Killing A Chicken With A Pellet Gun? Trust The Answer

I don’t shoot a gun and my husband tells me it’s on me now that the roosters aren’t after him. Maybe it’s time I learned how to use a gun.

It’s pathetic when I can’t even go into my yard without being attacked. I tried to catch him on the net and it works —- for a day. What’s the quickest and easiest way to just kill him? I need to think of something before the grandkids come to visit this summer. He could do a real thing with them.

As poultry owners, particularly those who raise flocks for meat, one process is inevitable: the killing of chickens. Of course, owners would have to go through this part at some point in the whole process of raising chickens for meat. Surely the owners want to carry out this activity in the most humane way that is available. Here are four ways to kill a chicken.

The best ways to kill a chicken

There are many ways to kill animals. There seems to be more to chickens as they are small and easy to kill creatures. Herd owners who mistake chickens for meat must find a way to kill their chickens that works for them. That means they choose a way to kill their herds according to their resources and what they think is best. Here are four ways to kill a chicken.

Decapitation – By the name itself, you can see the essence of this method. Apparently, its purpose is to stop the chicken’s life by cutting off its neck, separating the head from the body with one swift blow.

Pistol/Pellet Gun – A pellet gun might seem weak as you read this, but there is a pellet gun with enough power to take out a chicken. A .22 handgun will usually suffice.

Dislocation of the cervix – This was one of the most important ways to kill a chicken. Cervical dislocation also has the benefit of having a bloodless process. This can be divided into two categories: hand-snapping the head and the broomstick method.

CO2 Chamber – This is the only sure way to kill a chicken involving carbon dioxide. This type of euthanasia is approved for killing smaller animals such as amphibians, birds, rodents, and other small animals.

In carrying out any of the processes, there are things that you need to prepare for as well as things that you need to take note of.

decapitation

A sharp knife is essential for this method. It is important to note that this process aims to be quick and quick. Therefore, the knife to be used should be heavy and very sharp.

Carrying out the process requires you to have someone to help you with the chicken. Doing this alone can be challenging and dangerous as you can injure yourself while handling both the chicken and the knife.

It is important to note that the process should be quick and quiet. This is to prevent the chicken from becoming stressed. Handle the bird carefully so as not to cause panic. The process can be bloody, and it certainly doesn’t picture well, but it’s very foolproof and won’t harm your chickens for that long. This is true as long as your knife is sharp and you swing vigorously.

Have your assistant hold the bird.

Gently stretch the chicken’s neck to have a more precise spot to cut.

Finally, make sure you have the correct calculations. When you do this, swing down hard.

pistol / pellet gun

A .22 gun would be enough to snap your chickens. A pellet gun will also work as long as the weapon is a model of sufficient power. You should choose a powerful pellet gun if you want to perform this method.

This process can be started by wrapping the chicken in a towel.

Gently lay and position the bird on the ground.

Apply force by gently kneeling on the bird to restrain its movement.

Finally, use the gun to take out the chicken.

Cervical Dislocation

While this may seem like the most basic process as it only requires hands and strength, cervical dislocation should be performed by someone who knows how to perform the method properly. In other words: a lack of understanding harms the chickens even more.

So make sure you run it when you log in and do that process properly. Many people simply negligently break the animal’s neck. And so this leads to a painful death as it is not done properly.

One way to perform this method is to break the chicken’s neck by hand. This is a very personal and practical approach to killing chickens. It can be challenging, especially if it’s your first time doing it. However, here’s how you should do it.

Hold your chicken with each hand that feels comfortable.

Hold the head at the base of the skull.

Find and feel the place where the skull and neck meet.

Once you’ve done this, snap the chicken’s head down and out.

The process is quite difficult to describe, so you should learn how to research videos through visual study or actually witness this process firsthand.

There is also another method called the broomstick method. As the name suggests, you will need a broomstick for this process.

Place the chicken on a hard surface between your feet.

Place the broomstick behind the chicken’s head. (Basically just replace your supposed hand with a broomstick)

Get on the broomstick while pulling up the chicken’s hind legs and breaking the chicken’s neck.

Again before doing this method it is recommended to do more research, find more references or even try to witness it in person to have a better view. This is to prevent your chickens from suffering a more painful death due to misbehavior.

CO2 chamber

This is quite a tricky process, so it’s better to read more about it before proceeding. The process involves mixing vinegar and baking soda with specific measurements. Basically, confine chickens in small spaces and let them breathe carbon dioxide.

killing chickens at home

Small flock owners usually slaughter their chickens at home using the most humane method available.

Let’s say you want to cut your chicken’s carotid artery. In this case, the next thing to do is drain the blood naturally by hanging it or holding the chicken’s head down. It is recommended to use a cone funnel for this purpose to drain the blood more effectively.

Using a funnel cone also ensures that the chicken’s body is well secured while the blood rushes down. The emptying process should take about 1.5 minutes to 2 minutes.

Decapitating the chicken will cause it to bleed easily, making it more difficult to drain blood and making feather plucking quite difficult.

broths and plucks

After bleeding the chicken to death, the following process is to scald the chicken. What is scalding? Scalding is the process of passing the chicken through hot or boiling water. This allows the skin to become softer. It’s a way of preparing the epidermis to make feather plucking easier.

Most people are familiar with this method, especially if they have witnessed or experienced the slaughter of chickens at home. All you need is a sink and hot water. The suitable temperature is 60 degrees Celsius or 140 Fahrenheit.

Place the chicken in the basin and let it sit there for about 45 to 60 seconds. The scalding is done to open up a part of the chicken called the follicle. The follicles are the part of the chicken, along with the skin, that holds the feathers. This process makes feathers easier to remove.

