Giving mercy - the humane dispatch of poultry
A roundup of the ways that work and, critically, those to be avoided. Warning: goes into some detail about how to bring about a humane death in pet poultry. May be considered graphic to some.
All living things die. Even those animals with which we humans share our lives.
The best death is a gentle, quiet one, where the animal just goes to sleep and doesn’t wake up.
This is, however, vanishingly rare. Sometimes, for one reason or another, the human guardian of the animal needs to provide assistance.
This article covers “how” - both the preferred options, and those to avoid.
To help make a decision as to when, see “Palliative care vs mercy”.
A note on terminology
There’s a number of terms covered in this topic. The result is the same - an animal that has been killed in the most humane method available - but the terms differ depending on purpose. Some euthanasia methods are not suitable for humane killing/slaughter, particularly if the animal is to be used for food.
Humane is defined in various Australian and international legislations as a means that results in rapid death, or rapid loss of consciousness followed by death while unconscious.
Euthanasia is used when “giving mercy” to a suffering animal.
Humane killing or humane slaughter is used for other purposes, including dispatching for food or research, or management of pest animals.
I’m going to use the word “dispatch” to cover both.
Summary
When the time comes to provide mercy, the very best method is taking the bird to the vet.
Where this isn’t possible, due to time, distance, and/or cost, the best method for home dispatch/euthanasia is decapitation or cervical dislocation - either by hand, or by using mechanical assistance such as the “broomstick method” or a “humane poultry dispatcher”.
This is extremely challenging to pet owners - cutting or breaking your pet’s neck does not feel at all calm, gentle, kind, or humane.
This means people are always looking for other methods. This article only spends time on methods that can be considered “humane”.
Humane is defined in various Australian and international legislations as a means that results in rapid death, or rapid loss of consciousness followed by death while unconscious.
The list of “everything else” covers everything I’ve seen referenced in many years of reading poultry groups. Many look kind at a distance, and feel easier on the human, but don’t stand up to the requirement of “humane”.
If you’re considering a method in that list; don’t. Just … don’t.
Helpful documents
These are documents that come up time and again when discussing small-scale poultry dispatch in the Australian context. I’ve referred to them extensively.
Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Poultry. The section on humane killing starts on page 26.
AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals. Widely regarded as the benchmark on the topic of euthanising any animal, including vertebrates and invertebrates.
Practical Guidelines for On-Farm Euthanasia of Poultry. A superb document with actual illustrations of how to perform methods such as cervical dislocation.
Euthanasia for Backyard Birds. A very accessible, well-written blog post that is a smaller version of “Practical Guidelines for On-Farm Euthanasia of Poultry”.
Management of Critically Ill Wildlife: The reality and practice of wildlife euthanasia. A 2005 Australian article outlining methods not discussed elsewhere.
Table of Contents
The methods that work (with caveats)
MAK - Modified Atmosphere Killing (not recommended for the inexperienced)
CO2 suffocation using vinegar and bicarb (not recommended as too easy to be inhumane)
Chloroform (not recommended due to user health risks)
The chook lifespan
Chooks have relatively short lives.
The oldest chicken ever recorded was 23 years - she died in 2012. The current living oldest chicken is 21. But they’re very much outliers.
These lifespans relate to birds not being raised for meat (commercial meat birds are dispatched at 6-8 weeks of age).
The following numbers are tendencies, not absolutes.
Commercial brown layers tend to live 2-4 years. Their egg-a-day habit shortens their lives.
Purebreeds, or backyard/farmyard crosses, tend to live 6-8 years. Their tendency to stop laying over winter, when brooding, or when the weather looks at them crossways :) extends their lives.
Obviously, there are individual exceptions.
But looking to extending a bird’s lifespan well beyond “normal”, particularly if the bird has no quality of life, is just unfair.
A humane death?
It’s common to regard death as automatically inhumane - as cruel, unnecessary, or even lazy, particularly when faced with illness or injury. That accepting the need for an animal to die, regardless of its age or situation, is somehow a negative reflection on our care for our animal.
This reflects our society’s discomfort with discussing death, nothing more. Death comes to all of us, and wishing it were otherwise is understandable but not realistic.
So the first thing we need to accept is that there are good deaths and bad deaths, and it’s up to us to provide the best death available to us when the time comes.
