all day, and with low temperatures;
7) all day Monday;
8) the foxes, which we have at least three in our neighborhood, as well as several other predators, (see above);
9) somehow crawling up the steep hill, though it's only about six feet high, but she had to get out of and through the brush pile first; and
10) miraculously, she didn't get hit by an arrow!!

My husband almost fainted when he saw her.

I would have fainted!!

My younger daughter is now calling her Zombie Chicken.

I am completely stunned! My husband and daughter picked her up and put her back in the cat condo on the porch.

Now what do I do?!?! Apparently, she wants to live.

I'm stunned!!

Jenn

 

[rosemarythyme]

Uhhhh.... wow.

Well, I guess she's going to decide for herself when she's ready to go. Might as well make her as comfy as possible (an isolation coop would be ideal) and see what happens. Were you able to get her to eat or drink anything, since she wasn't able to do that before?

 

[AmyJane725]

Maybe next time you kill her, make sure you actually do it right and she actually dies before you go tossing her like a volleyball into the woods.

Poor thing. That's really sad.

You don't need to be mean. This was her first experience "killing" a chicken, and she was upset to have to do it. When you're nervous and doing something for the first time mistakes are bound to happen.

 

[BantyChooks]

OP stated she thought she'd wrung the bird's neck.

I hope this doesn’t come off as rude, but why would you just throw her into the woods to be eaten? In my eyes that’s a little inhumane.

There are much better ways to euthanize a chicken.

Talk about a remarkable story. That chicken is a survivor.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I hope this doesn’t come off as rude, but why would you just throw her into the woods to be eaten? In my eyes that’s a little inhumane.

There are much better ways to euthanize a chicken.

Apparently you missed the part where OP believed they had dispatched the bird THEN tossed the believed to be dead carcass into the woods......

 

[rosemarythyme]

Apparently you missed the part where OP believed they had dispatched the bird THEN tossed the believed to be dead carcass into the woods......

I guess the lesson here is make 100% sure the bird is actually dead, as tough as that may be under the circumstances. I admit I have a fear of not finishing the job properly, so anything I've ever had to dispatch, even a pest, I always check back a short while later to make sure it's dead as dead can be.

 

[AmyJane725]

I'm not trying to being mean.
I'm just giving a little advice without sugar coating is all. Maybe I'm a bit too blunt about things?
Basically, make sure the next thing you kill is dead before you go tossing it in the woods. Maybe try another method besides wringing the neck because apparently that doesn't always work.

Yeah, it just came off as kind of condescending or snarky. I'm not trying to start anything though. I'm pretty blunt too, but I basically never say what I'm actually thinking out loud...get myself in trouble that way.

 

[twendt]

All I can say is ,WOW, that story is horrifying.

 

[Fishkeeper]

To my understanding, hypothermia isn't painful based on what people who've experienced it have reported. I tried to find studies to back it up, but I can only find anecdotal reports. From my experience, when I need to feed my snakes and the appropriately size rodents are unavailable (meaning I need to buy live), I euthenize in the freezer. I never find any signs of a struggle, and the mice or rats are usually curled up like they fell asleep. That's just my 2 cents

It's not considered a humane method by any of the places that have studied humane methods of euthanasia in laboratory animals. Have you ever been outside when it's below freezing? It hurts your skin. It's miserable. Getting colder means you start shivering, you start not being able to move no matter how much you try- which is why the animals end up curled up, because they're trying to stay warm. There's also a significant concern that ice crystals could start forming in the body before the animal is dead. It's not considered humane for cold-blooded animals, for mammals, or for anything other than the invertebrate species that are unable to feel pain.
You should really look up a different way to kill the rodents. I know there are an assortment of blunt force methods.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I guess the lesson here is make 100% sure the bird is actually dead, as tough as that may be under the circumstances. I admit I have a fear of not finishing the job properly, so anything I've ever had to dispatch, even a pest, I always check back a short while later to make sure it's dead as dead can be.

As do I, outcomes such as this are one reason "wringing the neck" is not an approach I use. I prefer very final methods (decap)