It’s important to note that plucking should be done immediately, right after brewing. If you leave the chicken and don’t pluck the feathers directly, the scalding effect will be lost. Another thing is that chickens can get stiff if left outside after being scalded. Note that scalding properly will result in minor problems or no problem at all plucking all feathers.

Remove Everything Inside (Eviscerate)

This process removes everything from the chicken that will not be used for cooking or cooking other dishes. Parts to be removed also include the head and feet as they are not normally used for meat except in some areas where they are cooked and eaten, such as street food or local market food.

The body cavity is usually opened by an incision at the breast or at the body opening (cloaca). Note that you need to be careful not to cut too hasty. If you injure the intestines, the chicken can become contaminated with feces and feces. Once the abdomen is open, you can remove the entrails.

washing and hygiene

After removing everything from the chicken, it’s time to give it a thorough wash. The table where the butcher performs the removal process should be clean beforehand.

Wherever the chicken is placed, it should be cleaned and disinfected to avoid contamination of the meat. This also applies when you open chickens for operation. Cleanliness and hygiene are essential and top priority. [How to Clean Chicken Before Cooking]

summary

There are actually many ways to kill a chicken. Methods are usually approved by appropriate veterinary or animal institutes and associations. Here are four ways to kill a chicken, all humane. Now the rest depends on the butcher, whether which method is more convenient and convenient for him.

People learn to kill chickens for many reasons. As interest in local and ethical food increases, many meat eaters have challenged themselves to growing and butchering their own meat.

People who mistake backyard chickens for eggs often kill older chickens when they are past their prime laying age. Even people who keep chickens as pets may need to kill a sick or injured chicken as a humane measure.

Related Post: How long do chickens live?

Regardless of your reasons, there may be times when you need to slaughter one or more of your chickens.

It can be overwhelming and emotional when confronted with killing an animal for the first time. Here’s a simple guide that explains how to humanely butcher a chicken and disembowel it cleanly.

⚠️Content Warning: This article contains an open and graphic discussion of chicken killing and gutting. Video links, which are clearly marked, also contain graphic images of chicken killing. Read responsibly.

methods of slaughter

Killing a chicken is straightforward compared to other animals. There are three common methods that don’t require special equipment: slice, chop, and twist.

The disc

The disc is my personal preference.

Take a very sharp knife. You can either ask someone to hold the chicken upside down and pin down their wings, or use a killing cone.

Cut the knife across her throat just below her chin on either side of her larynx. Make a cut parallel to your jawbone on each side. This cuts the arteries and not the windpipe.

If you cut right through the middle of the throat, you’ll have to go deeper with the knife, which will kill them slower and cause more pain.

How sharp is a sharp knife?

Very sharp. The sharpest knife you’ve ever held in your hand. When killing an animal, the sharper the blade, the more painless and humane the death. A knife sharp enough to kill with should have an edge that grinds like raw silk against your skin when you place the heel of your hand against the edge.

If your finger slides easily without cutting you, it’s too blunt. The knife blade should attempt to cut through your meat with the least amount of pressure, and it will feel rough or “sticky” like the very fine points on a ridge. Always sharpen your knife between kills.

The chop

Hacking might be the easiest for beginners, but it’s not the cleanest.

Take a sharp ax or hatchet – sharp! Not as sharp as the knife, but don’t cut your firewood with it before using it on a chicken.

Have someone else hold the chicken upside down to calm it down, then quickly put its head on a chopping block and swing it. Don’t get involved. The stronger the momentum, the more humane. Blood will spill everywhere, but that’s the name of the game.

The turn

My father describes killing chickens on his grandparents’ farm by grabbing the chicken’s head and swinging it around in circles as far as possible until you hear a crack or until the head comes off the body.

This is a variation of the spin that uses hands or some sort of lever to snap the chicken’s neck. Some people would argue that the spin is a humane option when done correctly, but it requires precision, skill, and perseverance.

***We do not recommend this method, especially for beginners.***

You can injure the animal unless you can perform the twist with strength and without hesitation. I’ve never tried it and I doubt I ever will. I’m too scared I’ll make it halfway and, um, quit.

death and clean up

No matter how you kill a chicken, it will twitch and convulse violently and last from thirty seconds to a minute. This can be scary and unexpected, but know that it is normal.

I watch a chicken’s eyes to see when it’s dead—the lids droop, even if they spasm open later, and the pupils stop moving. When in doubt, cut again, deeper and harder. The faster, the more humane.

If you raise chickens for meat or kill laying hens, pesky roosters, or other healthy birds, you can gut and eat them. See the next section for instructions. However, if you have killed a chicken because it is sick, or if you have reason to believe the chicken is infected in some way, do not eat that chicken. Bury or compost it and clean your slaughter equipment.

processing for food

Once a chicken is dead, you have a second task – to process the chicken so it can be cooked.

removing the feathers

First, scald the chicken to make the feathers easier to pluck. Use a pot of water at 140 degrees F. Too hot and the chicken will start to cook. Too cool and the springs won’t come off. Submerge the chicken for about 15 to 20 seconds and remove. The feathers should come off handfuls easily.

You can pluck an overscalded chicken by hand or in a mechanized chicken plucker like the one shown in this video.

evisceration of the body

Have two buckets handy – a trash can for trash and a clean bucket for edible offal. Of the organs, you can save the heart, liver, gizzard and testicles of an adult rooster. Male birds killed at the usual age of meatbirds have not yet developed testicles, but if you kill an older rooster you will find sizeable testicles that are bland in taste and spongy in texture.

