Holding a chicken upside down: Is it safe?

July 15, 2020 Bri Wyzard

“I am so sorry, I feel as though I killed her.”

“I was absolutely horrified at what I’d done… and I feel terrible.”

“I feel horrible!… My heart aches so much!”

These are actual quotes I found in forums from people who held their chickens upside down for short periods of time and found their chickens were dead when they righted them. However, I found other anecdotes where people said they actually hold their chickens upside down all the time, and that the idea that this may cause a problem is “ridiculous.”

So is it safe to hold a chicken upside down? No, hanging or holding a chicken upside down is not safe as this puts undue stress on their lungs, heart, circulatory system, and other organs, and can result in death from asphyxiation or from aspiration of crop contents. Leg injuries, wing injuries, and tonic immobility are also serious risks.

Read on to learn exactly how being upside down affects a chicken’s body, the variety of reasons people hang their chickens upside down in the first place, and what you can do instead of holding your chickens upside down.

For the purposes of this article, “upside down” means either held vertically upside down by the feet or held on the back tilted in a downwards position.

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Why a chicken might die if he is held upside down

Can a chicken breathe upside down?

Even in humans, it’s not always certain why a person dies when stuck in an upside down position, unless an autopsy is done. The same is true for chickens, but the most likely reason a chicken has died in this position is because they can’t breathe.

A chicken’s respiratory system is drastically different from a human’s respiratory system. In an upside down human, the lungs feel the weight of the liver and intestines. The diaphragm, the muscle that allows one to draw air into the lungs, eventually fatigues to the point that the person can’t take breaths any longer.

For chickens, it’s much worse. Chickens don’t have a working diaphragm like a human does. They instead use their abdominal muscles to control breathing at rest, and when they are active, the entire body cavity expands and contracts to control breathing. This is why if you hold a chicken too tightly, not allowing his keel and rib bones to move, he can die from lack of oxygen.

A chicken’s respiratory system is also very different because the lungs do not expand with breath the way a human’s lungs do. Chickens instead have nine air sacs throughout their bodies that expand and contract with moving air.

When a chicken is held upside down, gravity causes the chicken’s organs to squeeze against his lungs and some of his air sacs, but, unlike a human, the chicken does not have a diaphragm muscle to force inhalations. The chicken, then, struggles much harder to draw in new breath.

Aspiration of food and water in an upside down position

Sadly, a very common cause of death in an upside down chicken is aspiration of the crop contents leading to suffocation. When a chicken is held upside down, his crop contents may be expelled and then inhaled into the windpipe and lungs. This is especially a risk if your chicken has a very full crop or is in a weakened state.

How long can a chicken live upside down?

Whereas a person may be able to live from several hours to up to a day or so in an upside down position, for a chicken, it may be only minutes. Some chicken keepers have said their chickens have died in as little as 2-3 minutes.

The time until death will be dependent upon how healthy the chicken is as well as the cause of death. If a chicken aspirates crop contents, death could happen very quickly, whereas with asphyxiation, death may take much longer.

Based on personal anecdotes, it seems some chickens are able to live for a couple of hours. These anecdotes are all conjecture, though, because they referred to chickens who accidentally got hung upside down (for example, one got his foot caught in a fence while jumping or flying).

The anecdotes give the keepers’ best guesses for how long the chickens were hanging upside down before they were found and rescued (or buried). I could not find a good source for a maximum time.

How a chicken may be injured if he is held upside down

Chickens are also prone to leg injuries if held by their feet, and wing injuries from flapping if the space around them is not completely clear.

Leg injures are especially a risk for hens who don’t get enough calcium in their diets and end up drawing calcium out of their bones to make their eggshells. This can cause many hens to have very brittle bones. When these hens are held upside down, their legs break. Some get hip dislocations.

This is especially common in ex-battery hens, but may occur in backyard chickens as well.

Severe fright and tonic immobility in chickens held upside down

Holding a chicken upside down may also cause them to go into a state of tonic immobility, also called “animal hypnosis,” which is a catatonic condition triggered by extreme fear and confinement of the body.

Chickens in tonic immobility appear to be paralyzed—they don’t move at all. Some people mistake this for calmness.

