Absolutely this. I was born and raised in cities and suburbia but started keeping backyard chickens in my early 20s. Farm life is brutal, and I only experienced a tiny slice of it. Learning from other chicken keepers that not all ailments are worth medical care and sometimes it really is best to “cull” the bird seemed cruel and heartless to me at first.

The absolute worst moment was when a neighbor’s dog jumped my backyard fence and broke into the coop area. I heard the commotion and came outside to see dead chickens all over the place, and one still flapping around in the dog’s mouth. I have never struck an animal before or since, but I grabbed a tree branch from the ground and whacked that poor dog, who immediately let the chicken go and went to investigate one of the dead ones instead. The chicken was squawking and flapping one wing around but I could see by her injuries that she wouldn’t make it. I tried to pick her up because I had been told the best way to cull was to wring their necks, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t even pick her up. Had to run to the garage absolutely sobbing because I knew I had to find something heavy to finish the job. I was only gone 30 seconds but by the time I returned, the chicken was still and limp. Lost every single bird. God, that was an awful, awful day.

Absolutely NO further judgment from this city girl about how rural people manage their animals. One could argue theirs is the more humane way of doing it.