Once the chicken is defeathered, use your knife to remove the chicken’s head if your slaughtering method hasn’t already done so. Then start gutting at the cloaca with another sharp knife.

Cut a circle around the opening of the cloaca and tie the end of the guts to prevent feces from coming out when you pull. Gently pull out the guts with your fingers or a knife to gently separate the membranes that attach them to the body cavity.

After the intestines, take out the other organs. Most come out easily, although sometimes you have to scrape the deflated lungs from the rib cage.

The next two steps are important but easily forgotten. First you need to remove the sebaceous gland or sac at the base of the tail, which creates a smelly, sticky fat. Accidentally piercing this pouch on a cooked chicken is an unpleasant surprise, so cut it out with your knife when gutting.

The second thing to remember, and what I find to be the most technically challenging part of gutting a chicken, is removing the crop. The crop is a small, knobbly part of the esophagus above the gizzard that stores food. It’s the last thing you get out of a chicken.

No technical skill is required for this, all you have to do is grab the slippery esophagus and pull hard. Some people remove it from the top of the neck. I was taught to remove it from below after the other organs were removed.

The final step is to remove the chicken’s feet, which are easily cut off at the knee muscle. The flaky skin peels off the feet, leaving them clean and ready for cooking.

Chicken Slaughter Laws

Many cities have regulations about how many chickens you can keep, how much space you can have, and whether you can have roosters, but most cities have no slaughter laws at all. There is growing recognition that urban centers need to address some of the complex issues of all kinds related to urban agriculture, including slaughter. The laws haven’t caught up with the reality of urban homesteads, so don’t break the law by killing backyard chickens.

Related Post: Best Chicken Breeds for City Life

If you live in a rural area, your zoning may specifically prohibit or specifically permit the construction of a slaughterhouse, but will almost certainly permit the killing of domestic chickens as “agricultural use” either principally or conditionally. Don’t worry if your zoning prohibits slaughterhouses – there’s a clear distinction.

In some US states it is legal to sell slaughtered chickens fresh from the farm on the day of slaughter, but nowhere is it legal to slaughter chickens at home for resale elsewhere. This requires further licensing, which varies from state to state. Check with your local representative before selling home-raised meat.

to get support

Killing an animal for the first time is an intense and sometimes frightening experience. Learn from an experienced mentor or find a good educational resource.

Check with your farm and homestead community to see if anyone has experience, or call your local branch office. Some branches also offer chicken slaughtering equipment, such as cones and a puller, for daily rental. Farms or community groups sometimes offer chicken culling workshops that give you hands-on experience and a chance to meet other chicken farmers.

Videos can walk you through every step of the process. This video demonstrates slaughtering with the loin and includes a helpful step-by-step evisceration guide. Here is a video demonstrating the disc with the cone.

The bottom line is, whether it’s learning from an expert or marathoning YouTube videos, take steps to make you feel confident and comfortable with the process. Calmness and confidence make for cleaner, more humane slaughter and easier evisceration.

Personally, I find killing chickens an uncomfortable but deeply important experience that reminds me to be grateful for everything I eat, and meat in particular.

Animal slaughter is not for everyone, however. Be honest with yourself about your limitations and ask for help when you need it.

The worst way I’ve ever seen an animal die – and as a hunter, angler and outdoor photographer I know how cruel nature can be – was when Boss, my rooster, died from a fly strike five years ago. Seeing maggots pour out of the near-dead Rhode Island Red Rooster legacy broke my heart.

At the time, I swore to myself that I would never again lose a chicken to this condition. Last year, Boss’ successor Don was also hit by a fly infestation. But this time, armed with knowledge, I acted quickly and he survived. If your birds are affected by this terrible affliction and you are prepared, your birds can survive too.

What is it

Fly sting, also known as myiasis or blowfly strike, can affect any animal, including humans. Botflies, blowflies and screw flies are among the culprits. Vet Paul Stewart, who runs the Avian and Exotic Pet Clinic in Roanoke, Virginia, says the condition usually stems from an underlying medical condition. For example, a chicken might have a wound, cut, diarrhea, swelling, some sort of cold or illness, or, in the most mundane of circumstances, just have damp poop clinging to its vent area. In all of these situations, flies can enter a body opening or wound and lay their eggs, and then, after hatching in 24 hours or less, maggots begin feeding on the skin or insides of a living animal.

When the condition struck Boss, I had not heard of it and was unaware of the symptoms. On a May evening, my alpha male seemed a bit listless; The next morning he came out of the chicken coop without crows and sat in a corner of the run. Boss’s much smaller brother, Johnny, then sauntered over and began pecking his head mercilessly. I later learned that such signs – lethargy, loss of appetite, bullying – are signs of a fly infestation and, for that matter, all kinds of chicken diseases.

After I removed Boss from the flock, I put him in our chicken tractor and left him food and water laced with probiotics. I checked it too, but couldn’t find anything wrong. The next morning my wife Elaine and I observed maggots pouring out of his orifice; a fly or flies had evidently laid eggs in the damp droppings clinging to this spot. About thirty minutes later, Boss died.

“Flystrike is more of an occasional disease,” says Stewart. “Flies will take advantage of a sick or weakened chicken in any way. A high percentage of the time flies lay their eggs in organic material such as feces. In short, flies will find that weak spot or wound and take advantage of it.”

prevention defense

Preventative measures include applying poultry dust regularly, keeping the run clean, and planting a variety of fly repellent herbs. For example, myiasis is primarily a warm season disease so I now regularly check our chickens from spring through fall for irritation anywhere on their bodies and also for droppings of faeces dangling from their vents. Even chicks with doughy butts can fall prey to fly infestation. Also, Elaine and I apply a fowl dust to the feathers about once a month, especially in the summer, working it especially under the wings.

