Topic of the Week - Let's talk about euthanasia

[Teila]

When Should It Be Done?
Agree with the all the great answers so far.

What is the most humane and the quickest method, especially for people who have never done it before and for a much loved flock member?
Hubby and I know that we could not do it ourselves and even IF we were to try, there is that already mentioned ‘what if something goes wrong’ due to our inexperience. Both times we have had to make that heartbreaking decision we took them to our Vet who was so kind/understanding and did not charge us. For us, the Vet is also that final reassurance that we are making the right decision.

How do you handle the situation when you have children and other family involved with the flock?
We do not have small children and only myself and hubby are involved with our very small flock of pet bantams. Whenever we lose a much loved member of the flock either by natural death or euthanasia, we bury her in the garden in her favourite spot if we can. With our most recent loss, we buried and remember her with a recently purchased potted Mandarin tree. Another is buried next to the compost bin or as she saw it the ‘Bug Dispenser’.

 

[swedeloader71]

- When should it be done?

Time for culinary use, moribund or quality of life issue.

- What is the most humane and the quickest method, especially for people who have never done it before and for a much loved flock member?

Hatchet cutting of head fastest by all measures but requires confident / practiced use of hatchet. Strangulation can be worked employed does not press the squeamish button as bad. Click the back chicks head with finger.

- How do you handle the situation when you have children and other family involved with the flock?

Never consider process fun. No jokes. Provide explanations about why, no lies to protect for short-term as you are educating for long-term.

I agree with the above explanation, I might add that excess roosters can and will be a detrimental issue with your hens as stress is messing with their egg laying. Hens may stop laying completely and resort to plucking their own feathers to make themselves less appealing to the roosters, once started other hens may very well think something is wrong with the hen and start pecking her adding even more stress to the poor hen. Excess roosters should be dealt with sooner than later in my own opinion for the greater good of the flock, whether you give the rooster(s) away or cull them.

Having hatched several batches of chicks over the last five years the pullet/cockerel ratio has overall been heavy on cockerels, trying to sell straight run chicks can be quite tricky too as most folks want pullets so one raises the chicks past 2 months of age hence investing in extra feed and more often than not end up with a few pullets and a bunch of cockerels that end up getting culled and sometimes go straight into the ground. I should add the same goes for ducks, geese and turkeys.

 

[bobbi-j]

When should it be done?
I agree with the reasons given so far.

What is the most humane and quickest method, especially for people who have never done it before, and for a beloved flock member?
We decapitate here. It's over in seconds. It's also not for the faint of heart, though. If I had to do it myself, it would be using a killing cone and very sharp knife. It's not a fast enough death for me, but I don't think I could physically hold a chicken and use the hatchet and stump, both at the same time. DH does it, but he's bigger and stronger than me. @BrandoMan - we also don't "just run around chasing a chicken swinging an axe at it like a chicken with its head cut off" The chickens we kill to process are kept in a confined area, I go in there (they're used to me) with my wire chicken catcher and catch one. I carry it out to DH who takes the chicken from me and lops off its head before I can get the next chicken caught. Is it stressed? Probaby. For less than 15 or 20 seconds at most. I guess the fastest, most painless method you can is what you do.

How do you handle the situation when you have children and other family members involved with the flock?
Be open, honest, direct and matter of fact. Kids will reflect what they see in how you handle a situation. If you treat it like a great crisis with wailing and crying, so will they. If you explain that it has to be done because the chicken is suffering and won't get better, or you need to remove some chickens from the flock for the betterment of the flock, or if you have raised them for food, most kids are pretty accepting. Especially if you tell them from the start that you are raising them for food. I wouldn't encourage letting them make pets of them and then saying, "Oh, by the way - your chicken will be our supper soon"

 

[QueenMisha]

- When should it be done?

When recovery is clearly no longer possible and the animal can no longer live a life free of suffering and pain

- What is the most humane and the quickest method, especially for people who have never done it before and for a much loved flock member?

Cervical dislocation. It's instantaneous and blood free. I can cradle the bird in my arms, tell it it's going to be fine, and the next second, it's over. The animal never sees it coming and feels no pain. You must hold the bird's legs in one hand and it's head in the other, with your thumb wrapping around the bird's throat at the base of the jaw and your fingers coming up to wrap around the top of the head and meet you thumb. Tilt the head slightly upwards and back, so the beak is toward the sky, and then yank your arms in opposite directions as quickly and as hard as you can. No blood involved, and death occurs as soon as the skull detaches from the spine (leaving the skin intact of course). My only complaint with this method is that the bird spasms for several minutes longer after death occurs, I suppose because the blood remains in the body.

- How do you handle the situation when you have children and other family involved with the flock?

No kids here, but I live with my mother who is a very empathetic person. I tell her when a bird she likes requires euthanasia and she goes out and says goodbye to it. It then disappears.

 

[Emeraldcity31]

When I was faced with this decision I went to a vet. No trauma and was easier for me. If I had a lot of chickens and had to do this regularly I might find a more inexpensive way.