Although most chickens won’t die from tonic immobility, it may cause long-term psychological trauma.

Why do people hang chickens upside down and what can you do instead?

Here are the reasons people have given for holding their chickens up side down:

To calm them
For health exams
To administer medical treatments
For inspection at shows and fairs
To transport them
To tame them
To determine a young chicken’s sex
To punish a rooster or show him who is dominate
For ease of slaughter
For entertainment

Why an upside down chicken appears calm

A lot of people mistakenly believe that because the chicken appears calm this means he is calm, that he is both mentally and physically at peace. Instead, he may actually be suffering from extreme fear, discomfort, and even pain. Just because a chicken stops struggling, does not mean he is calm.

How to calm your chicken instead of holding him upside down

If you need to calm your chicken, you can take a kind approach. Always handle your chickens gently and speak to them softly and reassuringly. The more time you spend around your chickens, the more they will trust you, and the easier it will be to calm them.

I have three main techniques I like to use if I need a chicken to be calm.

Towel-wrap the chicken. This is my favorite technique if I have a very fearful or aggressive chicken I need to help. I gently wrap a towel around him. You need to make sure the towel is not wrapped tightly, or your chicken won’t be able to breathe. Wrapping the chicken in a towel makes it easy to pick him up and hold, and he generally won’t struggle at all, or will quit struggling quickly. If he still seems agitated, gently cover his eyes with the towel.
Pick the chicken up and keep his wings held down. If the towel method isn’t an option, try this. Gently hold the chicken up against you with both his wings gently clamped down. Your body keeps one of the wings down. Use your hands to hold the other wing down. Don’t squeeze your chicken very hard as he won’t be able to breathe. Hold him like this until he settles down. Then free one hand to examine him. If the chicken is very panicked, you may need to get a second person to do the examination and treatment while you hold the chicken. If you can cover the chicken’s eyes with a cloth, this often helps to get him to settle down.
Grab the chicken at night after he has gone to roost. Chickens are often very drowsy and out of it when they are near sleep or have been woken up. You may be able to just pick him up off the roost with no struggling or problems at all. Bring a headlamp and do what you need to do to help the chicken. An extra set of hands always helps.

Health examinations and medical treatments of upside-down chickens

Many people hang their chickens upside down with the best intentions, such as to more easily administer medical treatments or to give examinations.

Chickens who are already sick or in a weakened state are at high risk for dying if held upside down. Their bodies are just too weak to handle the added strain, and these chickens need to be examined or treated using other means of restraint, such as the ones suggested above.

Show and fair inspection of upside down chickens

Show and fair chickens are commonly held upside down by their legs and feet. This allows the workers to check the chickens for lice and mites and sometimes even to dust them with medication.

Judges also may hold the chicken upside down to inspect the chickens’ breasts. They use this method of restraint because the chickens can’t peck, scratch, or get away in this position, and it appears to make them calm.

A more humane approach would be to hold chickens using the holding method above, even though that is more inconvenient and takes longer for the people doing the inspecting.

Transporting chickens upside down

Another common practice is to carry a chicken by its legs. This is especially common in larger operations where the workers need to move large numbers of birds. Even The European Commission gives this advice for carrying birds:

“Carry upside down by the chicken’s legs

Only carry a maximum of 3 chickens in 1 hand”

They warn that if you don’t handle your poultry well, you may stress or injure the birds, thereby rendering their quality of meat lower. Sadly, they completely ignore the risk of death to the bird.

They do also say that chickens may be moved in crates or they may be carried individually in an upright position—these are much more humane ways of transporting chickens.

Taming a chicken by holding him upside down

Another purpose for holding chickens upside down is the idea that this will tame them. One woman wrote that when she purchased her three chickens, she was told that she “must hang them upside down by their feet daily as part of the taming process.” She said she felt very uncomfortable about this, but the seller insisted the practice was important.

The seller is correct about one thing—hanging the birds upside down may help to tame them, but this is a cruel way to do it. The reason it helps is because the birds get used to being handled.

I personally don’t think it’s necessary to tame my chickens. I leave it up to them how much they want to interact with me. Some of my chickens want me to hold them all day, and others don’t want me to touch them at all, and that’s okay. This is the most respectful way to interact with them.