Humane is defined in various Australian and international legislations as a means that results in rapid death, or rapid loss of consciousness followed by death while unconscious.
Note that key word of “rapid”. We tend to assume humane must mean painless; however, while it is possible for a painless death to be a slow one, it is also absolutely possible for a technically-painful method to be painless if performed quickly enough (literally in under a second).
If it comes down to a choice, the fastest method is to be preferred.
To be honest, most of the pain is felt by the human performing the death; that’s where the real problems are.
The single best article I found on this topic is Euthanasia for Backyard Birds from “Mike the chicken vet”, a Canadian vet who writes far better on this than I ever could. Recommended reading.
This article is expanded-on in this excellent, printable PDF: Practical Guidelines for On-Farm Euthanasia of Poultry.
Why is this topic so challenging?
Anyone who’s seen a pet’s death at the vet knows what it looks like - the animal just goes to sleep, never to wake up. It looks calm and peaceful.
Unfortunately, that’s not the norm. Many home methods of death will result in a lot of flapping and movement after certifiable death has occurred. If not held down, the body can and will actually run around for a startling amount of time - up to 5 minutes - before the nerves stop moving. Catching the moving body - which may be spraying blood the whole time - during this time is virtually impossible, and you end up either laughing or crying or in appalled shock or a nasty combination of all three.
This is normal. The bird is not alive. These are unconscious movements - the nerves in the spinal column all firing at once.
But even when you’re used to it, seeing all those movements always, always makes you think “Did I do it correctly? Is the bird feeling anything? Did I do it humanely?”. It’s challenging, to say the least.
And that’s why humane euthanasia at home can be distressing, and why people will look for any method that replicates “going peacefully to sleep”.
When?
If an animal is suffering, and there is no guarantee that treatments will alleviate that suffering in a timely manner, mercy may be required. Consider the common saying of “better a week too early than a day too late”.
See my related article on understanding the differences between a suffering bird, and one going quietly to sleep.
How?
Page 26 of the Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Poultry lists the acceptable methods for the humane killing of poultry.
The following are covered in some way in this article:
injectable euthanasia solution (“going to sleep at the vet”)
cervical dislocation or decapitation for poultry less than 5 kgs
stunning by blunt trauma followed by decapitation or bleeding out for poultry over 5 kgs
stunning with a bolt or pneumatic device designed for poultry followed by bleeding out
killing with a bolt or pneumatic device designed to stun-kill poultry
modified atmosphere killing (MAK)
These following two are not suitable for home dispatch and are not covered at all:
electrical stunning followed by an acceptable killing method
firearm via a headshot for larger species
“Going to sleep” at the vet
The best option is that provided by a vet - “putting to sleep”, or the “green dream”. It’s painless, fast, and guaranteed humane.
It’s not the cheapest or easiest option, however. Vets still have to charge for their time and for the drugs and equipment they’re using, regardless of the outcome of what they’re doing and why - drugs that can bring about death are necessarily very restricted and not cheap. And they often get abused by the general public because of having to charge for this heartbreaking - but necessary - job.
As an aside - DO NOT ABUSE YOUR VET FOR DOING THEIR JOB. They don’t volunteer to provide their skilled veterinary services. It’s a job, a career, the way they pay for their rent and mortgage and their living, as well as doing good in this world. It’s not cheap to provide medical care, it is not emotionally easy, and there’s no subsidised Medicare system for vet care (although there is pet insurance; look into it).
If you don’t feel you can keep your emotions to yourself, send someone else in with your unwell pet.
It may not also be easily available due to time or distance. Maybe you live 2 hours from the nearest vet, or maybe they’re not open right now, and your bird is clearly struggling to stay alive and pain-free right now.
So if vet care isn’t always possible, for reasons of cost, time, and/or distance, what alternatives are there?
Things that don’t work
I’m covering these off first, so people don’t go looking for them.
Here are the methods that claim to be peaceful, easy, and effective.
They are not. DO NOT USE THEM.
In most cases, they are too slow and/or painful to be considered humane on the animal.
Car exhaust (a method to bring about carbon monoxide suffocation). Recommended in older articles, but not appropriate these days, as modern cars complying with vehicle emissions standards do not put out enough CO to bring about a guaranteed quick, painless death.
Freezing. Not fast, and not pain-free.
Drowning. Not fast, distressing for all concerned, and not pain-free.
