What is the best way to euthanize Livestock?

[Yupo]

A very interesting study, Keit. Thank you for sharing it. Pretty sure no one will study it, but I am curious about emotional stress in the herd/companion animals around witnessing such events. Maybe adrenaline levels could be checked. I guess it doesn't matter much if the herd is mainly for meat.
I read (on the Permies forum, I think) a recommendation to keep 2 separated flocks of chickens; one for meat and another for eggs. The writer said that the birds aren't as stupid as people think, and some get wise to what is going on pretty quickly.
Sounds a bit like us!
There was a story on SOTT a while back about a cow that got wise, took off running from the abattoir.
https://www.sott.net/article/290147-Cow-flees-slaugherhouse-in-Pocatello-Idaho

I was saddened. The cow woke up (I guess). Can't have the critters getting ideas of their own, can we?

 

[davey72]

May I ask why you have a companion in there with them?
One thing with halal slaughter/butchering, is that it is to be done solo, (like in a small enclosed place which can be cleaned before bringing in the next animal) so as not to terrify the other critters of the herd/flock. We should be as kind as possible in every way when taking a life.

Some time ago I also did research on the topic of the most humane way of killing cattle. And the way Flashgordonv described (casually walking by and then one shot in the forehead) appears to be the most "stress free" method for the animal. Of course a gun with silencer is preferable (and if possible).

The reason for having other animals around is also stress related, as they will be more stressed if they will find themselves suddenly alone, separated from the rest. Sometimes, especially with beef cattle, it is very hard to separate them and catch one specific cow. Veterinarians know it very well, since it can take hours just to single out one beef cow. That's why a gun with silencer is better, because this way other cows won't even realize what happened if they will suddenly see another cow falling down. And then the rest of the animals can be led to the paddock before the skinning process. But then, it is probably hard to find professionals like this everywhere that can do this kind of slaughter, not to mention having a silencer.

I also heard that in some places in Europe (maybe also in US?) there is even a "moving slaughter house", where after killing the animal they put it on the hoist and do the skinning in the car. But this service is apparently pretty pricey.

With pigs, especially when slaughtering a bunch of them, indeed doing it with CO2 appears to be the least stressful. They are very sensitive animals, and will stress out no matter what, especially if they need to be moved from one location to another. So for them CO2 is really like going to sleep.

BUT, in order for it to be really humane, it should be done in a well-organized manner, so pigs wouldn't realize what was about to happen. Here is an example of extremely bad executing of this method. Basically in this case pigs had all the prior indications possible of what was to come, so surely it turned out to be rather horrible. But if done properly, it appears to be the best way that was invented so far. Even Temple Grandin, cited in the article, said that this was "an example of a humane practice being poorly executed."

When i was raising and slaughtering my own pigs i quickly realized that letting the other pigs close enough to hear, or sense the kill, let alone see it traumatizes these poor animals for the rest of their lives. I know from experience.

I have found that as long as you know what you are doing then a bullet to the right part of the head, and quickly slitting the throat ensuring that you cut the artery seems to be the best way to go. I was always getting other people to do it, until i had a friend do it once, and assure me that it was effective through the eardrum, so i let him do it. Well then my "buddy" was just spraying blood screaming and running around as he kept pouring shot after shot into him from short distances. I then had enough time to run into the house for my own rifle, and had to call him to me calmly petting him and whispering to him as i placed the barrel to his forehead, and as soon as i fired he was down and dead. This was my first "kill" and i think it traumatized me for life. I made sure to do it myself from then on so it would be done properly.

 

[Yupo]

Yeah, pigs are not stupid, at all. I think it would scar me for life, too. OTOH, I have never been truly hungry. In a lot of ways, home kills might be better than abattoir kills. Just more control over the 'humanity' of the event.