Time to cull

[QuackerJackFarms]

Cuz ya know what? Sometimes it's not "just a chicken".

 

[featherz]

As a wife, I'd be seriously PO'd at DH if he killed one of my animals without consulting me. If the bird is eating, let it live for now and have a sit down with the wife about the quality of life issues, etc. Maybe she'll come around and let you do it when she is not home. I know I would, but my DH would need to tell me.

 

[they'reHISchickens]

Hopefully you can reason with your wife. Ask her point blank ( but sweetly) if she would mind if you did it when she wasn't around, since she is so sensitive to it. Perhaps she can handle it better if it just *disappears, * but ask her first.
I asked my son to efficiently cull a chick with cross beak that was worsening by the week. I left the room and before I knew it, it was gone. He was just visiting and had no emotional connection to them. Thank you, son.
OTOH, we have a quite *mature age* friend whose wife insists on never culling any chick or chicken, including a chick with a brain deformity that they hatched. What that poor chick went through until it finally passed They also have some aged hens now and very limited space. Not sure what he will do.

 

[meltingpot]

If you could ask the chicken, what do you think it would say? It is very hard with our pets as they become part of our family, and we put our human emotions and ideas upon them. But the reality is, I bet that chicken wouldn't want to carry on the way it is. Nature would usually sort this quandry out very quickly, and the chicken would perish, and animals accept this 'order' of things without thought. I feel if we keep animals, we have to be prepared to do what is right for the animal, putting aside our own emotions and needs.

As for your wife, I agree with the other members, that communication is the key. Hopefully she will also come around to seeing what is best for the chicken, and that she will feel reassured that at least the bird will be put down quickly and humanely.

best luck!

 

[bobbi-j]

Part of the issue is that - generally speaking - women are nurturers (I am one myself, so I can say this

) and tend to want to fix or cure a hurt, sick, or deformed animal. I've done that myself. I've babied chickens and cats that eventually died anyway, and I only prolonged their suffering. My DH has no problem putting them down for me. He's a farm boy. Animals are not our friends or family members - they're animals. It's the responsible and kindest thing to put them out of their misery. I'm a city kid - where I grew up, animals are our friends and family members. It has caused problems with us in the past. Over the years, it has become easier to ask him to put an animal out of its misery sooner rather than later. I don't enjoy it, but I don't like to see them suffer, either. If your chicken is suffering, point that out to your wife and gently tell her that she's not doing it any favors. Men - generally speaking - don't have those nurturing feelings as much. They're more analytical and less emotionally attached. (Once again, speaking in generalities here. I realize that no one statement applies to all members of either gender)

 

[Arielle]

You certainly have good sense. You see that the bird is failing under the new circumstances. Time to have a talk about the situation and decide on a plan, together.

My mom put down my dog without consulting me in the decision. I never forgave her for it.