Killed my first rooster yesterday

[GreedySeedFeedy]

I have had quail for years, for eggs and as pets. I am a real grass-eater type, I get very attached to them and in the past have only killed them due to extreme suffering or illness. This time, I had to deal with an indiscriminately violent roo to stop him terrorizing everyone.

I have had very upsetting experiences using neck-popping method and decapitation in the past; *very* unpleasant for the bird and myself. Last year we had to euthanize a hen due to carcinoma on the face, and used helium. It was a completely different experience, I cannot possibly reccommend this enough! If I have to be put out of my misery some day, this would be one of my top choices!

The bird passed out while having a sand bath in the chamber and died very quickly without a clue. I dressed him the way I would a squirrel, and roasted him with a little salt and olive oil. He was surprisingly meaty for such a small animal, tasted extremely good, and there was most likely 0 suffering or fear.

I can't imagine killing birds can ever be a casual affair for me like taking out the trash or collecting mail, but there are times it's going to be insecapable and I'm so glad I gave the inert gas method a shot. It's really the best way for the bird by far, I strongly reccommend it to anyone who tends to get really attached to their flock.

 

[GreedySeedFeedy]

Can you give some details about the process? Thanks!

Well, first you need an airtight container with a hole in the bottom. Helium is lighter than air, and rises to the top of the box, pushing the air out downward. You need to replace ALL of the air inside of the box with pure helium to guarantee a quick death with no chance of winding up with a live, upset bird with brain damage. It's important that you use pure helium, and that you fill the entire container.Our birds are small, less than a lb, so we used about a 2x2 plastic box with a tight locking lid and a hole drilled about 2 inches from the bottom. Another hole was drilled near the top, and a hose was connected from the helium tank to the upper hole and sealed on airtight.

Next, we filled the box with fine sand just up to the level of the hole at the bottom. The sand is not necessary, but I chose to have it there so my rooster would be calm and happily splashing around until he lost consciousness. I was really worried he would be afraid, and I wanted to avoid this as best as I could.

We put the rooster inside the box and fed him a few mealworms, then waited for him to relax and get down to digging in the sand. The helium rushing into the box makes a hissing noise, so we had a few false starts as it would scare him and took a couple of times hearing it hiss (with the box lid off! Exposure has to be complete or not as all) before he stopped being bothered by it. Once he was used to it we put the lid on for good, and turned up the valve.

You can feel air rushing out of the bottom hole as the helium rushes in. Within 5 seconds of all the oxygen being pushed out of the box, his scratching in the sand slowed down and he just stood up and looked around for a few seconds calmly before closing his eyes. He was standing, and he did a couple of nods, like someone does when they start to fall asleep sitting in a chair and then fell over. At this point, it can be upsetting for you. The bird is no longer conscious, but lack of oxygen will cause an anoxic convusions. With our older hen that had cancer it was just 5 or 6 quick flaps and leg jerks, but the rooster flapped his wings at full speed for about 5 seconds before finally lying still. His eyes were closed the whole time and he didn't look alive/awake or make any noise or move in any meaningful way, but it was still a little scary to see.

After this, we plugged the lower hole in the box with blue tac and turned off the valve. We left the bird inside the chamber for a good twenty minutes to a half hour to be absolutely sure he wouldn't have to wake up, confused and scared with a brain injury. I then took him out and laid him on a newspaper to dress him.

I felt sad that his life had ended, and it was pretty hard for me, but I was glad I stayed by to watch closely so that I could be SURE that he was never scared, or in pain. My birds are not at any point walking meat to me, or egg dispensers to be thrown away once they are used up, they are thinking feeling creatures with favorite foods and personalities that deserve to be treated as well as possible, even when they can no longer continue to live a happy life. As much as this sucked to do, it was a huge relief that it wasn't anything like I had experienced before, which was absolutely horrible and not quick and painless like people always told me it would be.

Helium is an inert gas, and you can breathe inert gasses without being aware you are suffocating until you wake up in the hospital, or just never waking up to find out if you're unlucky enough nit to be spotted in time. What causes that desperate thirst for air when you hold your breath is not caused by lack of oxygen, but by the buildup of carbon dioxide. If you're able to exhale the carbon dioxide, you'll never get that feeling.

 

[GreedySeedFeedy]

Hello, sorry if it's poor form to revive an old thread, but I felt the need to share this. This is a great solution for people who have to cull a bird and can't afford to pay for (or wait for) a vet.

