Culling questions.....

[theduclos]

lol, yes you could electrocute your mice but i think that idea has so many inherent flaws that it isnt worth trying. and any 'experiments' trying to work out a safe way would more then likely brand you as an inhumane person.

im not saying to try these but 1 'safe' (as i will only give you a nice little shock but not actually kill you, eg ive played drinking games with mine) way of testing out if you could kill a mice would be to use a megger (ir tester) on the 1000v scale. I doubt these have the current capacity to deliver the blow to the heart but 1000V through the mouse if effective would prove a very quick and efficient kill. if i owned snakes id give the megger a shot on oa mouse. just to see if its an effective way of killing them.

 

[GTsteve]

Sounds promising Michael.

 

[GTsteve]

[video=youtube;ZWojN2hNuiA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWojN2hNuiA&feature=related[/video]


If it can do that to a bloke...

 

[abbott75]

There are electronic mouse traps on the market. But I think I'll stick to breaking necks for now.

 

[theduclos]

to the uninitiated an ir tester or (megger) is an insulation resistance tester. sparkies use it to test out the insulation of the cables in an electrical installation. how it works is by forcing a large voltage (3 scales, 250v, 500v and 1000v) down a cable to test for any insulation breakdown. if there is a dead short for example it is found using this test. they are a great little tool to have. 1000v gives you a great shock and i reckon it would be just the ticket to knocking off mice quickly. especially you rigged up a little holder that held the 2 prongs so you could simply press it on a mouse to give it a quick whack.

this is only me thinking out loud. i dont keep snakes so i have never had to think of ways to knock off a mouse.

 

[theduclos]

lol, just the same as that video. we played a drinking game one night. each time you lost you had to cop a blow of the megger. it started out at 250 and in the end it went to 1000v. that guy lying on the floor is a bit of overkill. yes it gives you a huge whack but its not lying down material.

 

[Beardieboy]

I did an assignment on chicken slaughter at uni last month, and the electrocution method is only used for stunning - it will not kill all chickens outright, some will die due to heart attacks from the current but others can regain some degree of consciousness after a few minutes (wouldn't be able to live but will have some pain perception and so will suffer). So all chickens electrocuted are then killed by having their throats cut so they bleed out, as soon as possible after their time in the bath.

So I suppose in theory, you could use electrocution to stun your rodents, and then some other method to make sure 100% of them die. Otherwise you would probably end up with rats and mice waking up in the freezer or something which would be a welfare concern, the odds would be there if you're doing it regularly. Plus the systems used for chicken slaughter are automated with the chickens hung by the legs on a conveyor, so no human goes anywhere near the electrified water. Which would be difficult to achieve for mice and rats - unless you can get some sort of tiny conveyor system which is insulated to avoid shocking yourself and will restrain the rodents...

My opinion - possibly a good idea in theory but wouldn't be safe or humane in practice. It would be hard to design a system that's completely safe for the user. Plus unless we're getting into the practice of stunning then killing the little guys there would likely be some humane issues...

 

[Beardieboy]

Note - I am referring only to an electrified bath. I don't know about the insulation testers - no idea so no opinion! Also, I am only talking theoretically, as I only have one snake (Stimmy ) and don't cull my own rodents. Cheers.

 

[GTsteve]

Thanks Beardieboy, that's good info. Awesome first post to I see, welcome.

 

[theduclos]

yeah good post mate. now im not 100% on this but i think most meat places use the throat slitting as the final blow to meet halal requirements (im not 100% sure if chicken needs the same prayer/blessing as beef/lamb)
also its obviously done to bleed them out.

if anyone here is a sparky and owns a megger id suggest you give it a go. the worst that could happen is one mouse suffers a bad death. if its succesfull then it means many more mice may get quicker and cleaner deaths. i have an industry rdo tommorow. happy to bring the megger around to anyone local to dandenong if they want to have a shot.

 

[Snake Catcher Victoria]

How many mice is in a heap?
Id go with throwing them on the concrete. It,s easy to use the gas because you cant see the struggle ...unless you use a see through chamber.
Having a see through chamber is good for a few reasons.One is you can observe and control ratios of gas to try to provide the quickest kill (still a hundred times slower than the concrete floor).
.