Poultry dust brands typically contain permethrin as the main ingredient. Permethrin is a synthetic substance derived from pyrethrin, a natural insect repellent found in chrysanthemums. It is EPA approved and has long been known to repel many types of biting or stinging insects.

Bud Wood, owner of the Murray McMurray Hatchery in Webster City, Iowa, says some chicken farmers may avoid using poultry dust products because they’re essentially an insecticide. As an alternative, Wood suggests that backyard breeders bathe their birds with soap or dishwashing liquid, which makes it much harder for the creatures to cling to feathers. If maggots are present, chicken keepers can remove them by hand, although of course this would take time when there are thousands of maggots present.

A prudent preventative measure is to place a dust container in a barrel filled with equal parts wood ash and diatomaceous earth. During our weekly coup clean, Elaine and I remove all soiled bedding and sweep the chicken coop, sprinkle with fresh straw, and then spray insecticide on all walls, perches, and nest boxes. We then blow little clouds of diatomaceous earth over everything inside. Another measure is to regularly rake up the droppings in the barn and place the manure in a compost bin.

Finally, have a chicken first aid kit on hand consisting of items such as poultry dust, petroleum jelly, ointments, insecticides, diatomaceous earth and Blu-Kote (antiseptic wound dressing that helps prevent “picking”) and other ointments.

“Just like people sometimes need an emergency

first aid, chickens too; and we may not have time to run to a store to buy something,” says Wood.

I also planted a number of fly repellent plants in the run after Don’s fly swatting episode. Of course, these plants didn’t get rid of all flies, but they seem to help. Possibilities include lemon balm, lavender, and basil. Wood also suggests putting fly strips or traps in the chicken coop.

Timing is crucial

Immediate treatment is essential for fly infestations. In Don’s situation, for example, he seemed to spend an unusual amount of time on a Friday afternoon preening, which I believe must have been the maggots’ first hatch. The next day before dawn I hadn’t heard him crow all morning, which in itself was a cause for concern. When I opened the chicken coop, our rooster was sitting in a nest box instead of on his usual perch. I picked him up and saw about half a dozen newly hatched maggots squirming in the straw beneath him. I took him out of the way immediately.

“You should definitely separate a chicken from your flock in this situation,” says Wood. “Chickens are very cannibalistic and will all peck at a bird they think is weakened. A severed chicken will also heal much faster than if left with its flock.”

I then put Don in the driveway and ran to get the fowl dust, which I put on his feathers and cloaca. Immediately, thousands of maggots began to fall from the tap, landing in the driveway, writhing in their death spasms. Don was stumbling on the sidewalk as the maggots jumped off him. In the basement I built a miniature chicken hospital – for us, that’s a green, thatched tarp surrounded by a childproof fence and privacy screen. I also provided some food and water.

Don spent most of Saturday sitting in a corner, but occasionally ate and drank – an encouraging sign. Elaine and I additionally sprayed his body with Vetericyn, again focusing on the area of ​​ventilation, which is designed to help chickens recover from pimples, abrasions, irritation and injuries. We also added electrolytes to his water.

On Sunday, Don got a little more active. As dawn broke on Monday, we heard two gentle crows – a sure sign he was on the road to recovery. Tuesday brought stronger crowing, and by Friday he had returned to his flock.

An alpha rooster like Don is more likely to repel these attacks – and recover sooner – than a rooster, chick, or subordinate hen. By all means, make sure your bird is fully cured before returning it to the flock.

Protect the rest of your herd

Once I treated Don with poultry dust and locked him in his chicken hospital, I returned to the chicken coop and began the deep cleaning. I applied poultry dust to all of Don’s hens and examined each of them thoroughly, looking especially for abrasions and damp droppings dangling from their vents.

To my relief, I found that none of the other birds were sick. I then cleaned the house as previously described and raked the run of all droppings. Wood emphasizes that thorough cleaning is essential after a fly attack.

Fly bite is an insidious disease that can attack our chickens or any animal. In fact, a good friend lost his elderly dog ​​to a blowfly attack. I hope my experiences will help you protect your flock.

This story originally appeared in the July/August 2018 issue of Chickens Magazine.

More chickens are raised and killed for food than all other land animals combined. McDonald’s alone kills hundreds of millions of chickens for its US restaurants every year. But if more people knew that chickens are complex creatures that feel pain and suffering, they might think twice before eating another nugget.

Here are 10 surprising facts about chickens:

1. Chickens can distinguish more than 100 faces of their kind. It looks like elephants aren’t the only ones with great memories.

2. Chickens know who’s boss – they form complex social structures known as “pecking orders,” and each chicken knows his or her place on the social ladder.

3. Chickens have full color vision – no color blindness here!

4. Who likes to sunbathe? Apparently everyone – humans, cats, dogs and even chickens! You can’t blame them and they don’t even need sunscreen.

5. Chickens are real sleeping beauties – they experience REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, which means they dream just like us.

6. Chickens have pain receptors that give them the ability to feel pain and distress. Put yourself in the shoes (or the feathers) of one battery – or 452 million of them, and that’s how many are used for their eggs each year.

7. Hens defend their young from predators. Seems like calling someone a “chicken” is actually a compliment!

8. Who needs pepper spray? Chickens have more than 30 types of vocalizations to distinguish between threats.

9. Chickens are just like human mothers who talk to their babies in the womb — a mother hen begins teaching her chicks to call before they even hatch.

