Whats the most humane way to kill a chicken?

[cppeace]

Also there's the fact that birds are closely related to reptiles and snakes head is still "alive" up to 90 minutes after being decapitated.

 

[Member 482121]

I cannot bring myself to believe that there is pain felt from a severed head.
when the ax goes through, the first thing is shock.. by the time the shock wears off the bird is dead. no pain.
and if there is pain, for a second or two,
I can live with that.
I am just wondering, do you hunt with your gun ? or just shoot chickens ?
......jiminwisc......

I shoot chickens with a .22 LR pistol--hardly a hunting gun.

 

[Member 482121]

Also there's the fact that birds are closely related to reptiles and snakes head is still "alive" up to 90 minutes after being decapitated.

True. If you behead a rattler you'd better not touch its severed head. It sees, it feels the heat of your body, it will bite you. But if you blast its head it won't see, it won't feel, it won't bite, and it won't suffer. Honestly, I wouldn't really care if a rattler suffered. But my chickens trust me. They think I am their friend. It's bad enough to have to kill them , but at least we owe them not to make them suffer when we kill them. The destruction of the brain, through blunt trauma, shooting, or electricity removes immediately the organ that feels the pain. No brain, no pain.

 

[jvls1942]

I shoot chickens with a .22 LR pistol--hardly a hunting gun.

I shoot chickens with a .22 LR pistol--hardly a hunting gun.

we used to hunt rabbits and squirrels with .22 pistols. they are lethal weapons.
now to reword my original question.
do you hunt with a different gun than with your pistol ?

 

[Member 482121]

we used to hunt rabbits and squirrels with .22 pistols. they are lethal weapons.
now to reword my original question.
do you hunt with a different gun than with your pistol ?

Yes. I use a Ruger M 77 .338 WM for deer hunting and a Remington 11-87 12/76 for turkeys and doves. I know that the .338 WM is a bit big for whitetail deer, but I lived in Kodiak for 29 years and hunted deer in the company of huge brown bears. The .338 would have been adequate for stopping a charge. Then I got so used to this rifle that I use it all the time even now that there are no bears where I hunt. In Kodiak I was an avid duck hunter, but where I live now there are no ducks, except for a few wood ducks, and hunting for them is not appealing to me. Besides, my retriever died of old age and cancer last year, and I am not too eager to get another dog. It hurt too much when she passed. Going back to killing chickens, I read that there is another method even more rapid and efficient than yours or mine: gas. Not toxic gas, which would make the meat inedible, but some inert gas that contains little or no oxygen. The chickens are placed in a chamber (obviously the number of chickens in the chamber depends on the size of the chamber), into which the gas is pumped. The chickens get sleepy, fall asleep, and die from lack of oxygen. Truly no suffering.

 

[jvls1942]

Yes. I use a Ruger M 77 .338 WM for deer hunting and a Remington 11-87 12/76 for turkeys and doves. I know that the .338 WM is a bit big for whitetail deer, but I lived in Kodiak for 29 years and hunted deer in the company of huge brown bears. The .338 would have been adequate for stopping a charge. Then I got so used to this rifle that I use it all the time even now that there are no bears where I hunt. In Kodiak I was an avid duck hunter, but where I live now there are no ducks, except for a few wood ducks, and hunting for them is not appealing to me. Besides, my retriever died of old age and cancer last year, and I am not too eager to get another dog. It hurt too much when she passed. Going back to killing chickens, I read that there is another method even more rapid and efficient than yours or mine: gas. Not toxic gas, which would make the meat inedible, but some inert gas that contains little or no oxygen. The chickens are placed in a chamber (obviously the number of chickens in the chamber depends on the size of the chamber), into which the gas is pumped. The chickens get sleepy, fall asleep, and die from lack of oxygen. Truly no suffering.

maybe that gas is absorbed by the bird.
is that why I need a nap after eating turkey on thanksgiving day ?

 

[Member 482121]

maybe that gas is absorbed by the bird.
is that why I need a nap after eating turkey on thanksgiving day ?

No, turkeys, both wild and domesticated ones naturally contain some sort of endorphine, or dopamine, or whatever it is that has a mild soporific effect. But are you sure it's not the dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, the pumpkin pie, and the wine that you consume with your Thanksgiving turkey that make you sleepy?

 

[jvls1942]

No, turkeys, both wild and domesticated ones naturally contain some sort of endorphine, or dopamine, or whatever it is that has a mild soporific effect. But are you sure it's not the dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, the pumpkin pie, and the wine that you consume with your Thanksgiving turkey that make you sleepy?

impossible, I don't eat pumpkin pie,,

 

[BrindleFinch]

I admit, I'm a wimp. Anything that lives must kill other things... but the thought of causing needless stress or harm makes me sick to my stomach. Dying (in a way that allows the organism to be used within the food chain) is never easy or painless... but I'm really stuck between the two most prevalent methods here (decapitation vs bleeding).

I've seen cut/bleeding birds caw and draw away. It just doesn't look humane. It looks very painful. Excessively, so.

Yet, I also agree that we have no idea how "alive," something is after decapitation. It could be far worse.

I've been poking around this thread but I haven't seen it; does anyone know of any studies on one versus the other in terms of neurological function/time of death? It seems I have a cornish x chick, so I'm trying to look into this stuff now rather than in 6-7 weeks when it'll be too late.

It's not a pleasant topic, I know, but... they're giving their lives for me and my belief is that I owe them, at the very least, the most painless out possible. I just don't know what to do. Maybe there is no right or wrong answer. Maybe it's equal. But I thought if any community/group of people could help me, it would be BYC.

 

[cppeace]

according to most studies there are 3 accepted humane ways to kill.
1) blunt force to brain ( gun, bolt, hammer whatever)
2)cervical dislocation (break neck)
3) co2 in closed area (tank, bag etc)