can i ask something

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karminski

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but i dont want this post to go all wrong i just want to ask other poultry keepers about something i was told about this afternoon ,

is it illegal to chop the heads of chickens as a way of culling them ?? i was told that its illegal :-)05 :-)05 but i havent read anywhere that says it is.
 
It has to be as painless as possible Karminski. So hanging it upside down and cutting its throat allowing it to bleed to death would be illegal. The usual way is to stun electrically and then cut the throat. Also allowed would be a shot to the head or broken kneck. The fastest way has to be to cut the head off with one blow -two blows would be illegal. Think the problem there is blood all over the place unless you use the 'traffic cone' method. Who told you it was illegal ?
 
a guy on my allotment site { his son used to cull for me until he blamed me for passing on red mites to him } , i asked this guy if he could cull my 2 girls if need be as i could not get hold of another friend who lives down my road and he told me about this but i have read so much on the sites and never found anything saying it was illegal .
but seeing that my 2 looked very slighty better yesterday i decided to give them a chance with A/Bs and so far so good it does look like they may just make it anyway but if they do go down hill i wont have them suffer so i will let them go although i dont need to worry now as i have the number of the guy who lives down my road so i only need to text him and he will do the deed for me instead of calling on this guy from today { confusing i know } .

i had one culled like this about 2 weeks ago and it was one short sharp chop and job done no messing around no nothing which to me seems a better way of doing it then risking breaking the necks if you dont quite know how to do it properly , the guy who done this is used to culling small animals and he really seems to know his stuff and bless him he says a little pray to them first which i think is sweet .i dotn like any means of culling but i get moaned at like hell if i say i have taken them to the vet to be p.t.s as it costs so much but i also know that i need to toughen up a little about the ways and means of culling as in the words of my very good farmer friend ' livestock means dead stock ' yes my girls are treated aspets and get everything they need but seeing them are they to give me food i do class them as livestoock .
no way would they ever have thier thoats cut and left to bleed to death yikssssssssssssssss nopeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee who could do it that way
 
Culling birds or even employing the support of others would still be the owners responsibility. Although there are various methods available, most are not recommended unless the person is experienced/and or qualified for reasons of animal welfare. Methods that use crushing..are not recommended. Decapitation is only acceptable when there are no alternative options and it is an emergency situation.

It might be an idea to look for a course on how to cull correctly run by an experienced poultry keeper who is a qualified in animal slaughter or consult your vet for advice. At the end of the day we owe it to our birds to either 1. Treat by a vet or 2.Cull humanely when they are ill.
 
The danger of crushing is that if the machine jaws are not set properly all you do is break the neck and suffocate them. When the verterbrae are crushed they must shatter and cut the spinal column. The point of a crusher is that you don't get blood everywhere. But every chicken is different and I always set ours on the tight side so invariably there is some blood. I am warming to the .22 pellet to the brain method, using a traffic cone perhaps (which normally employs branch loppers to take the head off).
 
i am no where near expereicned as you well know foxy which is why i am carefull in who i ask , i know these people do shooting etc so they must be licenced in some way to be able to use firearms of any kind but as for the culling of animals i think they just know from many years of doing it { they also have produce thier won birds for meat } beleive me if there was any chance of my girls suffering more when it came to someone culling them then i would be straight to the vet with them to be p.t.s by them , i was just shocked when he told me but of course by asking on here there i can get to know the facts by people who know a whole lot more the me .
 
You can get a .22 pre-charged pistol at the legal limit (5.9 ft lbs) for £80 plus gas canisters. Crossman PCP ratter which we use only for the humane despatch of rats caught in traps, as drowning is illegal and most poisons will be banned in 2014 anyway. You don't need a licence but it must be locked away if anyone under 18 is on the same site at any time (new law).
 
karminski said:
i am no where near expereicned as you well know foxy which is why i am carefull in who i ask , i know these people do shooting etc so they must be licenced in some way to be able to use firearms of any kind but as for the culling of animals i think they just know from many years of doing it { they also have produce thier won birds for meat } beleive me if there was any chance of my girls suffering more when it came to someone culling them then i would be straight to the vet with them to be p.t.s by them , i was just shocked when he told me but of course by asking on here there i can get to know the facts by people who know a whole lot more the me .
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I am so sorry Looby. I didn't mean to infer you were abdicating responsibility...I know you care deeply about your birds and have a lovely set for them. We just have to be a bit careful when giving advice on such a sensitive subject. I sincerely hope I didn't offend you x
 
Neck dislocation is the quickest, simplest, most humane and least complicated means of Culling. It is easy to learn and doesnt involve the mess of decapitation or the risk of missing in shooting or beheading. Death is instantaneous, For larger chickens, Ducks Geese or Turkeys the same method can still be perfectly effectively employed by utilising a Broom Handle, held over the top of the bird's neck, and weighted down by your feet as the dislocation lever, allowing both hands to exert full force for a quick and painless conclusion.
 
sorry back now been on netflix { am addicted to it } foxy hunny you didnt a offend you never could as i truly trust in you :-)17 , my farmer friend has told me of the broom method and i think its what he does but i do know its something that i could never do i am not strong enough in mind to cope with it and not afraid to admit that :lol: even though it makes me sound like a wimp .
chris i would not know the slightest things about firearms etc etc i just leave that up to other people if its thier thing but i do know that the guy who told me about this his son used that method when he has culled for me in the past but those birds really did go down hill fast .
 
