We ended up with a lame chick in our last group that hatched. DH has tried all kinds of tricks to help straighten her legs out, but she’s not doing well and it feels like it may be time to do the kind thing. 
How, exactly, does one go about doing this? We’re not unfamiliar with having to put animals down, this one is just… so tiny. Help?
How old is it? Usually removal of the head is the fastest way.
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@enjoytheride is probably right, but for a softy like me what worked was putting chicken in a plastic bag, then filling the bag with a toxic aerosol.
What I had on hand was spray furazone & it worked pretty quickly & seemed painless.
This was for a fullgrown hen showing signs of Marek’s Disease.
I farmed chickens, ducks, peacocks, and a few turkeys for years, I wouldn’t consider myself an expert, but definitely experienced. It was a lot of trial and error but we got it and had a successful small operation that fed my family and a select few friends for years. We farmed meat and egg layers.
The best and most humane way to dispatch anything of the poultry variety is a well placed bullet right behind the eye. If the bird is too small or you do not have access to a firearm, hold the bird by it’s feet, upside down for 10 minutes, the blood will rush to it’s head and it will relax. A sharp ax, hatchet or heavy meat cleaver should do the trick. Not too close to the body or it will be much tougher to get the ax all the way through on the first try.
Do not try to use a toxic aerosol as advised above. Safe disposal becomes incredibly difficult when chemicals are used to euthanize. Also, you may see neck wringing suggested. Unless you have done it before, and know EXACTLY what you’re doing and how to do it correctly, do not attempt. If not done 100% correctly the chicken may survive.
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@WildGooseChase Disposal of one small chick should not be a problem.
Burial, or even adding to non-recyclable trash are both options.
I have a very small flock, 7 birds tops, and dead hens - from predation or natural causes - get bagged (plastic grocery bags) & put out for trash pickup.
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Thanks for this information, never know when I might need it.
I had already read an article about how to kill a horse, should it get injured in the back country on a pack trip. Better to know how to kill it quick and clean, than let them suffer by doing it wrong. At the time I was doing back country riding, might have needed it.
It still might be useful after an accident situation locally, where Vet is not readily available. Amazingly some police/ deputy folks don’t know how to put down injured animals quickly.
Might be worth learning, should you ever come upon such a situation.
I have a friend who has had chickens for years. Her go to euthanasia method in an emergency is carbon monoxide. She will put the bird in a brown paper bag and hold up to the tailpipe of a running vehicle. It has always been a quick and efficient way to do it. Just be careful with the hot tailpipe.
I use high quality long handled loppers for adult birds. Place bird in processing cone, cut off head. The body spasms, but the head is off, and the bird is gone.
Sharp kitchen sheers for chicks 
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Grandma used a long stiff wire with a crook on the end to catch a chicken by a leg.
Then would cradle them under one arm and wring their necks.
It all took seconds, happened so fast you could hardly see what went on.
They never knew what happened, didn’t even flop around.
Can’t tell you how exactly that is done.
None of us would go there after Grandma quit taking care of that job, in her late 80’s.
We quit chickens after that.
Not sure using a bullet in close quarters, at the height of a chicken’s head, is such a good idea, be careful.
Funny thing is, a vet I worked for swears it is much, much harder to wring a chickens neck than what you would think! There is a skill to it!
I expect there is a skill to that, one many just don’t care to learn, I think.
Interesting what the OP will do.
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For dispatching a full-sized chicken, if you are oogy about cutting its throat, google “broomstick method” of cervical dislocation.
In theory, this is a skill LE doesn’t necessarily need to know as either vet (domesticated) or Department of Wildlife (whatever the name of the state responsible wildlife agency is) would be the first person to contact.
Yes, LE do end up having to dispatch animals… often those hit by motor vehicles. If LE is in a area where this would be common, probably a skill they learn in their field training.
Thanks all. The chick is…3-4 weeks old? Small. Would usually opt the shooting route, but it seemed oddly excessive for this. May come to that, though… not sure how hubby is going to feel about chopping her head off.
If it is still pretty small, the method I use for injured small animals is to smoosh them with a quick cinder block crush. I hate hurting things, but this rapid & instant. I set them on top of a hard surface (like another cinder block) & bring the block down with full force. A full sized cinder block gives a big target area. They know nothing & it’s very effective.
Eta - I have seen the tail pipe method in action, the animal struggled, I was not impressed. Suffocation ,however brief , is not a nice feeling.
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It sucks. We had a grow out that got a upper respiratory infection. It didn’t respond to antibiotics and my fiance had to dispatch it. He hunts and got a little emotional killing a pet, even if it was a chicken. Usually they have the grace to just die all of a sudden.
I use baking soda and white vinegar - if a chick, in a small bucket with a lid. A full sized bird, I put the mix in a plastic bag and hold it over it’s head. It literally takes seconds for them to pass.
With a tiny chick, you can also take a couple pages of newspaper and roll tightly around the chick to immobilize. Make sure you know where the head is, even mark the outside of the rolled newspaper with an X if you’re nervous. One swift hammer blow to its skull is instant and humane, and having the sight and sound hidden from your view by the rolled newspaper makes it less awful to do.
It is a problem when a bunch of people do it, or when you do it several times a year. The bird still ends up in a landfill. You’ll never see me use chemical euthanasia on anything but large livestock, and then I am extremely careful with disposal. Improper disposal can lead to tainted soil, ground water and crops.
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