 

[Emeraldcity31]

When I was faced with this decision I went to a vet. It was easier for me and was easy on the chicken. Very peaceful passing.

 

[tfalls3]

The gas method was not an option for me as mine was attacked. My children had already dealt with the loss of a few pets over the years. My youngest is 7 and she's very tender hearted but was able to see that the pullet was hurt bad. I didn't go into detail and just told her that it died, when in reality I had to do it myself to my chick.
I didn't have many options at the time and was afraid to try some of the gas methods and it take long and was unable to bring myself to snap it's neck. I'm a nurse and nothing really gets to me but this did, partly because I had seen the small gap in the coop the night before and said I'd fix it the next day. I sharpened my garden sheers and dug a small hole, I wrapped her in a paper towel so just her head and neck were out and held her over the hole and quickly made the cut. It was clean and I dropped her in and ran off crying. I came back a little while later and covered it up.
I think the first time is the hardest, as I believe in some way it should be. If I had meat birds I think the first time would be hard also but it's part of life and it was comforting to know for sure it was quick.

 

[bobbi-j]

The gas method was not an option for me as mine was attacked. My children had already dealt with the loss of a few pets over the years. My youngest is 7 and she's very tender hearted but was able to see that the pullet was hurt bad. I didn't go into detail and just told her that it died, when in reality I had to do it myself to my chick.
I didn't have many options at the time and was afraid to try some of the gas methods and it take long and was unable to bring myself to snap it's neck. I'm a nurse and nothing really gets to me but this did, partly because I had seen the small gap in the coop the night before and said I'd fix it the next day. I sharpened my garden sheers and dug a small hole, I wrapped her in a paper towel so just her head and neck were out and held her over the hole and quickly made the cut. It was clean and I dropped her in and ran off crying. I came back a little while later and covered it up.
I think the first time is the hardest, as I believe in some way it should be. If I had meat birds I think the first time would be hard also but it's part of life and it was comforting to know for sure it was quick.

For me every time is hard, and we've been raising birds for meat for years. But I know that we are raising them specifically for that reason, and it's my wishes to do so. So, when it's time, I stall and put it off, and finally convince myself that it's not going to get easier and then tell DH I'm ready. Once the bird is dead, it's no big deal to me. It's the taking a live bird and turning it into a dead one that gets me.

 

[kgb6days]

Dry Ice Method of Euthanasia

I placed 3 lbs of dry ice in the bottom of a rubber maid container. covEred with wire and made the chicken a bed of shavings. I placed the chicken on the bed of shavings, after pouring a very small amount of water over the dry ice. It immediately started to 'smoke'. I then put the lid on the container. She was gone within 2 minutes. It was peaceful and fast. Don't put too much water or the lid will blow off due to the gas being released from the dry ice. Below is information from an article regarding carbon dioxide euthanize. Carbon Dioxide is the gas released by the dry ice & water.

Of those methods for euthanasia approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) 1, the only method that could be used safely at home involves the use of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is heavier than air and nearly odorless. In low concentrations (7.5%) it is an analgesic (pain reliever), and at medium concentrations (30%-40%) it can be used as an anesthetic, causing rapid loss of consciousness without struggling, distress, or excitation. 3 Medium concentrations cause an aversion responce in some rodents.4 At high concentrations (>80%) CO2 causes quick death. High concentrations, however, painfully irritate eyes and the respiratory tract, so it is important to first induce an analgesic effect, then bring about deep anesthesia (within 1 to 2 minutes) before exposing the animal to high concentrations.

 

[Mehitabel]

I'm speaking as a long time keeper of backyard chickens, but this is the first year that I have had them for overwintering. When my husband was alive we would get them in late winter as chicks and then he would process them for the freezer in late fall. Now that I have more long-term companions I chose several different winter hardy breeds, and each comes with their own pleasures and problems.

One such problem was a Columbian Rock Hen who managed to have an inflamed and impacted crop at 6 weeks. This turned out to be my first experience with chicken euthanasia. I have had pets for decades, and I'm always saddened to lose one, but I had no idea what to do for my hen who was obviously not going to recover. My Parkinson's tremors make it difficult for me to wield an axe well enough to make a clean cut, and I didn't want her to suffer my clumsiness. In the end I was fortunate enough to find a local farmer who had many years of experience with his own chickens. He quickly and efficiently chopped the head off with a hatchet in such a way that both head and body fell into the pre-dug hole.

After seeing it done with such steady and sure hands I believe this would be the most humane way to cull a bird that has no chance of recovery. Like Bobbi-j I have no problem after the death occurs - it's that transition from suffering to death that is very hard on me. I would not trust myself to use the dry ice method on an adult bird. As peaceful as it seems, I don't know the exact amount of ice or time needed for individual body weights.

For those who have steady hands, you might be interested in this video I found on YouTube. I was impressed with how gentle this woman made the transition from living bird to chicken carcass. And what she says in the video is very true: there is a point where it goes from being a living animal to a food item. It is very aptly titled "Respectful Chicken Harvest."