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laturcotte1

euthanizing chicken

laturcotte1
13 years ago

My little barred rock Patty needed to be put down. My husband put hay in a small dog crate and set her carefully inside. He put the crate in a large plastic bag and taped the bag to the end of his trucks exhaust. Less than 10 minutes she was gone, I pray peacefully. I just want to know if anyone else has ever done it this way. I don't think she suffered, I just didn't want her scared and certainly wanted her to go painlessly.

Comments (7)

  • brendasue
    13 years ago

    It sounds like she went painlessly.

    I'm sorry for your loss.

    Brendasue

  • greendesert
    13 years ago

    overkill that's what I think.
    Maybe I would do something like that for a puppy or a kitten. Actually I'd use helium instead of car exhaust....

    I have an old paper cutter (the kind with the big blade that comes down. It's quick and maybe not totally painless, but sitting there gasping for air and breathing exhaust fumes for 10 minutes is not necessarily any more humane than getting your neck chopped and being unconscious within a few seconds at most.
    I'm not saying that people need to be more cruel, but most people definitely need to quit being such chickens.

  • calliope
    13 years ago

    That could have been worded a little kinder, I'm thinking. My chickens are farm livestock and since I do occasionally butcher, decapitation isn't an issue with me, but it would be for someone who has a hobby flock and considers their animals pets.

    There are actually guidelines for proper euthanasia of livestock and will show up in a search. Laturcotte 1, don't second guess what is already done, alls you can do is the best you can do. Sorry about your little rock. If you use the services of a vet, someday just ask them their recommendations in case you need to do it again in the future. Even a small animal vet, who does not do poultry, should be able to give you some answers.

  • trianglejohn
    13 years ago

    Birds are actually pretty hard to kill.

    Car exhaust can be kinda hot, it is not the best way unless you fill something like a trashcan with it and let it cool down before you place the animal into it.

    If you have any of the spray for engine carbeurators, just spray a bunch of it on a rag and drop it into a thick trash bag (double them up if you need) and then place the bird into the bag.

  • laturcotte1
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I feel awful about this, didn't think about the heat!!!!!! And chopping her off was not an option, call me chicken, cluck, cluck, cluck. If there ever is a next time the vet will be my choice. Thank you all so much.

  • gardengalrn
    13 years ago

    I'm sorry about your chicken but please don't feel bad. You did the best you knew to do and from the sounds of it, I'm certain she had a wonderful home with you. It would be my opinion that if she was so sick that you felt the need to put her down, she probably went quick and painlessly. Do NOT beat yourself up about it. Again, I'm sorry about your chicken. Lori

  • greendesert
    13 years ago

    honestly if head chopping is not on your list of things you can do, I really think helium is the best way, possibly even better than the vet.
    You could go to walmart and buy one of those helium tanks for inflating baloons. It's usually around $20. Put the bird in a box that has holes in it.
    Place a trash bag over the box and tie the bag around the helium tank nozzle at the bottom of the box or under the box. (the reason for this is because helium is lighter than air and it will go up. you want the helium to fill the bag and then push the air out through the bottom. if you have a leak at the top, you lose helium and the air stays at the bottom of the whole thing where your bird is. You want the air out and helium in).

    Inflate trash bag slowly and when inflated let it keep blowing helium in very slowly and allow some air to escape through the bottom.

    This should be totally painless and produce absolutely no discomfort for the bird because once the air is displaced, it breathes helium thus not producing any CO2 which is what triggers the gasp reflex. There should be no gasping at all and the bird should just pass out peacefully.
    just my 2c.

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