I used the broomstick method. Watched a video about 10 times, only did it in desperation on Xmas eve with a hen who appeared to be drowning in fluid from lungs, was fine all day, apart from.a little cough and sneeze, and I mean little, popped her in the poorly cage, and she went downhill so fast, was on her side eyes flickering and gurgling when breathing. I made the decision to cull, using the broomstick method, because I couldn't get a vet on Xmas eve :(
It was quick and stress free, for me and the bird. Poor Florence :-(
For you interest look it up on YouTube. I found it on this or another poultry forum.
 
As long as you can find someone who is confident and experienced, head chop and neck dislocation are OK. Air guns should not be used unless very experienced and I could envisage that causing a great deal of suffering.
 
will have to find out where this guy read it from as he told me his son found it on the internet , i am lucky to have found this guy from down my road hes very confident and doesnt hang around its job done instant .
i suppose everyone is different on how they cull thier birds thing is i read about i have watched the vids etc etc but i still aint strong enough to do it but i know it has to be done , i walk out to the run telling myself i can do it blah blah get to the run pick up the poor bird then thats it i crumble i know as i tried it once very late at night and walked back 2 mins later crying my eyes out saying to mum i cant do it .
 
I don't know if our method would be easier for you Karminski but this is what we do. We take one of our birds, put a sock over its head and wrap a towel round its wings and body. I hold them like this for a while so they are calm and then pop their neck in a wall mounted dispatcher. I hold the bird and my OH pulls the lever while I close my eyes. It's all over in an instant and having the sock over their heads helps me as well as the chicken.
 
karminski said:
will have to find out where this guy read it from as he told me his son found it on the internet , i am lucky to have found this guy from down my road hes very confident and doesnt hang around its job done instant .
i suppose everyone is different on how they cull thier birds thing is i read about i have watched the vids etc etc but i still aint strong enough to do it but i know it has to be done , i walk out to the run telling myself i can do it blah blah get to the run pick up the poor bird then thats it i crumble i know as i tried it once very late at night and walked back 2 mins later crying my eyes out saying to mum i cant do it .
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and there's no reason at all why you should have to, Karminski, it doesn't mean you're a wimp, lots of us (including me) are the same, especially when you only have a few cherished pet birds that you know personally. It's different for people who have lots of birds in larger flocks, with no names, that are being raised for meat or mainly for egg production, where economics come into it. Folk like you and me, with a few birds in the garden, have a different attitude, and neither of them is 'right' or 'wrong' just different to fit different circumstances. But we do have to decide what's best for us, and our birds, when the crunch comes. I did it myself once, (RIP little Fuchsia, very upsetting) but now I've decided that if there is time, (eg if the hen is ill but not in great pain) it will be a trip to the vet to be PTS, for my sake as well as hers. If a dog or fox gets in and they are attacked, I would do it myself in an emergency, have broomstick ready. If like you I knew of someone who would do it reliably and safely for me, I would ask them to do it, but I would be there, so I would know it went OK for the bird. (Just as I did when I had to have my pony put down, which was very distressing but I knew he was OK.) I've accepted that I shall sometimes have to cull some of my quail, as they are often rather aggressive and injure each other, also if you breed quail you finish up with too many males, like with chickens, and have to deal with them. I have done the deed on two of them already, not pleasant but not in the same league as killing one of my chickens. But there again, I have too many quail to give them names, they are fascinating and lovely but not pets, and of course it's physically easier with such small birds.
 
I agree Marigold! don't beat yourself up over it karminski, it's not a pleasant job, but sadly one that needs to be done on occasion. I have culled countless birds over the years, and Still don't find it an 'easy' job. The decision is pretty much made for you with sick or ailing birds, but it's healthy surplus cockerels that I have the greatest problem with. I sell as many as I can as part of breeding pairs/trios, then end up trying to give the rest away to fanciers who might be able to make use of them. Inevitably what's left has to go.Once culled, the Smaller males I give to a friend who is a falconer/ferreter, the larger males I have taken to eating myself!
 
Karminski, don't worry, I'm even worse than you. I won't ever breed because there is absolutely no way I could kill a healthy bird if it was male and little fluffy chicks NO WAY!!!!! If possible I will always take them to the vet to be PTS, but in an emergency a friend up the road would do it for me (even he can't do it for his own birds, but does it for birds he doesn't know!)
 
thankyou guys you have made me feel so much better just talking about this to fellow peeps :D :D . the girl who had sour crop has come though good and poos are almost back to normal but the other one although shes eating and drinking and is happy in herself and has a bright comb till has pretty deep laboured breathing shes the one i am stuck with ?do i keep her going or let her go i know the decision is all mine but this one is tricky . and dont talk to me about hatching as my little partridge bantam miss pringles has gone blinking broody but my poorly girls are in the quantine hutch/run so until they are sorted and back in with the others i am stuck with no where to put her but do i get some little hatching bantam eggs or do i just try and get her out of it doubt dad will let me use the garage again omggggggggggggggggggggg i so hate chickens :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


p.s kegs i like your method think i will try that the next time it happens might be easier all round for me and my friend as when he did it for me although he told me to go away a part of me wanted to see it and i turned as i saw my girls wings flapping umm made me queasy .
 
It doesn't get any easier for us either Karminski. In fact the more I understand chickens the harder it gets. Our system is similar to Kegs but we do it in the dark, at night or early morning when they are still asleep'ish.
 
if my girs have to get culled then they will be done later in the day when no one is around as during the day the allotment site can get pretty busy then that way if need be and depending what they die of i can get rid of them on the local common on waste land were the foxes can do the rest if i ever put them in the bin mum would chop my head of . :lol:
 
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