Quote:
Originally Posted by jack
schnakey, you clearly have a different opinion as to what is "humane". As far as I am concerned, "Humane" is to show compassion toward an animal, and I do that by killing it as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Quote:
Originally Posted by cris
Yeah but if you slowly suffocate or freeze them, you see them alive, walk away and when you come back they are dead like you get from the shop. Apparently its more humane to pretend you arnt killing them.


Couldn't agree more!!!!!!!

Lewy

What these guys said..
Cheers

 

[Beardieboy]

Cheers guys. I try not to post unless I actually have something worthwhile to contribute!

The halal thing's a bit different btw, it varies by species but chickens for halal/kosher are generally just throat cut to bleed out without stunning (and yes the prayer is needed) - if they're stunned they don't get certified. So electric stunning and then bleeding out is probably used for all the chicken at your local supermarket! Most animal species for human consumption are killed by bleeding out in Australia, with stunning except for kosher/halal which is generally without stunning. But that's off topic so I won't go into it!

 

[theduclos]

not that its particularly related to the topic on hand but i know a few blokes who work in the meat industry, one of em is in an abby. he said that the blokes who are there dont do the prayer for every kill, instead they do the first couple of the day and then the basically just stay there and observe/administer the kills. whilst its solely for religious reasons i have no problems with them not doing the prayers when a single line at an abby may kill 300+ lamb an hour.

 

[Crystal..Discus]

I've watched my Dad - he prefers gassing and throwing them on the ground (Pinkies). I couldn't do it - I don't like the sound they make when they connect with the floor (the crunch makes me a little sick). But really, when you think about it, the pinkies/fuzzies/rats won't care - they're dead.

 

[KaaTom]

not that its particularly related to the topic on hand but i know a few blokes who work in the meat industry, one of em is in an abby. he said that the blokes who are there dont do the prayer for every kill, instead they do the first couple of the day and then the basically just stay there and observe/administer the kills. whilst its solely for religious reasons i have no problems with them not doing the prayers when a single line at an abby may kill 300+ lamb an hour.

I had no idea that they did a prayer for the animals at the abby's... i guess it depends on the preferred method of the person culing as to what is best. I personally couldnt throw a mouse/rat on the floor or knock them unless there is some visual problem with them.

Thanks to all those who have responded and the many answer given to culling pinkies, Im still not 100% sure which way Im going to go bt Im leaning towards CO2

Cheers guys

 

[Bax155]

Lots of people care including me, they may be destined for snake food but that doesnt mean they arent entitled be treated like the living feeling animal they are. If anything it makes them MORE entitled as without them we wouldnt be able to KEEP any snakes as easily as we do.

Comments like that are what turn the general public against reptile keepers.

You no Its people like you who shouldn't have the right to own reptiles as you are oviestly just a pore cruel little boy

:lol::lol: People jumping in as usual before reading the post properly!!! :lol::lol:
Im saying WHO cares what way its done We breed these for food, not to worry about which way they prefer to be killed!! If someone wants to gas em well so be it, if some one likes to clonk em so be it!! My whole point was who cares "AS LONG AS THE JOB GETS DONE" meaning as long as they are killed as quikly as possible the way YOU pefer to do it :lol::lol:
And Lewy Im I cruel little boy hey, check my age my balls dropped years ago :lol::lol: Cruel maybe, but certainly never to herps!!
This is just another great example of people just wanting to have a go at someone and make themselves out to be the greater keeper :lol::lol:
Thanks APS for yet another fantastic laugh!!

 

[Vixen]

Well maybe you should be a little clearer in your communication to get the message across, if you had of said that in the first place it would have been better. The way you worded it sounded like you were one of the people who would just throw them in the freezer to die and laugh about it, or some other cruel way.

 

[Bax155]

Well maybe you should be a little clearer in your communication to get the message across, if you had of said that in the first place it would have been better. The way you worded it sounded like you were one of the people who would just throw them in the freezer to die and laugh about it, or some other cruel way.

Nah Vix just a lazy post as Im sick of this debate, personally Im a gasser!! CO2 that is :lol::lol:

 

[Lewy]

Nah Vix just a lazy post as Im sick of this debate, personally Im a gasser!! CO2 that is :lol::lol:

Well if you would have said that in the first place I would of not said what I said so I'll take back my comment about you

Cheers Lewy

 

[Bax155]

Well if you would have said that in the first place I would of not said what I said so I'll take back my comment about you

Cheers Lewy

Yeah i try to post in the least amount of words as possible as i hate typing!!
Cheers
Baxter