Deliberate overdoses of human drugs (including “sleepy” antihistamines such as diphenhydramine hydrochloride - Benadryl - or mixtures such as valerian and paracetamol). There is no evidence that even a massive overdose can cause a guaranteed quick and painless death in either adult or juvenile birds. (I found one study that tested Benadryl on chicks and it took over an hour for some to die. I can’t imagine how long it would take for adults. See: Acute Toxicity and Neurobehavioral Effects of Diphenhydramine in Chicks. This is not humane under any definition). Neither fast nor pain-free.
Ether. The concentrations required to bring about even unconsciousness operate quite slowly, and cause significant physical irritation to soft tissues such as eyes, beak, and nostrils in the meantime. Neither fast nor pain-free. (See: The behaviour of chickens, mice and rats during euthanasia with chloroform, carbon dioxide and ether).
"Hugging" the bird to death. Essentially slowly suffocating it, the same way a constrictor snake kills its prey. Not fast, and not pain-free.
The methods that work
Starting from “guaranteed humane, if not easy”, and ending with “the closest to the vet, but difficult to do properly”.
Removal of head - decapitation
This is the most effective way to dispatch chicks. For very young birds - under 2-3 weeks - you can decapitate with a good pair of scissors or sharp secateurs, or hand-held poultry dispatch pliers, and can be done even by people with arthritis. The difficulty is mental, not physical, with very young chicks.
For larger or older birds, you will requires a very sharp blade and a certain amount of strength and accuracy. A quality axe or very, very sharp hatchet with the bird lying still (may require someone else to hold the bird) on a solid surface is required.
I’ve seen recommendations to practice on bought chicken necks in a sock. If you can’t accurately chop through that in a single blow, then don’t use this method. You cannot saw back and forth on a living bird.
Cervical dislocation
This is the primary method advocated for use use by small-scale poultry people. It’s effective, it doesn’t require any specialised equipment, it doesn’t involve blood going everywhere, and it’s humane if done correctly.
But it is still a very hands-on method and can be seen as violent from the outside.
I’m going to quote directly from Mike the Chicken Vet’s excellent article on this topic, as I can’t say it any better.
Cervical dislocation is humane, if done properly. The benefits of this method is that it can be done immediately after identifying that a bird should be euthanized, and needs no tools. It causes unconsciousness in around 40 seconds after being applied, and is very repeatable….that is, it works every time it is done properly.
The way cervical dislocation causes unconsciousness is by stretching the neck, dislocating the joint at the base of the skull. This causes the spinal cord (which is very elastic) to snap, and the resulting recoil causes brain damage and unconsciousness through concussion. It causes death by breaking the blood vessels (carotid arteries and jugular veins) so that the brain runs out of oxygen.
Cervical dislocation is NOT effective if the dislocation occurs far down the neck, if the neck isn’t stretched lengthwise (“breaking the neck” doesn’t make the bird unconscious….it will die, after several minutes), or if bones are crushed in the process.
There are multiple ways to perform cervical dislocation.
Using the hands
The quickest. Also the most challenging to do if you’ve never done it before, don’t have strong hands or wrists, or have a close emotional relationship to your birds.
Using the hands is described and illustrated in this excellent booklet, which expands on the information provided in Mike’s article: Practical Guidelines for On-Farm Euthanasia of Poultry.
Broomstick method
Frequently recommended as a reliable and effective alternative to using the hands alone. It uses the weight of the operator to perform the necessary spinal cord separation at the base of the head.
Some articles recommend against it, as inexperienced operators risk causing distress or even death through excessive weight on the pole.
Summary:
Hold the bird by the legs and place the head chin-side down on a firm surface. That is, the bird’s head is facing forward.
Lightly place a relatively narrow, strong, long pole (such as a broomstick, hence the name) just behind the bird’s head.
Lightly step on the pole with one foot either side of the bird’s head. Do NOT place any weight on the pole at the moment. Your feet are there to brace it and stop the head moving, nothing more. Weight will cause distress to the bird.
Have a firm grip on the bird, and brace your feet so the pole can’t move.
Very quickly, sharply, and firmly pull upwards.
You should feel the “click” as the spinal cord separates from the head, as per the information in Practical Guidelines for On-Farm Euthanasia of Poultry. The bird is now dead and will start flapping in the unconscious nerve movements.
