I had to take two chicks to the vet to be put down just now. One was a 2-month old that was just failing to thrive, he was a runt, and overall unthrifty from the begining. Today he was really starting to go downhill so I decided I would take him to be put down after he played with his friends for the last time. The other was a month old who with a deformed hip I've been trying to fix since day one. You may have read my post about him. He improved almost 100%, but when I removed the splints his hip fell out of place again and again so he was probably destined to never be fixable. So, I wrapped them in a towel so they'd feel safe and took them to the vet. I was sad, but happy that they weren't going to suffer any longer. But when the vet took them back to put them down I could hear them screeching and I just fell apart. I pay the money so they can go peacefully, so they feel no pain or fear, but my poor little babies were terrified in their final moments. Supposedly, the vet can't euthanize through the jugular because it's too small on chickens (bull, I've taken blood from the jugular on a chicken)... so they shove the needle straight through the heart. It was just so terrible. I got home and cradled their bodies and tried to find the puncture wound. I could have done a better job. I just feel so terrible. I'm going to try to get ahold of some of the euthanasia drug so I can do it myself, and if I can't do that I'm building a gas chamber. My poor little babies, they didn't deserve that.
