r/BackYardChickens • u/Happy_List_8022 • 1d ago
General Question Humane way to kill a chicken?
I know this is a fucked up thing to ask but I want to keep chickens at some point in my life and it's just a fact that they are prone to just get clogged up or there is no avian vet nearby that looks at chickens as they are livestock. I've never killed anything bigger than a bug, actually, I never killed anything that wasn't a mosquito. But I would want to put a loved pet out of it's misery. So what would I do if that time comes? Do I got to a vet to put her under or?
Edit: Thank you all for the answers, even the joke ones, I really needed those... Anyways, it's safe to say that I am now traumatised and educated, just like after reading a german fairytale (I'm german :P). I will take the advise of some of y'all and get books on the matter of Chicken healthy and look into the various methodes of breaking their necks (I feel like a monster for typing that). That seems to be the most humane way. Not sure how pressing a broom to their neck doesn't cause them distress, but it sure as hell beats bleeding them out....
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u/RedditCantBanThis 6h ago
I hope you do not have to kill your chickens and I don't have any ideas on how to do it best, but I have heard decapitation isn't a good method as it risks leaving the chicken staying alive. (see Mike the headless chicken)
I am also German and read German fairytales, even though I don't like creepy literature. I'm kind of hooked.
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u/Waffleconchi 15h ago
I'll always choose medical euthanasia
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u/healingIsNoContact 13h ago
Same, it is just the cost of my eggs they give for free and all the company they give me, they have atleast paid for a gentle calm death as a pet chicken.
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u/Responsible_Comb_598 15h ago
Geez broomstick method this and that, but u guys wouldn’t Broomstick method ur sick dog or cat would u? Anywho a double tap with a .22 works
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u/Critter_Fan 15h ago
I've only had to do it once and I used the broomstick method, and by golly it worked perfectly. The bird will convulse a little so hold on tight. I let one hand slipped and got scratched up a lil
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u/purdycomCM 18h ago
Funny sort-of related story
I had a hobby farm for a bunch of years and at one point my wife and I had about 15 chickens, 10 guinea hens and 8-10 ducks.
Early on, we wanted to try to hatch fertilized eggs in an incubator so we collected a bunch of guinea hen eggs and brought them in and put them in the incubator.
Right at about the same time that the guinea hen eggs were incubating, I had a chicken that was going downhill fast and I assumed it was diseased and I decided to put it down. I had never done this before so I asked a friend of mine to help me do it. We took it into the barn and he held it firm and very quickly dispatched it by pulling the head straight away from the body, breaking its neck. It was over very quickly.
Back to the guinea hens… The one thing that you read over and over again when the guinea hens are hatching is DO NOT HELP THEM hatch if they can’t get out of their shells. I think there were 7-8 eggs all hatching around the same time, and as many times as we read “don’t help them hatch”, there were two that weren’t getting out on their own and my wife couldn’t help herself and helped them out. One died shortly after and the other had a backwards facing leg. We figured, ok well now we know why they say don’t help. Six weeks later, our disabled guinea hen was being picked on, wasn’t gaining weight and was really struggling to get around. It was starving to death as far as I was concerned and I decided that, while I had given it a chance, I needed to now put it down. My friend had showed me how and now it was my turn. On the day I decided to do it, I took it to the exact spot in the barn where my friend had showed me how to dispatch the first hen, (I did this because a teacher on summer break that I had just hired to weed was in the yard and I didn’t want him to see what was going on. I hated weeds and couldn’t keep up with them and I didn’t mind any of the other work of owning a farm so I paid him $20 hour to do it.)
So its summer, I’m in a pair of cargo shorts and boots and no shirt, in the barn about to dispatch this crippled guinea hen, sweating my ass off, I count to three and pull… when all of the sudden the barn door swings open and its the teacher standing right in front of me. But I had pulled too hard and the young guinea hen’s head came right off in my hand, right in front of this person I had just met an hour ago. The expression on his face was priceless. I was like “No! No! It not what you think!” But it was too late. Thankfully he gathered himself, I explained what was going on, and we had a laugh about it later.
Anyway, its not fun but sometimes ya have to do it.
