Diagnosis please - egg bound? prolapse??

[Nicos]

Kathy- the standard method here seems to be hang em upside down and bleed them to death. We asked a farmer's wife to show us how she 'did' her birds...and were horrified- especially as she brought her 8 yr old grandson to watch how it was done!

OH does the break neck- then bleed method.
Geese we use a chopping block.
Either way isn't especially nice...but you need to decide what method sits more comfortably with you

...there is always the vet if you feel happier with that

[kathyd]

Don't think I like the sound of either of them Nicos! What happened to an overdose of asparin and alcohol?? I'll ask the farmer what he does, and take it from there... If I ask around I may even find I know someone who keeps chickens for meat and would be able to help out. Must admit, that axe is looking more attractive by the minute...

[RichmondHens]

There is never a "nice" way to end a life unfortunately. We have been discussing various ways of dealing with our massive turkey stags, we normally use the broomstick method but the really big fellas have such a huge wingspan they can damage them during the post dislocation flapping which obviously spoils the carcass. We thought about putting them in a cone to restrict movement, shooting, then cutting the throat to allow the blood to drain out.

A couple of years back we had a very gorgeous cockerel with an ongoing and steadily worsening foot problem which was unresponsive to treatment. As he was my husbands favourite he did not feel like "doing" him the usual way, so I held the bird steady and my husband shot him at close range with an air pistol, straight into the head (obviously pointing away from me!!) and it was pretty easy to do on a practical (but not emotional) level. I think it is a method we will repeat for other pet chickens.

[Nicos]

Sorry to digress kathy....
RH- we wrap our geese in a zipped up old fleece jacket,wrap the arms around them then tie the arms together- holds them still afterward without bruising the 'meat'.

kathy- The locals here give their geese a good dose of Cavados/apple brandy before they do the deed so they almost sleep through the process....might be worth considering???...you'll probably be in need of a stiff drink afterwards whatever/whoever you decide upon- we certainly did!

[kathyd]

Lol, this is turning into quite a gruesome thread!! Broomstick method?? I'm not even going to ask! Now calvados .. hmm... maybe we could all benefit from that! .

Actually, I'm thinking there should be a separate thread about despatching your birds - I'm sure it's something people don't always want to raise, but obviously something we need to know about and be aware of.