Secure the bird somewhere it can’t move away in the flapping.
If you’re processing for meat, you can cut the throat now, or leave the blood to pool in the head for later handling.
This video covers the technique (warning: graphic).Broomstick method starts at 9 minutes.
“Humane dispatcher” devices
There’s a range of such devices.
Some articles are wary of such tools, described as “mechanical devices”, as they’re seen to crush the neck instead of breaking the spinal cord, if not used correctly.
Such devices must be applied as close to the head as possible, with the handles in a vertical position. The motion should be vigorous, swift and uninterrupted. Operators must possess sufficient strength to easily close the jaws of the tool in one motion.
The small, plier-like tools are excellent for dispatching smaller birds; in particular, chicks. Even I, with my arthritic hands, can effectively use these on struggling chicks. Use them to grip and hold the head, then yank fast. It’s over astonishingly fast.
The larger tool is called a “humane poultry dispatcher”, often found under the name “Morrigan’s” in Australia, as they were manufactured by a farm business called "Morrigan Farm”.
We have one and use it regularly. We use two people - one to hold and pull the bird at the vital moment, one to push the handle. Described in my post in the Gardening & Cooking with Backyard Poultry Facebook group:
I hold the bird and th'Bloke places the neck in the correct spot.
He says "ready" and I pull and he pushes the lever down. The dual action ensures the bird's neck is broken immediately.
There's a distinct "click" that we can both feel when it happens, and the bird starts jerking in its death throes.
IT IS DEAD AT THIS POINT. Regardless of the movements, you have to believe it is dead.
If we are at all uncertain, we take off its head right now as well, but we're pretty confident these days.
Morrigan’s still has a video showing how to correctly mount and use their dispatcher. Warning: graphic images.
It demonstrates the firm and fast movement required to perform a clean kill, and clearly shows the post-death movements typical of all dispatched poultry.
Causing unconsciousness
This is the method the Standard calls “stunning by blunt trauma followed by decapitation or bleeding out”.
Or “hitting the bird on the head and cutting its throat”. If cervical dislocation is challenging to you, both mentally and physically, don’t even consider this. Rendering an animal instantly and quickly unconscious by hitting it accurately on the head is harder than you might consider.
Doing this with non-specialist equipment - for eg a piece of wood or metal, or the back of an axe - will probably not be possible for someone with grip issues. You need to hit the head right behind the comb - on the crown - very quickly and precisely.
Once the bird is unconscious, the throat can be cut, or the head taken off, to ensure death.
Captive bolt gun
A captive bolt gun is a small, hand-held device that fires a retractable metal bolt into the head of livestock in order to render them unconscious. These devices are powered by blank cartridges, which come in a range of strengths to handle animals of different sizes. The “brown” cartridge is the minimum available, but the “green” is considered a good minimum size if you have poultry and smaller animals such as goats or sheep.
There are also bolt guns designed specifically for poultry.
The device must be held directly to the animal’s head, to fire the bolt at point-blank range. Unconsciousness or even death is achieved immediately when the positioning and power of the blow are correct.
Once unconscious, the head can be removed or throat cut, to ensure the bird is dead. This method is suitable to use when dispatching for food.
Captive bolt guns are essential tools on properties, to help farmers quickly and humanely dispatch their own livestock.
They are not considered firearms in Australia, and no license is required (at time of writing) to own and use one in any Australian or New Zealand state. However, the laws change from time to time; check with local police to be certain.
They are readily available online - do a search for “captive bolt gun” or “captive bolt slaughter”.
See very clear instructions with illustrations on pages 7-8 of Practical Guidelines for On-Farm Euthanasia of Poultry.
One video can be seen here. Warning: graphic.
Bleeding out
Or “cutting the throat”. To meet the Standard for “humane”, this must be done only after the bird is first rendered unconscious.
It must be performed with a very, very sharp knife, and results in unconsciousness (if not already unconscious) and death in a few minutes.
In a restrained bird - for eg, placed upside-down in a cone - this can be done by one person, as you’re not cutting through bone. Pull the head gently down so the skin under the throat is exposed, and pull the very, very sharp knife across as quickly and firmly as possible. Then step back. There will be a lot of blood.
The bird will flap and jerk as with any of the other fast methods.
This method is suitable to use when dispatching for food.