10. Last but not least, chickens are adorable – see for yourself!

Feeling inspired? Learn more fascinating facts and read more inspiring stories about chickens and other animals in the bestselling book Animalkind.

Help us spread the word about how interesting chickens are by sharing them with your family and friends on Facebook and Twitter. If you haven’t already, join our action team to find out how you can do more for chickens (and for all animals!).

YVCipedia AVIAN

POULTRY EUTHANASIA IN OUR HOSPITAL

At YVC, we euthanize birds by first administering a gas anesthetic. Within a few seconds to a minute or two, the bird falls asleep, and then we give an injection of the same drug we use to put dogs and cats to sleep. This is the most peaceful and humane euthanasia process possible. For pets other than dogs and cats, we do not offer the option for the owner to be present at the euthanasia. We bring the bird to our treatment area where it will be anesthetized and euthanized. Owners then have the option of seeing their deceased pet, bringing the remains home for burial, or leaving the remains for cremation. Cremation can be either private (the pet is cremated themselves and the ashes are returned to the owner) or non-private (the pet is cremated with other pets and the ashes are not returned). BY THE OWNER

Occasionally chicken owners ask us how to euthanize their chicken at home. The best method is cervical dislocation, which involves stretching the neck to fracture the spine and spinal cord. Done correctly, it will result in instant death. Hold both feet firmly with one hand. With the other hand, grasp the head as if gripping a small ball tightly, with the thumb behind the crest and fingers under the beak. Tighten. After successful dislocation, there is usually several seconds to a minute of vigorous wing flapping. Cervical dislocation can also be performed with a broomstick. This is demonstrated in about 1 minute of the following video: https://youtu.be/jtC-KlXyyvg Yarmouth Vet Center

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What is this article anyway. I wouldn’t care except BYC FEATURED this?

Freezing and asphyxiation are NOT a humane method of euthanasia for ANY animal over a handful of ounces. This may be humane for very small birds that are not yet feathered, but PLEASE don’t even try this for young birds! You will be in severe pain for many long minutes, possibly hours in the case of frostbite. Freezing will make it worse during suffocation as they breathe slower and need less air as they suffocate slowly and painfully. This is NOT okay, and in fact, in many cases, you can end up with animal cruelty charges against you if the wrong people find out. Choking a chicken is exactly the same physical process and sensations as drowning a rabbit or throwing a bag full of kittens into a river. It’s not okay and it’s NOT human! It’s slow, painful and illegal! And apparently BYC featured an article recommending it. Why???

CO2 euthanasia can also be tricky. Larger animals often panic when euthanized in this way, as the CO2 does not always render them unconscious until they begin to experience the pain of CO2 poisoning, at which point the animal slowly and agonizingly dies again. CO2 poisoning is painful if they’re not already knocked out, and the larger the animal, the slower they’ll faint. You may panic and knock over the container or injure yourself. This is especially true if the container is not completely airtight. A little bit of CO2 will not kill a bird or fill a container big enough to hold a bird. 1C vinegar reacts with about 1.5 tablespoons to 1.2 gallons of CO2, slightly more than a jug of milk. You need to use lots of baking soda and vinegar to generate enough CO2 to safely fill a chamber big enough for a chicken. Not even saying how much you need is irresponsible, and using a reasonable minimum amount is SO important to humane euthanasia!

The AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) only approves the use of CO2 for euthanasia in SMALL animals, including amphibians, birds, reptiles, rodents and other small mammals weighing less than 1 kg. Most chickens will easily exceed this recommended size, and there are many horror stories of animals larger than 2 pounds suffering terribly in CO2 chambers. They do NOT always pass out before they start feeling the pain. I have a friend who works in a research lab and makes his living from CO2 animals. Some of the rats they use grow big enough that in PROFESSIONAL gas chambers they panic before knocking them unconscious and it takes more than 30 minutes to completely euthanize a rat this way. Chickens are much bigger. Consider this seriously.

The drugs will kill your chicken quickly, but it will feel pretty lousy while it’s happening. Please also consider the environmental impact of the drugs you use for euthanasia. These things enter our water systems when you intend to bury the bird. You also cannot allow this bird to be eaten by other animals. It…

The seller is right about one thing: hanging the birds upside down can help tame them, but that’s a cruel way to do it. The reason it helps is so the birds get used to being treated.

I personally don’t find it necessary to tame my chickens. I leave it up to them how much they want to interact with me. Some of my chickens want me to hold them all day and some want me not to touch them at all and that’s fine. This is the most respectful way to deal with them.

Another approach is to use positive training methods (like you would when training a dog).

Put some wet food in a small, shallow bowl (chickens love wet food) and hold it out so your chicken can peck. If your chicken won’t approach, first place the bowl on the ground and you can sit as close to it as your chicken will allow. Over time, if your chicken will allow, move closer to the bowl. Eventually, you should be able to hold the bowl with your arm outstretched. Pull the bowl closer if your chicken will allow it. Eventually, you should be able to sit and hold the bowl across your lap so your chicken has to crawl onto yours to take a bite. Work on gently touching and then stroking your chicken if she allows you while she is on your lap. Continue to wrap your arms around her and eventually lift her as she allows.

This training exercise can last for days, weeks, or months depending on how often you do it and how anxious your chicken is. If you can, do several very short workouts throughout the day.

If you feel this is too time consuming and you need to tame your chickens, you can simply pick them up and hold them each day until they act like they are calm. Start with short periods of time and then gradually increase the holding time and the number of times you hold them per day until they are tame.

You can even give them a small treat when they’re keeping quiet so they can start associating holding on with a reward.

