Dispatching young kits?

[BelleVie]

What is the most humane method to dispatch young kits for those of you who cull young or nestbox cull? I haven't done it yet but plan to -- they're just so tiny it's harder for me for some reason.

 

[SarniaTricia]

I had one that was very badly damaged by a larger older kit (this was before I knew that you need to remove the weaned kits from the cages when the mom kindles a new nest)

I ran a bowl of warm water and drown it....

A friend sells hers for snake food and the snake guy dispatches.

 

[2CrazyFools]

Depending on how young I've heard garden shears to lop off their heads quickly, or the sack meathod where you put them in a bag or a sack and then swing it hard into the floor, killing them on impact. Personally I'd do the sack meathod but I've yet to need to. *knock on wood*

 

[Ramjet]

I had one that was very badly damaged by a larger older kit (this was before I knew that you need to remove the weaned kits from the cages when the mom kindles a new nest)

I ran a bowl of warm water and drown it....

A friend sells hers for snake food and the snake guy dispatches.

Not to sound like an ass or anything , but can you think of a slower method of dispatch. The idea of a humane dispatch is to limit the suffering of the critter , not ours.

Death instantaneous is a humane dispatch , death in a minute or two .... not so much.

Depending on how young I've heard garden shears to lop off their heads quickly, or the sack meathod where you put them in a bag or a sack and then swing it hard into the floor, killing them on impact. Personally I'd do the sack meathod but I've yet to need to. *knock on wood*

I've done both , and wont use the bag method again , its surprising how resilient those little critters are. Whack the bag a couple times , a few minutes later notice movement , and that sense of dread that I didn't get the job done and left it hurting .... with the shears one would think it's very messy but there isn't much blood in that tiny body.

In the past I had shot fryers in the back of the head with a pellet rifle but if the rabbit moves .... there is the off chance that the projectile doesn't hit the mark and simply injures the critter which isn't a pretty sight.

After much trial and error , Cervical Dislocation is my preferred method for dispatching rabbits .... be they newborns or adults.

 

[alforddm]

I've held them by their back feed and whacked their head hard against a solid object. A metal t-post in my case. It had the added advantage of having an edge so that if I missed the head a bit the edge hit the neck. The few times I had to euthanize a small kit (2 cases). Death was instantaneous.

In my opinion, the problem with having to euthanize any animal is that the kindest methods are often the most traumatic for us. They require direct violence and tend to be a bit messy. So many times people choose take the easy way out for themselves.

 

[MaggieJ]

I've had to dispatch young kits a few times. I placed the kit on a hard surface (at table height) and gave it a good hit on the head with the hammer. I've dispatched numerous rats and mice that I found still alive in traps with this method, and it is quick and sure. Working on a raised surface (I usually do it on the mud room freezer, with newspaper down) gives me better control of the hammer than if it were at floor level.

Once I had to dispatch a chick that was only a week old or so. I used manual cervical dislocation (simply held the chick and pulled the head so the neck popped.) It wasn't easy on me, but it was easy on the chick and if ever faced with that again I would do it with more confidence whether it was a young chick or newborn rabbit.

No one likes dispatching a baby animal . . . It just feels wrong. But if it is to prevent further suffering, it is best just to bite the bullet and get it done.

 

[BelleVie]

Thanks for the advice -- I was wondering because I've read that it is a good time to cull for color or other noticeable defects. And it'd be nice to save money on feed for certain eventual culls... I'd pondered if it would be more natural to put them in the freezer (maybe that sounds stupid or inhumane) because I thought that cold slowly shuts down the body and essentially causes the body to go to sleep? But it's obviously not a quick way to do it...

My daughter accidentally dropped a young kit once and it's back broke so I had to put it out of it's misery. Didn't like it at all -- but I don't have a problem dispatching older rabbits via broomstick method. weird quirk of mine I guess.

 

[FourRingCircus]

I had to do a whole litter one time due to pasteurella . They were around 5 weeks old and cervical dislocation worked well, though it was a bit heebie jeebie for me.... I sucked it up and just got it done as fast as I could. For very young ones scissors work really well (same for chicks, as mentioned above).

 

[Ramjet]

In my opinion, the problem with having to euthanize any animal is that the kindest methods are often the most traumatic for us. They require direct violence and tend to be a bit messy. So many times people choose take the easy way out for themselves.

Absolutely ... It's easier for us to do something like drowning or putting them in a freezer or oxygen deprivation (CO2 chambers) like commercial rabbitries .... but in those cases , the critter suffers while we don't have to see the carnage .... Those are humane for the dispatcher , not the critter who suffers a slow death so we can feel better about it or not have to see the aftermath of a violent act on our part.


Bottom line , if you gotta kill one , kill it swiftly.

 

[BelleVie]

Yeah I agree -- that's just part of good husbandry and I really don't want them to suffer. I'll just have to suck it up and do it. I suppose it's like anything else...gets easier as time goes on.