When to cull old hens??

[lavenderlunaginny]

I don't cull my babies. But when I got them I didn't care of they laid an egg or not. They are my pets. I have 40 right now 37 hens 3 roos. I also have 8 6 day old chicks and 4 7day old ducklings and they will live their lives until they die or they get severely injured. I will never eat one of them. I will rehome extra roos. I hatch chicks and I sell or give them to people I know. People who won't eat them either.

I keep mine as pets as well they make excellent pets and produce eggs !

 

[scott6150]

I cull mine after two years whenever egg production slacks. I use them for meat as they are dual purpose birds.

How do you cull? I've been doing a head shot with a pellet gun, and sometimes it takes 2-3. I'd like a more humane way to do it!

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

How do you cull? I've been doing a head shot with a pellet gun, and sometimes it takes 2-3. I'd like a more humane way to do it!

I tie their feet and hang them upside down on a tree. I cut their jugular and push the knife into the brain stem.

 

[ShrekDawg]

How do you cull? I've been doing a head shot with a pellet gun, and sometimes it takes 2-3. I'd like a more humane way to do it!

I think most people put them upside down in a cone and slit their throat or put them on a log or something with their head between two nails and decapitate with an axe or similar. Or you can try the broom stick method. Put them on the ground while you step on a broom handle and pull up on their neck. Supposed to break their neck. But a lot of people prefer to just slit their throats or decapitate, it’s a bit faster and some think slightly more humane, though all of them are fast and humane. I haven’t personally culled any birds yet but I have been on the site a while and these are the 3 most common methods I have seen. And personally, if/when I get meat birds (won’t be for a while) I will do the full decapitation as I personally think that sometimes just slitting the throat and bleeding them out takes longer and I want as quick a death as possible. Some people prefer the cone though or tying them up so they don’t flap and run around because they do sometimes do that.

 

[Mosey2003]

The broomstick method (cervical dislocation) isn't supposed to break their neck, it pulls the spine and the brain stem apart, giving near-instant brain death. This is the method I typically use and is approved by the AVMA.

If you have excellent aim and a sharp blade, chopping their head off can be equally as humane as cervical dislocation. If you have poor aim (like me) this can go rather poorly.

 

[ShrekDawg]

The broomstick method (cervical dislocation) isn't supposed to break their neck, it pulls the spine and the brain stem apart, giving near-instant brain death. This is the method I typically use and is approved by the AVMA.

If you have excellent aim and a sharp blade, chopping their head off can be equally as humane as cervical dislocation. If you have poor aim (like me) this can go rather poorly.

Ohhhh okay. Sorry, I wasn’t exactly sure the specifics, just know I had read about it a lot. Probably shouldn’t have mentioned it though since I didn’t really know much about it but I wanted to list all options I knew of. Thanks for clearing it up though!! And it certainly does sound humane, though I didn’t realize it was approved. I know all 3 are humane but seem to remember some saying it wasn’t quite as fast or something but idk how true that is. Maybe it was just that it was hard to do? You have to be pretty strong, right?

That makes sense!! I probably don’t have the best aim so it might not be a good idea but then again, don’t you have to be pretty strong to do the cervical dislocation?? And I would probably make someone else do it anyway. Idk.

 

[Mosey2003]

Oh it's fine, I just wanted to clarify for the crowd

Section 3.4.2.2 here:
https://www.avma.org/KB/Policies/Documents/euthanasia.pdf

You'll note, if you read through it, that slitting the throat is actually not an approved method, even though many who process chickens prefer it. Some countries (Sweden or Denmark if I remember properly?) mandate that you must stun the bird beforehand.

Exsanguination—Although exsanguination of a conscious bird is an unacceptable method of euthanasia, it is acceptable to exsanguinate birds that are fully anesthetized or otherwise unconscious as a means to ensure death. Biosecurity precautions during and following exsanguination should be observed as part of appropriate disease control

 

[Mosey2003]

That makes sense!! I probably don’t have the best aim so it might not be a good idea but then again, don’t you have to be pretty strong to do the cervical dislocation?? And I would probably make someone else do it anyway. Idk.

Not really, no. Older roosters take more force, but otherwise it's not a very hard pull at all. Physics at work.

 

[Shadrach]

How do you cull? I've been doing a head shot with a pellet gun, and sometimes it takes 2-3. I'd like a more humane way to do it!

Place the fowl in a cone above a bucket so the head and neck protrude and use branch loppers with long handles to sever the head.

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

Oh it's fine, I just wanted to clarify for the crowd

Section 3.4.2.2 here:
https://www.avma.org/KB/Policies/Documents/euthanasia.pdf

You'll note, if you read through it, that slitting the throat is actually not an approved method, even though many who process chickens prefer it. Some countries (Sweden or Denmark if I remember properly?) mandate that you must stun the bird beforehand.

You should always insert a sharp blade into the mouth of the bird and pierce the brain and give a quarter turn doing the slitting method IMO.