# Euthanizing



## renee3025

Just wondering how others plan to euthanize if it becomes necessary. I love these guys and can't stand the thought but know I must be prepared for the inevitable. What is the easiest on the chickens or turkeys?


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## Apyl

Personally I feel the hatchet is the quickest and easiest. Just make sure its kept sharp.


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## twentynine

Keep it simple, keep it quick, keep it quiet.

Last hen I put down was one of my much valued BR hens. Found her in the afternoon with abdominal slashed open, the wound while only being hours old was filled with all manner of detritus found in a chicken yard. Right away I knew her chances of recovery were very slim. If I had chose to close the wound and treat her, I'm sure I would have lost her anyway, but only after she had suffered needlessly. When I noticed the wound, I scouped her up, held her close to limit her movements, I examined the wound. Made a judgement. And less than two minutes later she was out of her pain.

I am never happy when I have to put down a bird, specially when that bird was absolutely healthy only hours before. That being said it is a responsibility I took on when I decided to raise chickens.


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## renee3025

Thanks. I was thinking the hatchet would be the best way as well. And yes, I want to be quick so I'm not putting them through any more pain than they are already in.


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## cindy

I don't believe anything should go to waste so I slit the throat and prepare the chicken
and freeze it to make future dog food. my ladies all have names and we love them but I 
think its doing them a disservice to waste the meat.


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## ChickenAdmin

Apyl said:


> Personally I feel the hatchet is the quickest and easiest. Just make sure its kept sharp.


It's unfortunate when it happens, but I agree that the hatchet is the best way to go.


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## cindy

I dont use a hatchet because I dont want the chicken running around with its head cut off.
I use a road cone they stay put and bleed out very fast.


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## renee3025

The road cone is a good idea. I hadn't thought of them flopping around. Ugh! I had to kill one of mine and didn't have anything here. I had to wring her neck it was so awful and horrific I cried for the whole rest of the day. Don't want anything that's going to be traumatic for the bird or me.


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## cindy

when I butchered my Roo's I cut the cone to fit their size picked them up by their feet and gently put them in head first with very little struggles then I pulled the head to stretch the neck then with a very sharp knife slit the throat length ways. When the jugulars are cut and the blood drains from the brain and the bird quickly loses consciousness.
when I was a kid they took the heads off with a hatchet and I hated seeing them run around headless which sometimes 
seemed to be 10 -15 minutes or longer there are a lot of good sites that have video's on how to do this. I never think of it as fun or enjoyable but it is the nature of the beast so to speak..


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## renee3025

Thanks Cindy, I think that sounds like the best way to go. A hatchet would be quick too but I can't stand the thought of them flopping. I'll have to go get a good sharp knife and then hope I never have to use it. My dream is that they die of old age. Not practical I know but that's the way I'd like it to go.


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## Lady_Alia

If it's the flopping that freaks you out, you can put em in a cone and then use the hatchet. It seems to me that the hatchet is instant, where as letting something bleed out...ohh I couldn't do that! Not to mention I couldn't slit their throats...no no no no...not me!


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## Roslyn

My husband uses the 22 rifle. He can't quite handle the up close and personal of a hatchet. It's a quick pop and it's over, they are able to flop and it's done.

My son had to euthanize a hen for me, he is fine dealing with ground hogs, but that isn't up close and personal. He wasn't prepared for the running and flopping and it really freaked him out. I am now learning to use the 22. They are flaking on me, and I now have to take care of business when it has to be done.

I always tell new chicken keepers to prepare themselves. Even if you never plan on eating your chickens the time will come when an injured or sick chicken will need to be put out of its misery. 

It is NOT easy.


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## Maggizzle35

No its definitely not easy. I have been pretty lucky mine have gone on their own and others have recovered. We always end up burying ours.


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## Kozykitten

We use a hatchet but we have a hanging system. Cable around their feet, hanging from board, then have another board that lays against there at a slant, stretch neck against the board and use the hatchet. They only move for 10 seconds at the most. When I first started in chickens we butchered out the young roosters I would hatch out. Found that to be the easiest and cleanest way to do it. I had to put down a couple hens after a raccoon got in with them but other than that, thankfully, in quite a few years, I haven't had to put any of my girls down.


