Putting Down My First Animal

There comes a time when you dream of owning a farm and just enjoying the animals. Enjoying the outdoors and the labor that makes the day seem worth it to you. Then, there comes a time for the things no one likes to talk about; putting down an animal. This is something I had to do and I'm here to help you deal with these farm life struggles.

I was feeding the chickens before dusk like any other day. I walk down the foothill and give them a couple scoops of feed, water them, and I sat down by their coop watching them interact. My husband calls it becoming attached, but I call it observant. In this case, it worked in my favor.

I was watching the chickens feed when I noticed one cornish rooster and one cornish hen were still in the coop. They were not racing to eat or drink and I thought this was suspicious. As I opened the coop I see the hen sitting in a nesting box. My chickens are only 4 months old and I figured she was either tired or something was wrong.

I lifted the lid the see the most horrific and yet heart-wrenching sight. One of our three roosters were spurring and had mangled the whole right side of this hen.

I ran to get my husband and we needed to figure out which rooster was spurring before we made any further plans. As we watched, we noticed the rooster inside the coop would not let the hen out. As we pushed her down the ramp he charged at her and we knew it was him.

"We need to put her down. Put her out of her misery" My husband said as we saw the hen struggling to walk. He walked back to the house for the shotgun.

Now, I asked him why he chose to shoot her instead of all of the other humane methods. He simply replied, "I want it to be quick and it hurts my heart to see her suffer."

Before anyone jumps down my throat about it, it was our choice and we did not have the materials handy to kill her. The sun was setting and we needed something quick.

Next, we addressed the rooster. I locked him in the coop at the time of the hen being put down and he was mad. My husband asked me if I wanted to kill him to see if I could handle it. I agreed.

There was no adrenaline. There was no nerves or anxiety. There was a rooster who we said from day one living on this farm would be for breeding and meat. Since he chose to be this aggressive this early we used him for meat. I shot him today, but next time will be more efficient ways to obtain this result. For me, this way seemed easiest.

For anyone living this lifestyle or wanting to try it please know it is not all cute and fluffy memories. Some memories are for the best, but hurt your heart. It makes you stronger. I hope when we start having children and raising them on our farm they will have the courage to do the same and be that much closer to becoming self-sufficient.