How to euthanize day old chicks?

Toothless · 04-05-13, 09:14 AM

I'm receiving an order of day old chicks the first week in May, and was wondering what the best method is to put them down? Will CO work for chicks?

stephanbakir · 04-05-13, 09:27 AM

I'm assuming you can CO2 them, most people I know flash freeze them, or use cervical dislocation.

Toothless · 04-05-13, 10:00 AM

What does flash freeze mean?
I always get a bit squeemish about cervical dislocation as I'm scared I won't do it right.

stephanbakir · 04-05-13, 10:08 AM

careful you dont remove the head :P

Day old anything is fragile, put them on a cookie sheet and toss em in the freezer, they will be dead quick. Normally you use a really cold freezer, but any freezer would work.
I know m buddies use a freezer for freeze drying (-40)

shaunyboy · 04-05-13, 12:46 PM

re freezing
i'm not a fan of freezing anything to death,imo its too slow a procedure,especially if it was reptiles your trying to euthinise...

the water in their blood freezes and expands,causing blood vessels and tissue to rupture,which imo is a pretty painfull way to go

i don't know if its the same for birds and mammals though ?

re reptiles
reptiles the quickest most pain free way is,full cranial destruction (one fast hard hit to the head with a lump hammer)

re birds and mammals
a cervical break (break the neck) imo would be the fastes most pain free way to euthinise

cheers shaun

MDT · 04-05-13, 01:56 PM

Anything that shuts down the central nervous system immediately is basically the "kill switch", and with this, the brainstem/medulla is the key to that "kill switch". With something that small, its tough to do cleanly. You know how chickens run around and flop after their head is cut off (sorry, but its the farm days coming out)? You will likely experience the "flop" even w a chick...
Shaun is correct, the hammer (though gruesome) or breaking neck (still a little sketchy) are the most humane ways (IMO)...

I will often get chicks at Atwood's (Farm and Garden place in Okla) when I'm in between shipments of rodents, I typically don't euthanize before feeding. They are too small to hurt my snakes. Some may criticize, however, it would be that way in the wild....circle of life thing.

Starbuck · 04-05-13, 06:48 PM

CO2 is a very humane way to euthanize large batches of small animals, from mice to chicks. Birds respire very quickly, so it would likely be very fast and painless way to go. There are lots of guides for how to build a co2 chamber from home goods, the biggest key is getting a good seal.

I personally wouldnt want to go through and break the neck of 100+ chicks when you get them though... and hammer is pretty messy as well :P
Just be sure if you decide to go via CO2, you have your chamber all set up prior to getting the chicks, and work in batches so you can monitor its effectiveness.

Also, i imagine its much cheaper to ship pre-killed/frozen chicks, if this is something you will be doing repeatedly in the future?

smy_749 · 04-05-13, 07:20 PM

Just feed them live, its probably a quicker death than freezing them haha

KORBIN5895 · 04-05-13, 07:58 PM

First off freezing them is a bad idea.

Secondly I don't think co² is very humane.

Personally I would get an ice pick ( used to chip ice ) and shove it through the back of the skull. Bird skulls are really thin and a baby would be like paper. Put the chick's belly in your palm and the h between your thumb and forefinger. Then just insert the pick

Starbuck · 04-05-13, 09:07 PM

here is a link to IACUC (university animal care and use committee) detailing use of co2
CO2 Euthanasia of Rodents | Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee | Albert Einstein College of Medicine

here is a link to at-home building a co2 chamber
Building a Co2 Chamber

Co2 is listed as one of the preferred methods of euthanasia for most animals under 5 pounds, along with cervical dislocation, drugs (not for feeders obviously lol), and trauma to the head. Many animal cruelty laws in most states and in university bylaws list all of the methods above (not freezing, however) as humane and acceptable methods. I would use CO2 since it is the least messy and works well for large numbers of animals. However, it does require some specialized tools and handiness skills. I just buy my prey items F/T.

Revenant · 04-05-13, 10:49 PM

I would say live was more humane than freezing, but then you'd obviously have a lot of rapidly growing chicks to care for between feedings. Probably not feasible.

I use Co2 on all my feeders, but I don't feed chicks. I'd probably try Co2 on them, or cervical dislocation. As easy as it is on the adult chickens I've done, I'd imagine chicks wouldn't post much of a challenge.

KORBIN5895 · 04-06-13, 06:28 AM

CO² id only humane if you know what your doing which I have discovered most people don't. I have tried many different methods when raising feeders for my business so I have seen many failed methods. There is a thread or three on this so let's take it there and not cluster het thread with the CO² debate.

Toothless · 04-06-13, 05:52 PM

Thanks for the advice everyone! I appreciate it.
I don't think I could do freezing, and I'm worried about not doing it right with breaking the neck.
Also, feeding live isn't an option, as they would quickly grow too big for my guy to eat before all being fed off.
I think I might try the CO or CO2 option. I've read a bunch on the methods already, but wasn't quite sure if it would work for chicks.

smy_749 · 04-06-13, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Revenant

I would say live was more humane than freezing, but then you'd obviously have a lot of rapidly growing chicks to care for between feedings. Probably not feasible.

I use Co2 on all my feeders, but I don't feed chicks. I'd probably try Co2 on them, or cervical dislocation. As easy as it is on the adult chickens I've done, I'd imagine chicks wouldn't post much of a challenge.

I have a tractor supply co. 1 minute from my house, and they sell live baby chicks for 1.50 $

Toothless · 04-07-13, 10:48 AM

This place is selling them for 1.50 as well, but they have to be ordered in advance and do not have them available 24/7. I was thinking about getting 10-20 for now, and if my guy likes them, then I can order more when the next batch is ready in early June.
How long can you freeze them for before they go bad?