No home for rooster

[SlyReb]

First hand experience only: I need to know the most humane way to kill a young rooster. At only 2 1/2 months he’s already attacking me whenever I let them out or feed them. I don’t want him to get so big that I won’t be able to handle him alone. Please provide suggestions regarding humanity, safety, and individual process. I don’t have any special equipment and haven’t done this before.

 

[Wolfefarmyard]

At 2.5 months old he’s learning how to manage all the testosterone. I’d give him more time, he might be better once it balances out.

 

[SlyReb]

At 2.5 months old he’s learning how to manage all the testosterone. I’d give him more time, he might be better once it balances out.

Yes, and he’s lovely so I’ve tried to give him away but I don’t want a rooster and I don’t want baby chicks. I can eat him because it’s the circle of life, but I don’t intend to keep him.

 

[Wolfefarmyard]

Yes, and he’s lovely so I’ve tried to give him away but I don’t want a rooster and I don’t want baby chicks. I can eat him because it’s the circle of life, but I don’t intend to keep him.

Have you posted him for free on Craigslist? Or at your local feed store?

If you intend to eat him they’ll probably be very little meat since he’s so young. And I wouldn’t call it the circle of life...

 

[Perris]

I would not keep an aggressive cockerel.
I have used this method with success: sitting or kneeling, hold him firmly with your thighs, with left hand hold his head and stretch his neck, angled down, with right hand hold a very sharp knife just behind the cheekbone, then cut the jugular. He will quickly lose consciousness. I was following a YouTube video called respectful chicken harvest or something similar. Good luck with this unpleasant but sometimes necessary task.

 

[Col1948]

I've seen a few clips on YT of different ways to dispatch a chicken.
I have often wondered why nobody has come up with an Guillotine type method, I'm sure that would be very quick.

If somebody has an idea of some kind of holding method I think it would soon catch on, also so the actual cull is perhaps hidden for anyone not wanting to see till its over if possible.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi, welcome to the forum. Glad you joined. Hopefully we can give you some help.

How to humanely kill a chicken has been discussed a lot on here. We all have our methods and opinions but to me there is no one way that suits us all. In my opinion, the best way is the way you can. Let me explain that. You want the kill to be sure and quick and you don't want o hurt yourself. Closing you eyes or flinching at the wrong time or only going part way could cause problems. You need to be able to go through with it. We all have different experiences and tolerances. What works for me probably won't work for you.

My understanding is that you want to kill it in a way that you can eat the meat. Some people on here may find it critical that you kill the cockerel in some certain way to enhance the meat quality or you wait to maximize the amount of meat you get. To me that is all irrelevant in your situation, You are not raising them for meat or trying to cook a gourmet meal. You have a behavioral issue you want to take care of now, you don't want the meat to go to waste, and you don't want the cockerel to suffer unnecessarily. The reality is that as long as you don't poison the meat you can eat it. and you can eat any chicken of any age or sex.

If you can, an easier way to solve your problem may be to give him away or try to sell him. Let someone else deal with him, they may be glad to have him. I don't know where you are located so I'm not sure what methods might be available to you. If you are in the USA, many people use Craigslist for this. Other countries may have something similar, an internet system to buy, sell, or trade with your neighbors. Perhaps you could talk to the people at the feed store, they might know someone but more likely they will let you put a notice on a bulletin board. If you can find your state or country thread in the "Where am I? Where are You!" section of this forum you can chat with your neighbors.

There are a lot of different methods I consider humane as long as you can follow through with them. You can find U-Tube videos on many of them which can be a big help. I use a hatchet and stump method. I drive two large nails into a stump to form a Vee, put the head in that Vee, and gently stretch the neck out to give me a good still target. You may not have a stump or something like a hatchet, ax, or meat cleaver you can use. I generally do not recommend this method unless you are comfortable you can hit the target. Also, you need to chop into the end of the stump so you are cutting into the grain, not across it. Otherwise the blade may not sink in enough to get a clean cut. Using the flat side of a 2x12 piece of lumber usually does not work well.

Many people use a killing cone method. At his age you can make something out of a bleach bottle or milk bottle. Cut the bottom out and make sure his head can reach through the bottle top. Hang it up somewhere, then using a sharp blade cut the throat. Or use pruning shears or loppers to cut off the head. I don't use this method so I won't try to go into details. Instead of a cone some people hang them by their feet without a cone.

Another method I haven't used is the broomstick method. You put the head under a broomstick or something similar, stand on the broomstick to hold it down, and jerk or pull on the legs to break the neck. Again I can't give details.

Another method I used growing up on a small farm is the wring the neck method. Take the chicken's head in your hand and swing the chicken around over your head a coupe of times to build up speed. Then vigorously snap your wrist. That breaks the neck. Sometimes the head can come off in your hand. As far as being able to eat the meat that is not a problem.

There are other methods if others want to mention them. When you kill the cockerel he will almost certainly flop around a while. In my opinion as long as the nerve connection from the brain to the body is broken that's just a muscle reaction to that connection being broken so the nerves are no longer sending signals to the muscles. That can still be hard to watch so prepare yourself.