Sex determination of chicks based on their reactions when held upside down

Many farmers say if you hang your young chickens upside down you can tell their sex. A man will attempt to sit up while a woman remains calm. This is a myth. I even had a rancher tell me the complete opposite – the females fight, the males don’t. Also untrue.

Others make similar claims about forcing a young chicken onto its back. They claim that females raise their legs while males extend them. I wouldn’t be surprised if others out there claim the opposite. All of these things are wrong. As hard as the wait is, only time will tell if your hens are roosters or hens.

Hold aggressive roosters upside down to show dominance

Perhaps one of the most common reasons people hang their chickens upside down is that they do it to “discipline” their roosters. I know one woman who does this pre-emptively — she wears her roosters inside out while doing chores. She said this shows them who is dominant and prevents them from ever becoming aggressive.

Others will hang their roosters upside down if they show any aggressive behavior. They think this shows their roosters who’s boss. They do this until they are very still and then let go. That’s a cruel way of working with roosters. The idea of ​​a “pecking order” relationship between you and your roosters, in which one of you is dominant and the other is submissive, is dead wrong (more on that in an upcoming post).

Rooster aggression is far too big a topic to discuss here and I will be making a number of posts about it in the future. In the meantime, the Backyard Chicken Talk website is an excellent resource. This page was written by an academic who runs a chicken sanctuary. She has excellent information on how to fix rooster problems and learn how to bond with your roosters.

Hold chickens upside down for slaughter

Many, perhaps most, homesteaders or backyard chicken keepers who raise chickens for slaughter use a killing cone or hang their chickens upside down by a string tied around their ankles. Then they cut off the throat or head of the upside down chicken.

This topic is covered in another post that is entirely about slaughter methods, but you can see that there are major ethical considerations when using an upside-down chicken killing method.

And finally, keep chickens upside down for entertainment

Some people, especially children, hold their chickens upside down because they think it’s funny. They don’t understand what the experience is like for their chickens or the dangers involved. Parents can even encourage it. Here is an example from YouTube categorized as “Comedy”.

WIN initiative via Getty Images

About 9 billion chickens are slaughtered for food each year in the United States, and according to the poultry industry, each of these sentient animals is mercifully stunned to the point of unconsciousness before having its throat slit open by an industrial blade.

But scientists have come to a far more dire conclusion. Her research shows that US poultry processors’ preferred method of stunning birds – moving them through a vat of electrified water – does not consistently desensitize the birds before slaughter.

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Scientists say the untold numbers of chickens we eat – hundreds of millions of them and possibly many more – are likely to suffer intense suffering if they are slaughtered.

Brain activity suggests these animals may first experience pain when receiving a debilitating electric shock that induces tonic muscle seizures, and then when their throats are pressed against a sharp blade.

The extent of the suffering is almost certainly enormous. If just 1 percent of the chickens raised in the US each year are not effectively stunned, that means approximately 90 million animals will die violently and painfully. That’s more than the total number of dogs kept as pets in this country.

Unlike in Europe, there are practically no regulations on the humane slaughtering of chickens in the USA. Yet the country’s first major poultry producer, Perdue, under public pressure, pledged this year to phase out the use of electric water baths.

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Now animal rights groups are urging Perdue’s competitors, like Tyson Foods, and big US food service companies, like Aramark, to follow suit.

Immobilized chickens are shown exiting an electric water bath stunner. (Source: U.S. Poultry and Egg Association)

Researchers say that a properly calibrated electric water bath can reliably stun a large majority of birds that pass it. But the devil is in the details.

Each water bath has different power settings (for functions such as current, voltage, and frequency), and changing these settings involves major tradeoffs.

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Using a lower frequency charge increases the chance of stunning a bird, but it also increases the chance of damaging the bird’s carcass. Low-frequency shocks can trigger more intense muscle seizures, sometimes resulting in broken bones and ruptured blood vessels. The resulting meat may be too damaged or visually unappealing to sell.

As a result, US poultry companies with no animal welfare regulations use electric water bath settings aimed at producing the best quality meat and do not ensure chickens are reliably stunned.

In other words, they use higher frequency, lower voltage shocks that can leave birds paralyzed (allowing them to be flung around easily through the processing plant) but not always unconscious, according to an extensive record of published studies looking at brain activity Delivery of shocks at different settings.

Immobilized chickens have their throats cut with a commercial blade. Scientists believe many of them are conscious as it happens. (Source: U.S. Poultry and Egg Association)

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No one knows how many individual chickens raised in the US could be conscious while being slaughtered. Each processing plant uses its own water bath settings and none makes their settings public. Federal authorities do not record the settings, let alone the animals being unconscious before slaughter. Independent researchers say they are almost never allowed to set foot in commercial processing plants.

But scientists say the little that is known about standard US industry practices is cause for concern.

A review by Dr. Mohan Raj, the most-cited researcher on the subject and adviser to the European Union’s Food Safety Agency, concluded: “We are not aware of any direct evidence that the electrical settings used in the United States are appropriate to international standards for humane stunning and.” Fulfill slaughter of fowl.”

The co-author of this review, Dr. Sara Shields, who is now an animal welfare specialist for Humane Society International, told the Huffington Post that the settings used by US poultry companies “have not been shown to actually produce an effective stunning”.

Steve Wotton, a researcher at the University of Bristol’s School of Veterinary Sciences, one of the world’s leading centers for animal welfare research, said a similar thing. “The US settings that have been reported to me and read in published articles are far too low to stun.”

A spokesman for Tyson Foods, the largest US poultry processor, told HuffPost that “proper animal care is an important moral and ethical obligation and we take it very seriously.”