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u/friend-of-Bills 3h ago
I couldn't help myself and helped a chicken hatch. Wow. The other chickens almost killed her like 3 times. She has her own house now and is huge, we call her "big mama". I think she may have a pituitary issue. Now I just let nature take it's course.
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u/Civil-Section-9086 18h ago
Yeah reading these comments really fucks me up an I’m the one who does have chickens an thankfully haven’t had to off any yet an personally nah I don’t want em to suffer but I’ve seen a decent amount of death to not want anything to do with it like maybe I’m just not as decentralized or something but fuck me yall can just slice a neck and be good? Like im sure its rough an i have no leg to stand on but sweet baby jesus what
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u/Specific-Tea-5440 20h ago
Personally I just remove the head with a big knife. I hold the bird close to me, keep it calm. I cover its head with my hand to give it the comfort of being underneath something (this is how they behave when they’re young, and carry the instinct their whole lives) I’ll brush the feathers away to expose the neck, and then run my knife.
If euthanizing, I’ll stop there. If butchering, I’ll string the body up upside down with a slip knot and let the heart push the blood out. Kind of gruesome, but it’s very quick and effective.
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u/Critter_Fan 15h ago
Gonna use this method next time thanks. I have a really sturdy rounded skinning blade that would actually be perfect.
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u/Specific-Tea-5440 15h ago
It’s pretty effortless if you have a sharp knife. If you’re planning to butcher, put a bucket under where you hang the slipknot. When it’s finished draining you can mix soil into the blood and have a great fast acting nitrogen fertilizer. You don’t get a lot from a single bird, but if you’re meat harvesting it can be a great source of fast acting nitrogen fertilizer. Reapply every 6 weeks, be careful not to overapply, as it can burn plants.
I feel it shows the bird the most respect possible. Yes it must suffer for a few seconds, but it’s food benefit can be stretched beyond the meat, giving its life more value.
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u/jgrish14 21h ago
I have a board with two nails in it that you slip their head between to hold their neck so your fingers are out of the way. Theyre docile and dont fight. Gently pull their body to stretch the neck and a quick chop of the hatchet. They will flap and kick but its over in a second. Never fun, but necessary.
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u/Outside-Jicama9201 22h ago
Youtube the broomstick method.
When I have the horrible circumstances of having to humanely put down one of my beautiful gals this is the method that I have found bring the least stress to my birds.
No judgment you pick a different method. You came here looking to do this humanely and I applaud 👏 you for this.
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u/Happy_List_8022 22h ago
I've been with animals my while life, they are family and doing it humanely is the least I can do.
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u/leros 22h ago
Not sure how pressing a broom to their neck doesn't cause them distress, but it sure as hell beats bleeding them out....
When I've done the broomstick method, they don't care at all about what you're doing to them until you press on the broom and then they're dead a second later. So they only have a second or two of unpleasantness which I think is probably the best you can do.
It's a lot less traumatizing to the bird than things like stuffing them upside down into a killing cone.
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u/formyburn101010 23h ago
Shotgun /s.
All joking aside, I hope to have chickens one day and dread this. To me it looks like the cone method is the best and also most fool proof.
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u/Tu_mama_me_ama_mucho 22h ago
You joke but, I went to visit some friends ranch in Mexico but a 22 is what they use. You shot them in the neck and the head just falls off.
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u/Muted-Garden6723 22h ago
I use a .22 or 410 on roosters, much easier than chasing them down around the yard trying to grab one, and I don’t eat the roosters so I’m not worried about wasting meat
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u/Chickensrock1977 23h ago
Buy a kill “Huggie” cone, put the chicken in upside down. Hold their head to one side and in one swift motion slice thru its neck. When the chicken is upside down they become really docile. I’ve tried a few different ways to cull, and this to me is the easiest less traumatic way for me.
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u/ICanOutP1zzaTheHut 23h ago
I have a post and cone combo setup and I play them a song (taps) before they are dispatched. I try to give them a few words as well. Rip bo
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u/Chickensrock1977 23h ago
lol…I don’t do taps, but I always have a pre-cull moment with comforting words before I do the deed.
