The Official Forum of the Ameraucana Breeders Club > Housing, Health & Hatching
Culling chicks
Schroeder:
I searched this term and couldn\'t find a related discussion. I hope it is not too sensitive. What method do you use to cull young chicks? We all realize the need to do this sometimes, and I know we all want to do it as humanely as possible. (I suspect you all hate it as much as I.)
I once read in a parrot reference book a suggestion to put the bird(s) in a plastic bag and then fill the bag with exhaust fumes from the muffler of your running car. What do you think?
Mike Gilbert:
Culling chicks by coloring depends on what you know and what you are trying to accomplish. So let\'s assume you are breeding an existing variety whose chicks are of a known chick down pattern. You cull for deformities at hatch and during the first week, such as crooked toes, crossed beaks, and the like. Very weak chicks will likely cull themselves. The quickest and most humane way I know is to grasp the chick to be culled bottom side up, and give it a sharp rap or two on a hard object against the back of the head. Even if the first blow does not kill the chick, it is rendered unconscious so is likely not to feel any pain. This is the method I have used for about 35 years. Then, I have a \"burn barrel\" made of a large metal oil drum to incinerate the remains of any chicken that has been killed or died on its own.
John:
--- Quote ---What method do you use to cull young chicks?
--- End quote ---
I know a lot of times culling is thought of as killing (or to \"put down\" as some like to say) the undesirable, but it means to remove them from the flock and then they may be killed, sold, raised separately for slaughter or whatever. We generally think of a cull as undesirable, but by definition you could cull the best to set them aside. Most of my culls or rejects as I call them are sold locally on Craig\'s List. I understand what you meant and Mike gave the answer...I just wanted to explain that killing doesn\'t always go with culling. :)
Cloverleaf Farm:
When I have had to cull very young chicks in the past, I have used a sharp pair of garden shears. I put down a plastic bag with a paper towel inside, or just some newspaper, position the chick and the shears, and then cover chick and hands with a second paper towel (I don\'t want to watch myself decapitate a fluffy little chick). It\'s extremely fast, and you KNOW the deed is done. Then you can just wrap up the whole thing and dispose however you choose.
That being said, I like Mike\'s method also, I have done mice that way in the past for feeding a snake and it\'s very quick also, though can be kind of intimidating the first couple of times. AND they\'ve done studies on lab animals that have been decapitated, and there was brain activity for up to 8 minutes after decapitation....
Mike Gilbert:
--- Quote from: Cloverleaf Farm ---
. . . AND they\'ve done studies on lab animals that have been decapitated, and there was brain activity for up to 8 minutes after decapitation....
--- End quote ---
Which is exactly the reason I prefer my method. The brain does not die immediately just because the head is seperated from the body. But I wouldn\'t have any problem with bringing back the guillotine for extreme cases. It worked as a deterrent then, and who knows how many kids and young women it might save today? But there would have to be irrefutable proof of course.
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