Any of these methods will appear cruel or barbaric to some people. In my opinion as long as they are executed properly they are not. The chicken doesn't suffer unnecessarily but they can be hard to watch. That's why I started off suggesting you consider letting someone else deal with it. But there is another side to this. Part of animal husbandry is to make sure an animal does not suffer unnecessarily. If another chicken is injured or becomes so ill that it is just plain suffering the humane thing to do may be to end its suffering by ending its life. I hope you are never in that position but it can be a very difficult decision to make. Knowing how can be a help.

I hope this helps you some. I've tried to not pull any punches but give you what I consider realistic information. If you have any specific questions let me know. If I can I'll try to help.

 

[Mosey2003]

Broomstick method is my preference. Fast, nearly foolproof when done right, AVMA approved.

Get a stiff stick, like a broom.
Take bird to somewhere with firm, flat ground (not soggy yard, doesn't work well at all).
Hold bird by the legs, gently lower head until he calms. I hold near the hocks with my left hand.
With the bird belly-down, lower him so that his head and neck are on the ground, facing away from you.
Lay stick over his neck, just behind his skull.
Step one foot on one side of the stick, then quickly step the other one on the other side and pull straight upwards on the legs. You will feel the head 'pop' apart from the neck. At that point, you can either stop and let the bird go through its death flapping, or you can continue pulling to take the head clean off, and let him bleed out. I typically do that and quickly try to grab the wings with one hand where they meet the body, to control the spray.

You can search YouTube and find a video showing the procedure.

 

[SlyReb]

Hi, welcome to the forum. Glad you joined. Hopefully we can give you some help.

How to humanely kill a chicken has been discussed a lot on here. We all have our methods and opinions but to me there is no one way that suits us all. In my opinion, the best way is the way you can. Let me explain that. You want the kill to be sure and quick and you don't want o hurt yourself. Closing you eyes or flinching at the wrong time or only going part way could cause problems. You need to be able to go through with it. We all have different experiences and tolerances. What works for me probably won't work for you.

My understanding is that you want to kill it in a way that you can eat the meat. Some people on here may find it critical that you kill the cockerel in some certain way to enhance the meat quality or you wait to maximize the amount of meat you get. To me that is all irrelevant in your situation, You are not raising them for meat or trying to cook a gourmet meal. You have a behavioral issue you want to take care of now, you don't want the meat to go to waste, and you don't want the cockerel to suffer unnecessarily. The reality is that as long as you don't poison the meat you can eat it. and you can eat any chicken of any age or sex.

If you can, an easier way to solve your problem may be to give him away or try to sell him. Let someone else deal with him, they may be glad to have him. I don't know where you are located so I'm not sure what methods might be available to you. If you are in the USA, many people use Craigslist for this. Other countries may have something similar, an internet system to buy, sell, or trade with your neighbors. Perhaps you could talk to the people at the feed store, they might know someone but more likely they will let you put a notice on a bulletin board. If you can find your state or country thread in the "Where am I? Where are You!" section of this forum you can chat with your neighbors.

There are a lot of different methods I consider humane as long as you can follow through with them. You can find U-Tube videos on many of them which can be a big help. I use a hatchet and stump method. I drive two large nails into a stump to form a Vee, put the head in that Vee, and gently stretch the neck out to give me a good still target. You may not have a stump or something like a hatchet, ax, or meat cleaver you can use. I generally do not recommend this method unless you are comfortable you can hit the target. Also, you need to chop into the end of the stump so you are cutting into the grain, not across it. Otherwise the blade may not sink in enough to get a clean cut. Using the flat side of a 2x12 piece of lumber usually does not work well.

Many people use a killing cone method. At his age you can make something out of a bleach bottle or milk bottle. Cut the bottom out and make sure his head can reach through the bottle top. Hang it up somewhere, then using a sharp blade cut the throat. Or use pruning shears or loppers to cut off the head. I don't use this method so I won't try to go into details. Instead of a cone some people hang them by their feet without a cone.

Another method I haven't used is the broomstick method. You put the head under a broomstick or something similar, stand on the broomstick to hold it down, and jerk or pull on the legs to break the neck. Again I can't give details.

Another method I used growing up on a small farm is the wring the neck method. Take the chicken's head in your hand and swing the chicken around over your head a coupe of times to build up speed. Then vigorously snap your wrist. That breaks the neck. Sometimes the head can come off in your hand. As far as being able to eat the meat that is not a problem.

There are other methods if others want to mention them. When you kill the cockerel he will almost certainly flop around a while. In my opinion as long as the nerve connection from the brain to the body is broken that's just a muscle reaction to that connection being broken so the nerves are no longer sending signals to the muscles. That can still be hard to watch so prepare yourself.

Any of these methods will appear cruel or barbaric to some people. In my opinion as long as they are executed properly they are not. The chicken doesn't suffer unnecessarily but they can be hard to watch. That's why I started off suggesting you consider letting someone else deal with it. But there is another side to this. Part of animal husbandry is to make sure an animal does not suffer unnecessarily. If another chicken is injured or becomes so ill that it is just plain suffering the humane thing to do may be to end its suffering by ending its life. I hope you are never in that position but it can be a very difficult decision to make. Knowing how can be a help.

I hope this helps you some. I've tried to not pull any punches but give you what I consider realistic information. If you have any specific questions let me know. If I can I'll try to help.

 

[Trish1974]

I second the broomstick method. VERY easy and least gruesome for a first time euthanizer (if that is a word). Aart posted this video in a previous thread. It is the video I learned by.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-method-culling-method.1213032/#post-19332212
It is post #10 within the thread.