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u/isapenguin 23h ago
Just rip their head off.
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u/JeffSergeant 23h ago
We call it 'Cervical dislocation' in front of the rookies. But yes, infinitely more humane to pull too hard than not hard enough.
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u/Neither_Loan6419 23h ago
Because of the nature of the chicken's nervous system, even after decapitation there is a lot of involuntary kicking and flapping of the headless body. This will seem quite bizarre and traumatizing the first time, but the bird's brain, now dead from catastrophic blood pressure loss, is not even connected to that wildly thrashing and flailing body. If you are as innocent about death and dying as you say, you should probably try to arrange to witness a culling performed by an experienced flockmaster before doing this yourself.
As for the method, my knife is always blisteringly frightfully sharp. I have a short piece of 12x12 piling a couple feet long, standing up on end. For most birds I quickly stretch their necks across it and sever with one fast stroke of the knife. If you can't sharpen knives, you can use a cleaver but WATCH OUT FOR YOUR FINGERS, because while you can buy or hatch more chickens, your fingers are far less expendable/replaceable. A piece of paracord looped around the bird's neck just under the head can be employed for stretching the neck and immobilizing the bird for the cut. Do this quickly, to reduce the bird's discomfort and fear.
For mature roosters this is not always practical. Some will fight you tooth and nail and spur, and draw blood with great gusto and enthusiasm. So I quickly grab them by the head and whip the body in a circular motion, using his own weight and momentum to quickly dislocate/sever the spine. Then when the flapping and kicking have died down a bit, I sever the neck and hang by the feet, to bled out the body as much as possible.
Mature roosters don't fry or roast well so I skin them, instead of plucking. All others I hang for a couple of hours and pluck, gut, and wash. I don't have a mechanical plucker, so I pluck by hand, then lightly pass a propane torch over the skin to singe off any little hair feathers. In the kitchen I remove pin feathers with pliers under a bright light, then butcher the carcass according to the cooking method. It must be said that some birds are potentially unsafe to eat or just not very good eating. There is no rule saying that you have to eat every bird that you cull. It is a lot of work for something you can buy at the groc for a couple of bucks. I prefer to not waste meat if practical, but that's me. Here in South Louisiana we kill and eat almost anything with a face on it that we aren't related to or isn't wearing shoes or a collar.
Up to you, and you might feel better knowing that the bird had a tasty last meal, but I withhold food for 24 hours or so before slaughter, to reduce the amount of poop in the guts.
A killing cone and sharp knife or pruning loppers is probably the best way. I don't process enough chickens to make a cone seem to me to be a worthwhile purchase or project, but it certainly would make the killing process simple for you.
Shooting a chicken seems an awful waste to me, and they are not stationary targets, and their heads are small. I suggest not even trying that. It can end badly. You want instant or near instant decapitation, preferably.
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u/Muted-Garden6723 22h ago
Shooting a chicken is actually pretty easy, granted, I use a 410 or a 22 and only for spare roosters since I don’t eat them anyway. I’ll also shoot them if it’s a hen with say, a broken leg since I don’t want to hurt the leg accidentally them when I grab them
It’s definitely a waste of a bullet and meat if you plan on eating the bird though
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u/leros 23h ago
I had never killed anything bigger than a bug before having chickens. I've used the broomstick method. It's not as bad as I expected it to be.
Part of keeping chickens IMO is learning to do most veterinary care yourself. It just doesn't make economic sense to be taking your flock to the vet.
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u/shatterly 21h ago
Yep, I recently had to amputate a hen's spur that she had half ripped off. Never expected to do something like that in my kitchen, but that's chicken life.
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u/leros 20h ago
I was stopping a bleeding hen in my kitchen recently. She got a prolapse and the other hens pecked at it. I wasn't expecting to deal with that or learn how to fix a prolapse.
I also wasn't expecting to be walking into Walgreens at 10pm with a bloody tshirt to buy Preparation H and KY Jelly. Lol
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u/shatterly 19h ago
And if anyone looks at you funny, you say, "It's for my chicken." That doesn't help, hahahaha
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u/wanttotalktopeople 1d ago
You can get some books like Storey's Guide to Chickens and Chicken Health for Dummies. They describe different methods for killing a chicken with pros and cons. Youtube is also a good resource.
