Thank you for thinking of us, Cascara!

The hen is fine, but she cannot go back into the flight enclosure with the other hens, as they will not accept her. So she is in a separate breeding cage and is near them. As a pet she will be fine, you know.

I would like to know a method, because when I had a farm and raised peafowl and chickens, I asked a breeding friend to help me when the need came up, and it does with a large number of birds - accidents and deformities that cause the birds to be singled out happen. I can perform a necropsy, and do it for friends if they fear Newcastle's disease, or want to check for anomalies, but putting them down I have not been able to do. Silly, really. I performed the surgery properly; I have a advanced degree in science, Ornithology (endocrinology, specifically.)

Thanks again for your kindness!
db

I'm sorry I don't really know of a purely painless way to euthenise a bird, I wouldn't like to do it myself, farmers do it daily!

I'd like to add that people should give others the benefit of the doubt when writing such things as the OP did. It's not likely that they'd make mention of trying to perform surgery or euthenise a bird if they did not already know anything about it. I also reckon that if you are to mention such things and of course your not a troll, you should say so first so your thread isn't flooded with worried posters.

Anyhow, I do understand your concern initially about the hen not being accepted into the rest of the brood. It's only natural that they would become harassed. Nice one though that you've managed to keep her separate!

Hope everything turns out ok.

x

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some gin in a birds drinking water will send it to sleep from which it will not return..... apparently.

alternatively, taking a pair of dog nail clippers (the pincer type not the guillotine type), and with one swift snip round the neck at the base of the skull. this may sound horrific and i can understand most could never bring themselves to do that. it is swift, and only a split second of pain.

as for taking it to a vet being the most humane thing, the stress of being caught up and taken to a vet and likely havng to sit in a waiting room for god knows how long with the sounds of other animals all around and then being handled by a stranger (in my experiance, alot of vets havent a clue hoe to handle birds properly and cause them more stress), then jabbed in the leg with a needle, a needle which we may think is fine but to a tiny bird must be like a javalin. and then taking a minute or so to die as the drugs take effect..... and be charged a fortune to boot!
humane?.... hmmmmm....

There are other methods a vet can use which don't involve stabbing it with a needle.
Going by the number of pidgeons I see hobbling around on one foot I don't see any reason why it wouldn't continue to live a good life.

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Thank you for your kind words. The hen is fine, albeit seperated from the masses, but she has taken up singing at the boys! How about that?

"Pearl" is well and good. I am reducing the aviary and did not breed this summer. She will be a pet in our home - she sings now! Thank you for commenting!

PS - I was an ornithologist, specializing in avian indocrinology, and can perform a necropsy on my own (already dead) birds with no problems - I was taught in school to wring a neck, but I cannot do it to my songbirds! Or any birds! I am now a hobby breeder with a big heart! When one has 200 birds, all sorts of bad things happen. I have managed many a trial, but this one was extraordinary, as was the outcome. Again, thanks.

I think you did the best you could in that situation.

I used to help out on a farm with chickens and if any chicks hatched deformed the farmer would smash it on the floor without a seconds thought.

Also my mate keeps chickens and if any of them becoming old and ill where they wont recover her partner just breaks their necks rather then let them die a lingering death. I guess its for the best really although I could never do it myself! I cant even kill a bloomin spider!

Zanya,

That is how hatcheries here do it, in fact worse - they toss the defective chicks in to a box and I cannot stand or stop it! At the very least, the stomp is an end to suffering. It is true that chickens will tromp all over any chick that is ill or has a club foot - the healthy survive.

"Pearl" is in residence in the house, our of the aviary, though she makes visits to the aviary in her cage and has taken up singing! So, there you have it. With peafowl, I had to ask another rancher to remove the bird in a crate and do it mercifully for me - the surgery went well, actually; I was thinking of her life in the aviary being over, and it is, but we can keep her in the house. I have reduced the population and stopped breeding. It is too heartbreaking at hatching time, and the population rises all too fast.

Best!