Another approach is to use positive training methods (as you would when training a dog).

Put some wet feed in a small, shallow dish (chickens love wet feed) and hold it outstretched for your chicken to come take a peck. If your chicken will not approach, start by putting the bowl on the ground and you can sit as near to it as your chicken will allow. As time goes on, move closer to the bowl as your chicken allows.
Eventually you should be able to hold the bowl with your arm outstretched. Draw the bowl in closer to you as your chicken allows.
Finally, you should be able to sit and hold the bowl above your lap so your chicken must crawl onto your to take a bite.
Work on gently touching and then petting your chicken as she allows while she is in your lap.
Progress to putting your arms around her and finally lifting her as she allows.

This training exercise may take days, weeks, or months depending on how often you do it and how fearful your chicken is. If you can, do several very short training sessions throughout the day.

If you feel as though this is too time consuming and you must tame your chickens, you could just pick them up and hold them everyday until they behave as though they are calm. Start with short periods of time, and then gradually increase the length of time you hold them and the number of times you hold them per day until they are tame.

You could even give them a small treat when they behave calmly so they may start to associate being held with a reward.

Sexing chicks by their reactions when held upside down

A lot of farmers say that if you hang your young chickens upside down, you will be able to tell their sex. A male will try to upright himself, whereas a female will remain calm. This is a myth. I even had a rancher tell me the exact opposite—the females struggle, the males don’t. Also untrue.

Others make similar claims about forcing a young chicken on its back. They claim that females will pull their legs up, whereas males will stick them out. I would not be surprised if other people are out there claiming the opposite too. All of these things are false. As hard as it is to wait, only time will tell if your chickens are roosters or hens.

Holding aggressive roosters upside down as a show of dominance

Perhaps one of the most common reasons people give for hanging their chickens upside down is that they do it to “discipline” their roosters. I know of one woman who does this preemptively—she carries her cockerels around upside down while she does chores. She said this shows them who is dominant and prevents them from ever becoming aggressive.

Others will hang their roosters upside down if they show any aggressive behavior whatsoever. They think this shows their roosters who’s boss. They do this until they are very calm and then let them go. This is a cruel way to work with roosters. The idea of a “pecking order” relationship between you and your roosters, in which one of you is dominant and the other is submissive, is completely misguided (more on this in an upcoming post).

Rooster aggression is way too large of a topic to discuss here, and I will write a series of posts about it in the future. In the meantime, the website, Backyard Chicken Talk, is an excellent resource. This site is written by an academic who runs a chicken sanctuary. She has excellent information on fixing rooster problems and on learning how to bond with your roosters.

Holding chickens upside down for slaughter

Many, perhaps most, homesteaders or backyard chicken keepers who raise chickens for slaughter use a kill cone or hang their chickens upside down by a string tied around their ankles. They then will slit the throat or cut the head off of the upside down chicken.

This topic will be covered in another post that’s all about slaughter methods, but you can see that there are major ethical considerations when using a method of killing that requires the chicken to be upside down.

And lastly, holding chickens upside down for entertainment

Some people, particularly children, may hold their chickens upside down because they think it’s funny. They don’t understand what the experience is like for their chickens or the dangers involved. Parents may even encourage it. Here is an example from YouTube categorized as “Comedy.”

Put yourself in your chicken’s place

Being hung upside down is in no way a natural position for chickens. This is a position that’s not even comfortable for humans—and humans at least have a working diaphragm so they can continue breathing for quite awhile.

But even for humans, being held upside down has been used as a form of torture from ancient to modern times. Upside down Roman crucifixion comes to mind.

Just take a moment to think about this from your chicken’s perspective. You grab him by the legs against his will and hang him upside down. Immediately, he is going to have trouble breathing. He feels the incredibly uncomfortable feeling of blood pooling in his head, but he will not know what it is.

He struggles to right himself, tries to kick and flap, but nothing works. He has absolutely no understanding at all of what is happening to him, why it’s happening, or how long it’s going to last. He has no control of his body. As a prey animal, he is absolutely terrified.

This is torture to a chicken, even if he doesn’t die or get injured. Why do it?

If you have been holding your chicken upside down, and the ideas in this post don’t offer a solution for you, please comment below for help in finding an alternative.

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