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## Marengoite

If you don't have a road cone, you can take a plastic milk jug, cut the bottom out, enlarge the neck of the jug a little and use it instead. Also, I would state that when you slit the jugular that there are two ways to do it - one is to make two sharp cuts to the jugular on either side of the neck, and the other is to poke the knife all the way through the neck severing both jugulars. Do NOT cut all the way across their throat, severing the trachea as this will unnecessarily stress the chicken. If you do it right, it's a very peaceful way to go and the chickens only flop a little as the last of their blood drains out. 

There are plenty of YouTube videos demonstrating how to do this and I'd recommend watching a couple of them to see how to do this before attempting it on your own.


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## Lady_Alia

I don't know how to ask this without sounding like a jerk, so please know that I'm not trying to be a jerk I'm just asking questions cuz I don't understand. 

How is slitting something's throat and letting it bleed out more humane and peaceful than one swift whack with a hatchet?


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## cindy

securing the chicken and slitting the throat properly the chicken loses consciousness within seconds and theres very little flopping around it bleeds out quicky and the blood go's into a bucket. 
using a hatchet you chop the head off the chicken doesn't know he's headless and will run around sometimes for 10 minutes or longer till it finally expires. have you ever read about the chicken that was culled with a hatched the guy miss judged cutting most of the head off the chicken and it lived for like 3 years after that? lol dont know if its true but google it!


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## BuckeyeChickens

Lady_Alia said:


> I don't know how to ask this without sounding like a jerk, so please know that I'm not trying to be a jerk I'm just asking questions cuz I don't understand.
> 
> How is slitting something's throat and letting it bleed out more humane and peaceful than one swift whack with a hatchet?


It really isn't more humane!!! Dead is Dead....

Back to the origianl post about "how to euthanize"....it really depends on the age of the bird!!! When I have to "kill" young chicks (day 1 to 4 weeks) its as simple as "snapping" their neck....DEATH is INSTANT and I won't say painless because I don't know but they don't flop around!!! In older fowl it is wringing their necks....NO BLOOD and generally NO FLOPPING!!! Yes, it is very hands on and if you can't do it this way you run the risk of injury or pain rather than death. Personally I feel this is the most humane method to dispatch chickens that are sick, dying or NOT suitable for food....that's my 2 cents!


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## cindy

here ya go..
http://www.miketheheadlesschicken.org/story.php

ok 18 months


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## cindy

"snapping" their neck....DEATH is INSTANT "chickens that are sick, dying or NOT suitable for food"....well of course! but if you plan to eat it
you need to bleed it................


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## Lady_Alia

cindy said:


> "snapping" their neck....DEATH is INSTANT "chickens that are sick, dying or NOT suitable for food"....well of course! but if you plan to eat it
> you need to bleed it................


Why do you have to bleed it?


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## cindy

In slaughtering birds are positioned with their heads down to facilitate bleeding. This can be accomplished through the use of killing cones, shackles, or a rope around the feet.
After the bird is properly positioned the killing and bleeding step follows. Several important factors must be kept in mind. The bird must be killed in such a way to allow most of the blood to drain from the body and at the same time limit struggling to prevent damage to the corpse.
A widely used method that accomplishes these objectives is making a cut just behind the jaw. The cut should sever the jugular vein without cutting the oesophagus or wind pipe. A weight can then be hung from the beak to limit the movement of the bird. This is a more 'humane' method of slaughter because the bird is unconscious due to loss of blood from the brain.Any method which involves beheading or wringing the neck accomplishes the killing but fails to produce a properly bled carcass. The heart stops when the spinal cord is severed


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## BuckeyeChickens

Cindy, the "original" post didn't mention eating the fowl they asked about "euthanizing"....i think you and i can agree there is a difference in dispatching a sick bird and butchering one!!!


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## ChubbyChicken

What's the best way to cull male chicks?


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## BuckeyeChickens

ChubbyChicken said:


> What's the best way to cull male chicks?


I simply "snap" their necks and toss them in an empty feed sack.


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