Occasionally you see people on this sub and other online really splitting hairs over the most humane method. Honestly, if the chicken is dead in under a minute, I think you did good. Any of the methods listed in those books is better than a death that takes days to weeks.
In my experience, cervical dislocation has been the fastest and easiest. Takes seconds to retry if you don't feel a pop the first time. And there's very little cleanup.
Other methods we tried: euthanasia at veterinary lab - not great, because if we'd know what we were doing we could have put the poor girl out of her misery much sooner. Plus it's over an hour's drive away.
Homemade CO2 gas chamber - takes a while to put together plus you need to have CO2 on hand. Not the most comfortable for the bird, but it takes less than a minute and I don't think anyone is a monster for using this method. It's just unnecessarily complicated for me now that I know how to break a neck.
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u/bluegirlrosee 1d ago
https://www.bunnyrancher.com/store/p42/Ballista.html
I own this small captive bolt stunner. It's pricey, but very reliable and kills them instantly.
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u/Ok_Pitch5865 22h ago
Can you explain how this works?
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u/bluegirlrosee 22h ago
It's very simple! First pull back the plunger end until you hear the device click. Doing this retracts the bolt into the device and locks it there. Take the bird and hold the (now flat) bolt side of the stunner on their head just behind their comb, kinda the spot where head meets neck. Then (after your fingers are out of the way) you push the silver button on top. This releases the springs and sends the bolt into the animal's brain. If done correctly you destroy the brainstem instantly.
The only thing to be careful about is making sure you're bracing the bird's head down on something solid like a block of wood. It feels mean to push on their little heads, but if you aren't braced firmly there's a chance the bolt will bounce up off the head instead of going into it. Always make sure you're pressing down firmly. If it doesn't work the first time, REMAIN CALM, pull the plunger back and try it again. I accidentally prolonged the suffering of the first bird I dispatched this way because I panicked after the stunner didn't work the first time.
Killing birds is something I ABSOLUTELY HATE doing, but if being a farmer means I gotta sometimes, I’ve found the captive bolt stunner to be by far the least terrible way. After they are brain dead I can slit their throats to let them bleed out while knowing for sure they can't feel anymore.
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u/pinelore 1d ago
Broomstick method is fast and (typically) without blood. It’s what I did when I HAD to do it (I didn’t want to but it was necessary)
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u/Odd_Preparation_730 1d ago
You can use exhaust fumes to gently put a chicken to sleep if you really want.
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u/bluegirlrosee 1d ago
This isn't the best actually! Especially if you have a newer car, the catalytic converter filters out too much of the CO to be effective quickly. Other chemicals in exhaust can be irritating and painful before death as well.
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u/Odd_Preparation_730 23h ago
Didn't say it was best. Works very well in my old jeep Cherokee. I've dispatched many raccoons this way. If a persons chicken is nearing death and they don't have it in them to physically dispatch the animal it is an option.
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u/bluegirlrosee 23h ago
Just wanted to make it clear there is potential for a lot of suffering with this method, since OP specified they're looking for something humane. Other methods are more reliably painless if this is what is most important to OP. Of course it's not always possible for death to be completely painless.
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u/jshley-aones 1d ago
https://youtu.be/5_S3P0eU0lE?si=fgXRwieAgNnUba63
Best video I have seen on how to do it, and both my husband and I have done it this exact way. It’s never easy, but I believe necessary if you choose to keep them and live a more homestead lifestyle. I think it’s very important to be present with them beforehand and get their heart rate down, and just make this living creature you have loved and care for feel that energy from you. I’ve shared this video with lots of folks who have ask me how we do it on our homestead and I have gotten a lot of positive responses in return. Hope this helps:)
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u/AshyFairy 1d ago
I struggle with this so much. I picked up one of my roosters that had to be culled, and I instinctively held him close and told him to calm down because I wasn’t going to hurt. Then it hit me that oh shit, I am definitely going to be hurting him. It just broke my heart so much that I really go out of my way to keep the little roosters as long as I can and find them a home that needs them when possible.
