I Killed a Chick

Momma duck hatched 7 ducklings and one chick. Mamma ducks are great for ducks but poor for chicks. Chicks need to be shown where and what to eat and do not care to go in the mud or puddles. The chick hatched almost 10 days before the ducklings because incubation for chicks is 21 days or so and ducklings is 30. The chick managed to survive because the mother was not off the nest. Otherwise it would have gotten cold because ducklings do not require warming nearly as often as chicks. I left it food and water and it did well. Until today, that is. 

I saw the chick running around and it appeared there was something caught on its throat. At first I thought its heart was torn out of its chest, but it was the gizzard that was. Something literally tore the gizzard right out of the chest. I have no idea how the chick was running around. Maybe after the initial injury, it did not hurt that much, though the bare breast meat was exposed as well as the gizzard, which was hanging out. I felt sick. I knew the best thing was to knock it on the head and put it out of the terrible pain and misery it must have been experiencing. Poor little chick. 

So, I did. I put its head on the fence post and smacked it with a rock. The body jerked and jumped and then there was nothing. I felt terrible - my first killing. This part of farming is NOT fun at all. I am so sorry little chick. I am so sorry. 

The poor little chick was actually running behind its surrogate duck mother with this hanging from its throat. Poor baby chick.