Slaughter by insulin?

[mstricer]

Sorry - I wasn't very clear on my point. Shooting a horse or dog may be more humane than lethal injection. One shot, done. But a chicken's brain is so small that there is a margin for error. Therefore, I think decapitation is kinder to the chicken. With a good, sharp instrument, it's over in seconds. We tried shooting a turkey in the head once to kill it. We only tried once... Never again will I do that to any bird.

 

Yeah shooting a chicken, doesn't always work the way people think. We shoot a mean rooster once, even though they have small brains, it took 3 bullets in the head to kill him. He didn't seem distressed either just was walking around eating grass, while everyone else was going crazy.

 

[Kassaundra]

Chickens do have a pancreas, and do have insulin receptors. If you google chicken insulin, you'll get references to studies of insulin in chickens and the variable effect on liver vs muscle tissue, and various other things which aren't particularly relevant to the current question, but support that their metabolism is chemically similar to other warm-blooded vertebrates, and that an overdose would have some effect. I don't know if there are any structural differences between avian insulin and human insulin that might impact their effectiveness, however.

Thanks for the clarification on the chicken and pancreas. I didn't know for sure so was just guessing based on what pics I had seen, and didn't go back and look it up.

 

[bobbi-j]

Yeah shooting a chicken, doesn't always work the way people think. We shoot a mean rooster once, even though they have small brains, it took 3 bullets in the head to kill him. He didn't seem distressed either just was walking around eating grass, while everyone else was going crazy.

That's what happened with the turkey, only it was more of a stagger than a walk. The worst part was, we were putting him down because he was getting picked on by the other turkeys and I felt sorry for him and wanted to put him out of his misery. I think it's easy to miss because their brains are so small. We found out that a cattle de-horner worked very well for the turkeys. Just slip it over their head, one quick movement, and it was done. We use a hatchet and a log for the chickens.

 

[mstricer]

 That's what happened with the turkey, only it was more of a stagger than a walk. The worst part was, we were putting him down because he was getting picked on by the other turkeys and I felt sorry for him and wanted to put him out of his misery. I think it's easy to miss because their brains are so small. We found out that a cattle de-horner worked very well for the turkeys. Just slip it over their head, one quick movement, and it was done. We use a hatchet and a log for the chickens.

Yeah was like you said. Just staggering around. I didn't feel that bad, that rooster would flog me every chance it got. He would even run across the yard to get me. We slit their throats, now.

 

[skunknchatter]

I have no stomach for culling and haven't had to do it yet. BUT if I was presented with the need I would chop off the head. It's not the easiest for me (to be honest I'd prob throw up after) but it would be the best for the chicken with the least chance for error resulting in mutilation or a long painful death. I understand that I will eventually have to do this so I decided a long time ago that this was the method I would use. I don't want to try something "easier on me" and have it go horribly wrong for the chicken. I accepted this before I decided to get chickens.

 

[frostbite]

I think I'm going to put a chopping block and a hatchet somewhere handy near the coop where I have to see it every day to remind myself not to get too attached, so that when it comes time I have to kill a chicken I've named, I'll be able to. I want to remember that they are finite creatures who meet one of God's purposes for them when they nourish another of God's creatures. I want to be able to humanely dispatch a sick or injured bird, or an aggressive roo, or birds that get so elderly and non productive so that I need to make room for eggers. (I figure 5 years of happy life is a whole lot more than the birds I'm currently eating from the grocer get.) But I'll have to steel myself to do the deed to an animal I've become attached to! I honestly don't know how it will work out for me, but I'm hoping to be neither on the purely utilitarian side, or the purely sentimental side, but rather somewhere in the middle, both practical and compassionate.

Okay, I confess, I'm over thinking this WAY too much; clearly it's time for me to log off and get some work done!!!

 

[Oregon Blues]

[[[[.......Why the birds have to be culled? If they are healthy birds then why not try to give them away first.....]]]]]

Giving birds away is culling them. Culling simply means to remove them from your flock. It doesn't say anything about how.

I kill birds because I want to eat them. I consider eating them alive to be a bit inhumane.

Sometimes birds are killed because they are ill, or injured. It wouldn't be kind to give them away. Maybe the new person wouldn't take proper care of their illness or injury. It is cruel to leave an severely injured bird to slowly die. It is much more humane to dispatch them quickly, and that is something that each and every chicken owner should be prepared to do if it is necessary. Which is what I think this thread is about: being prepared if it becomes necessary.

If I give birds away, the odds are that the new person is going to eat them. I can't see any reason for me to invest time and money into raising a free dinner for a stranger. I'd rather that time and money go into raising a dinner for my own family. There are not a lot of good pet homes available for chickens.

 

[galanie]

[[[[.......Why the birds have to be culled?  If they are healthy birds then why not try to give them away first.....]]]]]

Giving birds away is culling them. Culling simply means to remove them from your flock. It doesn't say anything about how.

I kill birds because I want to eat them. I consider eating them alive to be a bit inhumane.

Sometimes birds are killed because they are ill, or injured.  It wouldn't be kind to give them away. Maybe the new person wouldn't take proper care of their illness or injury.  It is cruel to leave an severely injured bird to slowly die. It is much more humane to dispatch them quickly, and that is something that each and every chicken owner should be prepared to do if it is necessary. Which is what I think this thread is about: being prepared if it becomes necessary.

If I give birds away, the odds are that the new person is going to eat them.  I can't see any reason for me to invest time and money into raising a free dinner for a stranger.  I'd rather that time and money go into raising a dinner for my own family. There are not a lot of good pet homes available for chickens.

Precisely. This is why I charge $15 to $25 for a chicken I sell on Craigslist or anywhere else. Give it away or lower the price to $5 and you're just giving it away for a meal. Don't believe what you hear. It will be eaten most of the time when you sell at this price, especially if it's a male. By golly, if I'm going to hatch it, raise it, and nurture it till it gets that old then no one is going to make a meal of it but me! I have one now I must get rid of and I like it, it's a nice bird, but if I can't sell it soon to a home that wants a nice rooster then stew he'll be!

 

[frostbite]

Well said, Oregon Blues.

Animals past their usefulness that are given away are not generally valued by the recipient in the same way the donor might want. "Free to a good home" for instance , for a horse in Alaska, may mean that a dog musher is going to be able to feed his team some good quality meat. As long as the donor owner doesn't know, they can happily imagine that the horse is being cared for in its dotage. The reality is not always so rosy, except perhaps for the hungry huskies.

I think it's true that there are limited "good homes" for unwanted pet chickens, dogs, cats, you name it. After all, there's a reason the animals become unwanted, and available to give away. If I have a chicken that I don't want any more, realistically, what is there that would make someone else want it?

 

[nakstk]

I had meant to say killed not culled.