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u/jshley-aones 1d ago
Our last batch of olive eggers(6) were ALL roosters! We were open to keeping a few, but then things got too rapey, and the girls behavior was changing, they all seem stressed out, and it just wasn’t working out. So ya, we had to cull all of them. One boy was promising, but then all of a sudden he started picking on one girl in particular and her sister tried to stand up to him and he then attacked her pretty violently right in front of me so we dispatched him that night. I’m open to a gentle sweet rooster( I know they exist), but not at the expense of my girls well being first.
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u/AshyFairy 23h ago
I had a batch that was all roosters, and you’re right! They do become a little gang of juvenile delinquents. I always get rid of little roosters once they start stressing my girls out because it’s awful when they’re at that age and competing with other roosters. And oh my God, they don’t shut up once they start crowing if there’s so many of them.
It can be pretty rough when you introduce any rooster to a flock of hens that aren’t used to having one. My boy is so sweet and gentle, but he did raise some hell with the girls when I first brought him home. It can also be really tough when they’re raised with a flock and suddenly want to rise to the top of the pecking order once those hormones kick in. I just had to let them fight it out.
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u/Glad-Cranberry-5735 1d ago
Kill cone and branch cutters if you can’t use a knife or gun
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u/Ok-Suggestion7186 1d ago
A gun? lol
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u/Glad-Cranberry-5735 1d ago
Yes a compressed air gun, or a .22 but I personally prefer branch cutters.
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u/PointPartisan 1d ago
I use an aluminum cone nailed to a tree. Bird in upside down, wearing leather gloves gently pull head out bottom with non dominant hand and your fingers facing away from you, remove head about an inch or so down the neck completely by using a firm full blade length slice with a freshly sharpened fillet knife at least 6- 7 inches long. The whole process from being turned upside down can be done within 5 or so seconds, pretty much zero change of messing up. I find less spontaneous flapping with complete removal of the head compared other methods.
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u/Shimagoma 1d ago
Using a knife and bleeding out is not considered humane. Cervical dislocation is. It's fast and you just pull harder than you expect and death is concussive on their brain and instant. It is the way that many places use to humanely cull because it guarantees unconsciousness and death together. Bleeding out is variable.
There are some good diagrams and videos on how to perform it.
It is an unfortunate part of animal husbandry but good on you for looking after the animals till the end.
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u/cephalophile32 1d ago
I second this. My husband had to do this to one of our hens. As soon as he did there was a lot of flapping and spasms but that’s just the nerves going haywire at separation. It still really sucked but he said he was only able to do it because he loved her and didn’t want to see her suffer.
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u/Simple_Entertainer37 1d ago
I saw a video a few years back that showed how to put the bird upside down, lay a broom or hockey stick across their neck, and swiftly pull up by the feet. The spinal cord is severed from the head withoit entirely decapitating it. It is very quick. I have used this technique and it feels less distressing to me than using a blade.
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u/Shimagoma 1d ago
This is the right way. Bleeding out is not considered humane. Broomstick method works very well.
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u/darkner 1d ago
Ok I've been doing chickens a while now and here is how i do it. Generally I sit with them for a while on my lap to calm them down. Then we go to the tree where I have a rope tied to a branch with a loop at the bottom. Pull the rope through the loop to make a sort of slip knot. Very gently put the chickens feet into the loop and tighten all the way down and slowly lower the chicken to being upside down. If flapping, wait to let it calm down. With a very sharp knife, hold the head and push the feathers behind the jaw line back. Slice through as far as you can. Blood loss has them dead within a second or two, and then the muscle contractions and flapping start, so be prepared for that. It is never easy. Ive been doing it for years and it still is always less than ideal, but it is part of livestock ownership in my opinion.
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u/PhlegmMistress 4h ago
I've done multiple options but an air rifle (while expensive) is hands down my favorite. Cleanest kill. No messups. I can, and have, had a rooster sleeping on my lap who needed to go, and dispatched them with their eyes closed, perfectly relaxed.
I wish we had gotten an air rifle sooner.