Unfortunately, I never took pictures of my helium chamber setup, but I did improve my method and sit down and make a visual instruction. I also included some ideas for people who are more concerned with cost than putting the bird's feelings first, hoping to find some kind of compromise that works.

If someone who loves animals and is more experienced with engineering and gas exchange than I comes up with some kind of enclosure that conserves helium, birds might be killed more humanely all over the globe. I've tried my best, but I just don't have the education, nor the physical resources.

 

[GreedySeedFeedy]

appreciate you taking the time to explain. Seems like a good option for people who don't want to cut

There are a lot of ways to dispatch your birds, I have tried throat cutting, decapitation, and neck popping. In all of these instances, including the decapitation, I was assured that if I did it properly, it would be over so fast the birds wouldn't have time to suffer and would die instantly. I would read about it days in advance, watch videos, and make sure I knew what I was doing. Every single time my birds were alive long enough to realize that they were being killed, to feel pain, gasp for air that wouldn't come, choke on their own blood and look into my eyes, shocked and confused for what seemed like forever, but was probably only 10 seconds. Longer, for the throat cutting, that one was the worst imo. People made from tougher stuff than me aren't too bothered by it, but I'm too sensitive for it. I really hope this method picks up some popularity, it will make the whole process so much kinder for all involved.

 

[Tre3hugger]

Can you give some details about the process? Thanks!

 

[Tre3hugger]

There are a lot of ways to dispatch your birds, I have tried throat cutting, decapitation, and neck popping. In all of these instances, including the decapitation, I was assured that if I did it properly, it would be over so fast the birds wouldn't have time to suffer and would die instantly. I would read about it days in advance, watch videos, and make sure I knew what I was doing. Every single time my birds were alive long enough to realize that they were being killed, to feel pain, gasp for air that wouldn't come, choke on their own blood and look into my eyes, shocked and confused for what seemed like forever, but was probably only 10 seconds. Longer, for the throat cutting, that one was the worst imo. People made from tougher stuff than me aren't too bothered by it, but I'm too sensitive for it. I really hope this method picks up some popularity, it will make the whole process so much kinder for all involved.

I'm glad you found something that works for you. I cut jugular on both sides. The bird bleeds out in about 30 seconds. THEN starts death throes when insensible. But I understand that methods not for everyone. I think the biggest deterrent to the helium method is repeated cost. If routinely processing meat birds the helium will get expensive. At that point it literally pays to hone your knife skills. Gas is great for a sick bird or sporadic cull though.

 

[JoePa]

It seems to me that a lot of preparation is needed if one uses this helium method - also things could go wrong and death is not instantaneous - to me it seems chopping a bird's head off with an axe is as quick a death as can be obtained - in a split second the head comes off and the bird is dead - brain no longer connected to the body - think of that

 

[B-Goock]

I've used the co method for badly deformed chicks before. Its extremely fast. I'd say any gas that disperses oxygen will work.

For butchering I use a cone. They calm down being held upside-down.

You have a pic of the dust bath last Joy box? Sorry had to label it.

 

[GreedySeedFeedy]

I'm glad you found something that works for you. I cut jugular on both sides. The bird bleeds out in about 30 seconds. THEN starts death throes when insensible. But I understand that methods not for everyone. I think the biggest deterrent to the helium method is repeated cost. If routinely processing meat birds the helium will get expensive. At that point it literally pays to hone your knife skills. Gas is great for a sick bird or sporadic cull though.

Helium definitely isn't for someone wanting to make a profit through meat birds, it would cost a fortune to do it that way on a big scale unless someone made a chamber that could retain the helium/stop it from escaping so easily. I'm pretty motivated to bust out a ruler and some graph paper, lol.

 

[EmmaRainboe]

Hello, sorry if it's poor form to revive an old thread, but I felt the need to share this. This is a great solution for people who have to cull a bird and can't afford to pay for (or wait for) a vet.

Unfortunately, I never took pictures of my helium chamber setup, but I did improve my method and sit down and make a visual instruction. I also included some ideas for people who are more concerned with cost than putting the bird's feelings first, hoping to find some kind of compromise that works.

If someone who loves animals and is more experienced with engineering and gas exchange than I comes up with some kind of enclosure that conserves helium, birds might be killed more humanely all over the globe. I've tried my best, but I just don't have the education, nor the physical resources.

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Thanks for taking the time to type this out!