[rslt]

I have a sick chook (chicken). She has been sitting in the same place for two days now (not eating) and is making a motion like heavy breathing or pushing.
I have been past the local rural centre and they said she might be backed up (eggs stuck inside her) so I have to get some gloves on the way home and check if that is the problem. If not then they said she may have tumers as she is quite old.
I don't like to see animals suffer and if necessary I may have to put her down.
My question is what is the best method as I have never done it before, a lady at the rural centre told me she drowns them. I know using an axe is an option, any suggestions?
I know for some it may not be a nice topic but this is nature and nature can be cruel (without opening a discussion), plus I want be as humane as possible.

[hunter480]

No need to apologize at all, I`m certain we all feel the pain you feel.

If you`re up to it, wringing a neck is the cleaniest, easiest, most humane way to put her down.

Good luck and let us know how you get thru this.

[Celticwarrior]

Homestead Poultry Butchering: Killing the Bird

I agree, there is no "good" way to dispatch an animal, but the neck-break or a sharp axe and a steady, strong hand will be the least traumatic. The flailing around of the body afterward is disconcerting, but honestly the animal has felt none of that. I've seen people club a bird at the join of the neck and skull with the back of an axe or a hammer before, but I don't understand since you will need to behead the chicken later for eating. In your case, I am not sure if that is on the menu, so to speak. You may find that if you don't want to mutilate the body and bury it like a pet, the hammer is better than the axe, and it doesn't feel the same as wringing the bird's neck by hand. Better for those who may be squeemish.

If you tuck the bird's head under it's wing while you walk it out to the block, it will keep it calm and sedated. Once you are there, do the deed quickly so that you are not putting the bird or yourself under stress for too long. Don't procrastinate or overanalyze at the time. Just do it. There will be plenty of time afterward for you to soul-search and rationalize, but the bird's end should be as quick as possible, without a lot of drama.

If you use chickens as food, the killing process gets easier as time goes on, and you will eventually find that you learn the routine to make it go smoothly. The first time is always the toughest though.

Good luck.

[heysmithy]

Sorry you may have to do this. I'm kind of the family "putter downer" for whatever animal needs put down or for strays that they don't want wandering around. Its not especially fun.

In this case, chopping the head off with a hatchet would do pretty much the same thing as wringing the neck, and I would be more comfortable doing that. But depending on how you do it (you're fairly limited) and how nervous you are, you have a chance at chopping your fingers off. Be careful.

I don't know about the humane factor, but anytime I've killed a chicken it's been with a .22 to the head. You have to be a good shot though, and make sure your rifle is sighted for the range you are shooting at. One benefit to this is that you don't have to catch the chicken or be in contact with it as it dies.

Whatever you do, the chicken will appear to be alive and flop around for a bit even after it's dead. Be prepared mentally prepared for that if you are attached to the chicken at all, as a pet.

[dukman]

One method I heard is to tie a string around its feet and hang it upside down. It will fall asleep. Then quickly take a screwdriver, through the beak, punch it through the skull and twist. If you do it just right, they don't even have time to ruffle their feathers. Supposedly this helps make plucking the feathers a whole lot easier to do to if you ever want to grow chickens for food.

I will have to look around and find the site that suggested this method...
EDIT: Here it is! The Rouge Turtle: Slaughtering Chicken

[Omegaman]

I have killed 100's of turkys and chickens growing up. For single bird hold or hang so that the head is lower then the body, the blood rushes to the head and calms them down. Now there are two ways to go is bird is hanging by its feet, then pull its neck down til tight then with sharp knife deeply cut throat. If you are holding bird under your arm then grasp neck with fingers around front of neck and thumb pressing up into the base of the skull and hand up side down. In 1 motion sqeeze, pull and twist. ( dont puul the head off ). It does sound like she is egg bound. Good luck. The axe works but it is so darn messy. My grams use to grab a chicken in the yard and on the way to the porch she would give it the pull and twist and even watching her you would never now she just dispatched that bird, heck she wouldnt even lose a step.

[cowgirlup]

Sorry you have to deal with that. No real life experience here but I think drowning would take too long and she would fight it. Neck wringing sounds fairly quick and you can't really mess that up.

Hope all goes well with whatever you need to do.

[pocomoonskyeyes]

The only way I've ever seen it done or done it myself is the same as Hunter480 said. Just wring the neck. Just do it quick. There's less suffering that way.(I'm talking about you not the bird) whichever method you choose this is best. Do it as quickly and as cleanly as you possibly can.

[rslt]

Thanks for all the advice.
I am comfortable in 'doing the act' its better than letting her die over a couple of days. I believe its also a responsible thing to learn when looking after animals.
I am not going to eat her as she was part of an old group that I 'rescued' from terrible conditions. I have taken care of them and they have all gained weight and are looking very healthy, so I don't have much experience with chickens. I have just finished building a 'chook shed' (thats what we call them in Australia) for them.
If there is nothing that can be done for her I think I will try the neck breaking method with the axe on stand by.

[Bladed]

Tell her she's fat and ugly?