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But, he acknowledged, “like most of the industry, our facilities currently use low-voltage electrical stunning.” The company does not maintain electrical standard settings, he added, “due to plant-to-plant variability.”

Chickens experience a tonic seizure during the application of electrical stunning (in this footage, the stunning is administered by an electrified application to the head only, not a water bath). During a tonic seizure, “the bird’s body stiffens as muscles contract, neck arches, legs rigidly straightened, rhythmic breathing ceases, eyes wide open, and the blink reflex is absent.” Chickens on US poultry farms can be conscious during and after these seizures. (Image credit: TopKip)

Animal welfare researchers favor an alternative approach called “controlled atmosphere killing,” in which birds are exposed to steadily increasing concentrations of gas (typically carbon dioxide) until they irreversibly lose consciousness.

More than 20 per cent of chickens raised in Europe are already stunned using controlled atmosphere killing systems, including the majority of chickens in the UK and about half in Sweden, a shift that has not resulted in price increases for consumers, analysts said.

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According to animal researchers, even if electric stunning devices were perfectly effective, they would still be inferior because they involve several additional steps that can cause pain to the billions of birds processed each year.

To prepare for the water bath, the birds must first be removed from their shipping crates, an inelegant process that can result in broken bones and wings when chickens fall out of their crates.

Each bird is then placed upside down and tied with its legs to a metal band. Almost every aspect of this process causes stress and pain to animals, studies have found.

Unlike humans, chickens don’t have a diaphragm, so when turned over, their intestines compress the heart and lungs. Chickens also have pain receptors in their legs, and studies show that the bondage process causes bruising of the thigh muscles and damage to their legs.

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Chickens are turned over and tied onto a conveyor belt. (Source: U.S. Poultry and Egg Association)

Disoriented and in pain, about 90 percent of chickens flap their wings immediately after being tied up. Because the birds we eat are very young—just six weeks old on average—their joints and tendons are underdeveloped, so vigorous wing flapping can result in dislocated joints, fractured bones, and wing tip bleeding.

The flapping can also cause birds to receive painful pre-stun shocks if their wings touch the electrified water before their heads are submerged.

Footage of birds entering electric water baths is rare, but one such video posted online by a water bath manufacturer appears to show one or more ducks receiving pre-stun shocks when approaching an electrified bath. Warning: The footage may be uncomfortable for some viewers.

Some chickens manage to avoid being killed by both the water bath and the throat cutting, only to meet an arguably worse fate. The US Department of Agriculture estimates that each year hundreds of thousands of birds are unintentionally cooked alive because they manage to survive until they reach a tank of boiling water that helps loosen feathers from carcasses.

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Controlled atmosphere killing avoids virtually all of these problems since the birds are exposed to the gas while still in their transport crates and all subsequent steps are performed after they are dead.

Gas stunning systems also produce consistently excellent meat quality, and workers enjoy better conditions, according to analysts. You don’t have to handle live animals and you can work under normal lighting conditions (electric water bath facilities are dimmed to calm the birds).

Chickens make up well over 90 percent of the land animals slaughtered in the United States each year. The chickens sold as meat, known as broilers, spend their short lives bloating to immense proportions, more than six times their natural weight, the result of intense genetic selection.

Their underdeveloped bones often cannot handle the body’s mass, academic and industrial studies have found, leaving many with painful skeletal disorders, including deformed bones and bowed legs. Others hardly walk or just sit still.

Then, after six weeks of life, it’s off to the slaughterhouse.

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Perdue Farms, the fourth-largest US poultry company, told HuffPost that it plans to install a gas stunning system at one of its facilities by the end of 2017 and then set a timeline for rolling out its nine other processing facilities.

Nico Pitney is the editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post. tips? Feedback? Email to nico.pitney [at]

Meat eaters rarely think about how the animals they eat are raised and slaughtered, although buzzwords like “factory farming” and “animal welfare” occasionally creep through the news. According to the National Chicken Council, chickens are electronically stunned prior to slaughter, preventing the animals from feeling pain. Or so we thought.

A review by Dr. Mohan Raj, an adviser to the European Union’s Food Safety Agency and an expert on the issue of humane slaughter, told the Huffington Post that standard practices make it virtually impossible to ensure all chickens are effectively stunned unconscious.

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“We are not aware of any direct evidence that the electrical settings used in the United States are adequate to meet international standards for the humane stunning and slaughter of poultry,” Raj said in his review.

Of course, major chicken companies like Tyson deny these allegations, saying, “Handling animals properly is an important moral and ethical obligation, and we take it very seriously.” However, a spokesman for Tyson told the Huffington Post that there are no electrical hiring standards for the give entire companies.

Last year, Tyson had to drop a chicken supplier after a video showing animal abuse was released. This year Perdue introduced better and more humane living conditions for all of its chickens.

What not to feed your chickens

Chickens will peck and eat almost any food you give them. Their natural curiosity will lead them to forage around their coop for tasty morsels, pecking at plants, litter and anything that pleases them.

Because of this, it’s important to be aware of the plants growing in your garden and the waste you give your chickens. Some litter that you might assume to be perfectly safe for chickens, when in fact they could be harmful. For example, an apple seems like a treat for your chickens. However, what you may not know is that apple seeds contain cyanide.

Below we have compiled a list of foods and plants that are toxic to chickens. Also listed are foods unsuitable for chickens.

Foods toxic to chickens

Avocado skins and seeds are toxic to chickens. This can cause breathing and/or heart problems and possibly death

Raw or dried beans. These are dangerous to both humans and chickens, consumption will result in serious illness or death.