MAK - Modified Atmosphere Killing
I cannot endorse the use of the following methods, particularly to inexperienced operators. I have never used any of them, and probably never will.
To use them to perform a humane death requires a certain amount of skill and care in handling materials that can cause long-term health risk to the user.
However, they’re not illegal, they’re often recommended, they are apparently humane if done correctly, and they don’t require hands-on physical strength or dexterity.
I am not providing instructions on their correct use; instead, I’m linking to articles that comply with the requirements for a humane death.
MAK performed with specialised equipment and skilled, experienced operators is used for “mass depopulation” in commercial or research environments.
There is one article comparing three MAK methods for chicks, at The behaviour of chickens, mice and rats during euthanasia with chloroform, carbon dioxide and ether.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) suffocation using vinegar and bicarb
This method is based on the fact that inhalation of carbon dioxide at concentrations of 30% and higher causes deep anaesthesia and death with prolonged exposure. This means that 30% of the air being breathed contains CO2, as opposed to the usual 0.04% CO2 found in normal air. See page 28 of AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals.
It is one of the methods used for killing very large numbers of birds, if and when necessary. In that context, highly-specialised equipment will be used by skilled operators.
The Australian Standard states that “when using gaseous modified atmosphere killing, the procedure should ensure the collapse of every bird within 35 seconds of exposure to the gas. Poultry should remain in the gas for at least a further 5 minutes following collapse”.
It further states that “If using CO2-based modified atmosphere killing … up to 30% CO2 should be applied until poultry are unconscious, followed by higher concentrations until death”.
CO2 can easily be generated in a home environment by combining vinegar and bicarbonate soda. There are many articles that suggest combining the two in some proportion in an airtight container, and placing a bird inside that container until death occurs.
However, placing the bird in the same location as the vinegar and bicarb reaction can cause distress to the bird from the fumes of the chemical reaction; it thus cannot fulfil the requirements of “humane”. The suggested proportions varied wildly between articles; most didn’t consider the requirement to generate a minimum 30% concentration of CO2 to bring about a humane death.
I found one article that did take this into consideration, and also implemented a way using two separate containers comply with the requirements to bring about a correctly humane death.
Please read the article in its entirety, and note the extensive caveats before considering this method. If you are not able to create the two separate containers this method requires - one to generate the CO2 from the vinegar and bicarb, and one containing the bird to be euthanised - then you should not consider this method at all.
Chloroform
This is a difficult one. It came up recently in the poultry forums. I’ve spent a lot of time researching it. I would personally not recommend its use, because it’s very dangerous to the user if not handled with respect.
However, the reason I mention it at all is that it does seem that it may be considered humane when used in sufficient quantities to bring about unconsciousness and death, and it is not - to my surprise, given its danger - illegal to purchase and use in Australia.
Chloroform used to be in common use as a human general anaesthetic to perform surgery.
It is no longer used for this purpose due to the significant health and medical risks it posed to the user and the recipient.
DCCEEW Substance Fact Sheet on Chloroform says:
… breathing chloroform or ingesting chloroform over long periods of time may damage liver (such as hepatitis and jaundice), kidneys, skin and central nervous system (such as depression and irritability). Skin contact with the liquid can cause a rash or a burning feeling. Repeated skin contact may produce dermatitis. Absorption through intact skin occurs rapidly. The liquid can cause severe eye burns. Chloroform is a probable carcinogen (agent that causes cancer) and it may be teratogenic (may cause foetal abnormalities).
It further states that:
… a fatal oral dose of chloroform [for humans] may be as low as 10 mL (14.8 g) with death due to respiratory or cardiac arrest.
The only reputable resource I found mentioning its use in animal dispatch was an 2005 Australian article: Management of Critically Ill Wildlife: The reality and practice of wildlife euthanasia. It suggests the use of a cotton ball soaked in chloroform to euthanise small birds. This quantity would almost certainly be considered far too little to humanely euthanise a large chicken.
Please see this Safety Data Sheet from an Australian supplier of chloroform before considering its use.
Conclusion
Every bird must come to the end of its life.
Sometimes we need to help it toward that end - give it mercy - using a method defined as humane - that is, a means that results in rapid death, or rapid loss of consciousness followed by death while unconscious.
If a vet isn’t possible, cervical dislocation or a captive bolt gun seem to be the easiest humane methods to provide mercy.
Do not use methods that are not proven to be humane.
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