How do you cull Babys

If you have a babay chick that cannot lead a full life, and needs to be put down, How do you do that?
What is the fastest and most humane way?

Sorry to hear you need to do this. It is never easy, but part of the responsibility we take on. Alright enough of the DAD speech...

The quickest and most humane IMHO is a pair of dull scissors, or garden shears for the small (under two weeks or so) ones. That will separate the spine and kill immediately, usually without removing the head and making for a messy clean-up (I suppose a pair of side cutting pliers or similar would serve the same purpose). The same thing can be done by pulling and twisting to separate the head from the spine, but that is a bit too much for most, including myself, and I can never do it just so that the head doesn't come off in my hand and really freak me out. Someone (in another thread) had suggested lighter fluid in a sealed can to gas them. Well I dunno bout that - sounds a little slow to me. Some of the old timers always used two flat rocks, which was extremely quick BUT extremely messy, not to mention what that must have for gag appeal.

Good luck and best wishes. Just don't think about it too much and remember you are doing a good thing for the chick.

;-(

thanks for helping, Scott.

I soak a rag in starting fluid and put in the bottom of a coffee can then put the chick in and cover it. He or she just falls asleep and never wakes up. Some people have said that the ether*? might burn the chicks skin so some put a screen in then the chick so it doesn't feel any pain.

LoraK is that starter fluid like for making a charcoal fire?

MollyD

I think that "starting fluid" is the stuff available at auto supply stores. I believe the chemical in it is "ether", the same as laughing gas that they use in the dentists office.

Mainieac----I wish! Ether is defintely not the same thing as laughing gas. If it were I would be very happy if brain-damaged. Laughing gas is nitrous oxide, ether is a class of chemicals with a very low boiling point that are commonly used as solvents--

I love dentists who use nitrous oxide--so light, ethereal and calming (especially because I hate the whole gum numbing novacaine experience)--and almost passed out gassing a frog for dissection with ether which burns like crazy.

Based on personal experience, LOL:0(, I think I would rather have my spinal column snapped than die from inhaling ether. But either is better than a long painful death.

I once had to "behead" an unviable society finch chick. Felt so bad. Hope my hatch does not include this responsibility.

I think they used to use Ether to put people under for surgery??? I knew a woman who LOVED her air cooled VW bugs but would throw up at the smell of starting fluid she said it reminded her of all the surgeries she had as a kid. And when your old car doesn't want to start you use starting fluid! Hmmm I will research this more. Why clean the house when you can fill you brain with information you will never need again!!!
I also think it comes down to if you can do the hands on thing or put in it and its done, no blood, no sound........

I use the freezer for very young chicks. They go to sleep pretty quick and when they are solid I take them out. You have to remember to take them out though. Last week I had two try to hatch before they were ready and wrapped them in a tea towel and tucked them in the ice cube department. I forgot and my husband needed ice.....Poor man, you'd think after twenty eight years he'd no longer be surprised......

LOL! Atleast they didn't make into the ice shoot and land in his glass!

Jyl, I can just picture the chicks in the ice cube compartment. Yikes!!! But that is a good idea. I will file it in my brain file cabinet for future use if I ever need it.

Thanks

GG
♥^_^♥

Funny story, well not really funny, about putting animals in a freezer to die. I worked at a petstore. My boss started screaming and yelling for me, so I ran into his office, he said "what is that doing the freezer?" over and over again pointing towards the freezer. I couldn't figure out what he talking about, we kept frozen fish foods, bloodworm, brime etc plus snake food, rats and mice. We bought them frozen. So I opened the freezer door and there was a huge white rat looking at me!! Another employee had come by earlier and put him in there thinking it would euthanize him! A full size rat!! Needless to say it didn't and I found a home for the rat until he passed a couple month later from the cancerous tumors he had. The employee thought since we got in frozen rats that the way they died! They use carbon dioxide*sp to kill them and then freeze them!!

It doesn't work on grown animals, only little babies, but works great for cold bloods like reptiles. I use it for severely injured turtles and such. That rat could have been in there for a loooong time. You'd run out of popcicles first!

catscan, didn't you do some research on this? what did you come up with?

Argon gas--which you can get in kits for preserving open bottles of wine. I did a pretty serious search through a lot of official animal wellfare and government publications and the consensus was argon gas caused the least distress and suffering when euthanizing young poultry. You can order the kits on-line and they aren't expensive.

The second best was severing the spinal cord--which is what Mainieac described with dull scissors. There seems to be a techinique for doing this humanely. My DH had to do this to mice when he interned at a pharmaceutical lab. It involved pinning the neck down with a pencil laid flat and then giving the tail a quick hard jerk. He still feel horrible about having done it. Very bad karma. With young poultry the experts describe a sort of twisting jerk. The thing is you want to cleanly sever the spinal cord without pulling the head off. I won't go into details, but they suspect chickens with severed heads actually remain conscious for a short time.

My vet generously offered to take care of my only severely deformed chick--and I have been lucky so far not to need it done again. I really need to order the argon gas--it comes in small cannisters--and keep it on hand, just in case.

Well--tf, you asked:0(

thanks. i likely should ahve it on hand as well. never know, gotta be prepared. wish chicken raising was all warm fuzzies,...