Raw green potato skins

Avoid feeding your chickens rhubarb or tomato plants

Chocolate. This is toxic to dogs and also to chickens

apple seeds. Feel free to feed your chickens apples, but don’t feed them apple seeds. Apple seeds contain cyanide which, if ingested, will deliver a potentially deadly dose of poison to your chickens.

apricot kernels and leaves

Chickens should not eat the following foods:

Food or kitchen waste with mold.

citrus fruits. Although these are not poisonous per se, they can impair egg production.

onions.

Mushrooms that grow randomly in the garden

Clippings from the lawn mower.

Plants and weeds that are poisonous to chickens

bracken

Azalea. These beautiful plants are poisonous to chickens when congested

lupine

oak trees

periwinkle

tulips

horseradish

ivy

rhododendron

hyacinth

hydrangea

Lantana

castor bean

thimble

apricot plants

Our feed recommendation for chickens

Chickens need a diet that keeps them in optimal condition. Just like human diets, the food they eat ultimately affects their egg production, immune system, and stress levels.

In our article What to Feed Backyard Chickens and Hens, we discuss how a hen is very similar to a toddler. If you give a toddler treats and nutritious food at mealtimes, they will most likely leave the nutritious food untouched. This is what a chicken will eat when offered a variety of foods, including pellets and kitchen scraps.

While kitchen scraps as a chicken meal might sound like a very healthy option, they’re actually more of a treat than a nutritious meal. We recommend giving your chickens only enough leftover food to eat within a few minutes and no more. For a balanced diet, a pellet feed provides a good mix of protein, carbohydrates and nutrients without giving the chicken a choice of what they would like to eat.

Other foods that are good for chickens include greens – hardy perennial weeds and plants that you can plant in and around your chicken coop, and tasty dried mealworms that are high in protein.

Also Read: Is My Chicken Overweight?

Remove any type of food bowl, water container, or toy from the coop. Take all the items you need to disinfect from the stall and give them a good rinse with a water hose to remove as much dirt and disease as possible. Depending on the size of the items, you might be able to submerge them in a tub of disinfectant; Let them soak for at least 30 minutes before removing them from the sanitizer and letting them dry completely. If your items are too large to be soaked in a tub, you can also spray them with disinfectant, being careful to completely cover the items with disinfectant. Leave the disinfectant on the items for at least 30 minutes, then rinse them off with your hose and let them dry. Once they have dried you can return them to the stable.

Veterinary advice should be sought from your local vet before using any treatment or vaccine. Not sure who to use? Search our directory for vets that specialize in poultry. Find me a vet

Other names: Brodifacoum Toxicity, Dicoumarol Toxicity, Warfarin Toxicity

Anticoagulants – Anticoagulants cause a sharp loss of vitamin K levels in the bird’s body. The severity depends on the amount of rat poison ingested by the bird and the toxicity of the individual product. Symptoms of poisoning do not appear immediately. It generally takes 3 to 7 days for chickens to show clinical signs after ingesting the venom. Early signs relate to internal bleeding, so they are often vague and may include weakness, lethargy, and lack or loss of appetite. The chicken can also be found dead without any clinical symptoms developing.

Anticoagulants cause a sharp drop in vitamin K levels in the bird’s body. The severity depends on the amount of rat poison ingested by the bird and the toxicity of the individual product. Symptoms of poisoning do not appear immediately. It generally takes 3 to 7 days for chickens to show clinical signs after ingesting the venom. Early signs relate to internal bleeding, so they are often vague and may include weakness, lethargy, and lack or loss of appetite. The chicken can also be found dead without any clinical symptoms developing. Bromethalin – Bromethalin baits are formulated in place packs and bars, like anticoagulants. Product brands include several including Trounce, Assault, and Vengeance. Clinical signs of toxicity are nervous system related and include muscle tremors, seizures, behavioral changes, ataxia, paresis and depression. If detected early (within 4 hours after suspected ingestion of the poison), the administration of activated charcoal can be useful. After 4 hours and once clinical symptoms have developed, treatment consists of therapy for the associated symptoms that develop and support. In mild cases, with good care and supportive care, the signs may resolve on their own within 2-4 days.

Bromethalin baits are formulated in place packs and bars, like anticoagulants. Product brands include several including Trounce, Assault, and Vengeance. Clinical signs of toxicity are nervous system related and include muscle tremors, seizures, behavioral changes, ataxia, paresis and depression. If detected early (within 4 hours after suspected ingestion of the poison), the administration of activated charcoal can be useful. After 4 hours and once clinical symptoms have developed, treatment consists of therapy for the associated symptoms that develop and support. In mild cases, with good care and supportive care, the signs may resolve on their own within 2-4 days. Cholecalciferol – Cholecalciferol is actually Vitamin D3. Commercial brands include Quintox, Rampage and Hyperkil. The severity of the poisoning depends on the dose and the age and sex of the bird. It causes severe hypercalcemia. With timely detection (within 4 hours after ingestion), activated charcoal can be beneficial. After four hours, aggressive treatment of the hypercalcemia and supportive care is required.

There are several types of commercial rodenticides, with anticoagulant, bromethalin and cholecalciferol being the most commonly used. Each type of rodenticide has a different effect on the bird and requires treatment that is specific to the type of rodenticide ingested. Because there are so many differences, it is important to obtain the trade name of the product, the generic active ingredient and the concentration of the active ingredient when rodenticide toxicity is suspected. The EPA registration number can also be used to accurately identify a rodenticide. In most cases, the color and formulation (blocks versus place packs) do not give an accurate indication of the type of rodenticide.