I had a terrible 'freak' accident in the canary hen aviary. The hen's breeder band got caught on a small attachment wire (I cannot figure out how it came unwrapped to protrude.) When I discovered her clinging to the cage wall I discovered that she has fought so hard to be free of it that when I got her leg released, the foot was severed, held on just by one vein or ligament. I slowed the bleeding with corn starch and have held her firmly wrapped in a cloth to keep her from trying to shake it off. It is terrible. She cannot survive without her foot. Does anyone know of a painless euthanasia method?

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Nobody loves you as unconditionally as those who leave paw prints on your heart.

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That's awful take her to the vets... it will be professionally done atleast and she wont suffer ...

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*~* Tracy *~*
Mum too:
1 Guinea Pig - Bracken.
2 Budgies - Harley and Jerry.
Pond full of Fish.

I was once told to place a rag soaked with automotive starter fluid on the bottom of a juice can and wrap the bird in a washcloth to hold it well, then place its head inside the can - supposedly one whiff would immediately & painlessly put the bird to sleep. In desperation, I went to the all night grocery store and bought a can. I used a kiddie cup and a kleenex and followed the instructions. As I sobbed, my hen shook her head, but her heart kept beating . . . I could not go on. After failing to euthanize her properly, then posting my urgent request, I dozed with the hen wrapped in the cloth, draped on top of my neck. When I felt her struggling to move I decided I had to take more decisive action.

I clamped the strand holding her foot on, then did the surgery necessary to remove the foot. After applying cornstarch to stave thr bleeding, and wrapping her to apply pressure on her stump, I elected to place her in a hospital cage with a soft cotton liner on the bottom, add seed & water, and hope for the best, let nature take its course and go to bed. As soon as she was in the cage, she 'got the news' about her new peg-leg condition. I set 2 perches very low and lo and behold, she perched briefly, them proceeded to eat. Provided that she doesn't bleed further (and it seems to be cauterized) I think this pearl of a girl will survive. I have a super small hen population (3) so I think it may be possible for her to adjust. She is an '04 hen, and I took her out of breeding last season. Fingers crossed. I tend lame and rescues, so maybe this will have a happy ending.

I would still like to know a (true!) way to put a suffering bird down. Sometimes accidents happen. Were I a more serious breeder, she would no longer be a be able to breed and would be pecked for her weakness. If she lives, she will live out her life.

Newbie status glaringly apparent! Apologies for the double post!

That sounds horrible! why couldn't you have just taken her to a vets ?

My Budgie has a broken leg... and it's on the mend now and it's thankfully getting better, but if it had been a worse break, I wouldn't have found a way to kill her myself you caused her more suffering by trying to do all that in my opinion

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*~* Tracy *~*
Mum too:
1 Guinea Pig - Bracken.
2 Budgies - Harley and Jerry.
Pond full of Fish.

We have 1 med vet emergency (24hr) clinic here and they do not handle avian patients! All this occurred after midnight here...it's 5am now. During a weekday, I would have done so, but then I would not have known she would ave survived. The vet would have pit her down. Hopefully she will manage with a 'stump'.

Thank you for your responses, I appreciate it!

Birds can live with only one foot, I see no reason to have to have the bird put down unless it had lost alot of blood or was in too much of a bad way. I wouldn't even consider doing it myself! I feel quite bad that you would try to kill it yourself like that, and then take it upon yourself to remove her foot yourself too!

I hope your bird survives though, and has no other problems.

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A canary can live perfectly well with just one foot!

However I really think that a trip to the vets would have been more apropriate than what she actually went though. Whether they normally treat birds or not I would have insisted on taking the bird down to them. If they still refused I would have told them I was reporting them for cruelty. As any vet is not supposed to refuse any animal in a serious condition/severe pain.

You should keep an eye out for septicemea now, as you have have performed surgery on her yourself.

I was always told (by an old school vet) that a sharp hard knock to the back of the head works to euthanise a bird, but I have always chosen to take mine to the vets, no matter what the time of day or night and whether the vet liked it or not!

I hope she survives.

How are things now?

I hope she is ok

We have had several chickens with one foot a cat with three legs, its amazing what they can quite happily survive.

It is always hard to euthanaise a tiny bird but it is quite simple and painless if you need to know. We use a few humane methods, but please don't try the fumes method again that really doesn't work well.