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The Emotional Side of Chicken Processing

booker81support
By: booker81 and support
Posted 02/19/12 • Last updated 03/27/12 • 4077 views • 21 comments

As documentaries and news articles come out with the latest information about inhumane treatment of meat animals, or the newest outbreak of food poisoning, more and more chicken owners are looking to raising their own chickens for meat use. Many of these chicken owners aren't hunters, and possibly have never voluntarily taken a life of an animal for it's meat. Meat has always been pre-packaged in the perfect portion, with no face or anything other than perhaps a nice cartoon of a happy cow or chicken or farm on the label. As a society we are distanced from our meat, it's no longer personal.

 

Taking the step to become closer to your food source is a big step for many, and can be difficult. That is ok. Depending on your life and raising, you've been taught to never harm living things, but probably eat and enjoy meat.

 

I was personally raised with a close attachment to the critters that were destined to be dinner. I knew the cows, pigs, chickens and ducks, and it was just a fact that we raised them and would eventually eat them. They were livestock, and they were afforded the best care possible to give the best meat possible. They are living things and need to be cared for properly, even if they were going to be killed to eat.

 

When one begins the road to raising chickens for meat, just pound it in your head - you are a "farmer" now. You now have "livestock", not pets. Just like growing a garden, you are growing food for your family. They just happen to be more alive than a tomato plant, but in the end, they are food. The better care you give them, the better food they will give. Fresh air, fresh water, good food will all allow them to grow into a good product.

 

When it comes time to process, remind yourself over and over - this is what you raised them for. You can't eat a living chicken for dinner - your meat must be processed. Taking the BIG leap yourself to process is a hard one for many folks, but it's a rewarding one - once done, you've proven that you can complete the cycle of life and be able to "make" food for your family rather than relying on a store. At first, if you're not used to it, it's hard to take a living creature and transform it into food. It's a skill that requires resolve and backbone - there isn't any turning back. It's ok to feel bad at first - we're conditioned that way as a society to not want to take a life. It will get better through. It's not ideal to be completely blank about the process - for me, I don't feel "bad", I feel thankful for the food and the ability to provide good meat for my family. I'm thankful for each critter I process and I always mentally send it my gratitude for feeding my family. Each animal I kill - from a deer to a chicken, is important to me, and I'm grateful.

 

It's not about not being attached and treating them like things, it's about caring for them with the complete understanding of their purpose and end result. I like my Cornish cross meat chickens - they are amusing and funny. I talk to them, touch them, and spend time checking on them closely - it's good animal husbandry. Just because they are destined for dinner doesn't mean they should have zero contact and be avoided. Rather, it's our human mentality that needs to be changed to understand that killing an animal that isn't attacking you is OK. We have to remember that if we want to eat meat, an animal will die for that purpose,and it should be our duty as their caretakers to give them good care and a humane death. Somewhere with the advent of grocery store meat, we've lost that mentality - as a society. Taking the step to raise meat birds - or any other livestock meant for meat - if a hard step for many at first, because you're bucking years or even generations of teaching that you should never kill anything yourself.

 

A home raised chicken dinner:

LL

 


 

Comments (21)

Silkie-lover33 3/4/12 at 2:31pm
You could just be vegetarian
goldnchocolate 3/20/12 at 7:48am
That chicken looks delicious!!!!!!
beej 3/28/12 at 11:23am
I enjoyed your article and you echo a lot of the sentiment surrounding why I have chosen to raise a "meat crop" this year. I have 4 Cornish Crosses that in 4 weeks will be processed. My aim is to give them the best and fullest life possible in the 8 weeks I am responsible for them and then to honor their lives by providing for my family.
TenHenAustin 3/30/12 at 2:40pm
Very good article! Though our chickens are for eggs, there's a part of me that thinks we may want to completely use the lady when laying prime has past (also liked the article on using older-bird meat)--and, I agree, being closer to how your food is grown, cared for, and harvested is more humane than plastic-wrapped, styro stored, faceless purchases. Our bodies were designed to eat meat--and meat requires a life yielding for ours to continue on. Can we truly appreciate the life yielded for our life continuing as we look at a store-bought couple pounds of wrapped flesh??? We hunt, we fish, we homestead--we are healthier for it, too. Thanks again for the article!
PDXcluck 4/4/12 at 11:24am
Of course you could be a vegetarian, but I don't think that is the point. To me the take away message is, if you're going to eat meat and you have the means to raise your own then don't not do it because you can't stand the thought of killing an animal. If that is a problem for you then you shouldn't eat meat, because like the article says "if we want to eat meat, an animal will die for that purpose". And I agree with TenHenAustin that it is more humane that factory farmed meat, I would even say it is infinitely more humane. Though I do disagree that our bodies were 'designed' to eat meat, on the contrary, they are 'designed' to eat plant matter. But through fire and cooking we've learned how we can make meat a valuable food source. Great article, thank you!
Reurra 4/12/12 at 12:07pm
My problems isnt so much the death of the bird, but the fact that Im eating it. I'm weird in the fact that i cna eat a store bought chicken with no problem, even when I dont know where they ahve been. But eating something I butchered myself seems to rub me wrong. Even eating venison from a deer I killed myself seems to turn me a bit green around the gills. Why is that?
Relocatedyank 4/15/12 at 7:39pm
Reurra -- I feel the same way and the kids and I were talking about this over dinner (eating chicken... from the store.) I don't think I could eat anything that I have (a) named and (b) come to love. To me, it would be like eating our dog. And there's no way that I could do that! I admire those that do, but for us, they are just pets and eggs. :)
fireyshamrock 4/24/12 at 12:54pm
That is a great article. Its a topic discussed in my home as we are about to get some hens for egg laying and my husband asked what are we going to do once they are done laying. Honestly I'd like to say we'd process it but only time will tell on that one. I know I'd make use of as much of the chicken as I could if I had to kill it myself, thats for sure.
Lady Ressler 5/5/12 at 3:18pm
I too believe that people need to become connected again with where their food comes from. I recently heard a girl say she didn't know that apples came from trees and another, that milk came from cows. These were older children around middle school age. I agree with this article in that you can raise an animal/or many, and still remember and carry out its purpose of supplying us with nutrition(eggs or meat) and I have begun the process with teaching my children these things. THANK YOU very much for this great article.
krisendaaves 5/6/12 at 7:40pm
i can't remember where i read, or heard this: when a child was asked where milk comes from, she answered, "the store". i think it could be said that it makes us more human, and humane, to be involved with the growing and processing of what we eat. for all of recorded history man has been intimately aware of natural processes, and his place within them. the twentieth century, with its industrial revolution and the advent of mass production, has caused unprecedented change in the manner in which we relate to our environment. "biophobia" is a relatively new term. it would probably have been the chore of the middle school aged girl that Lady Ressler mentioned, to milk her family's cow, and gather the eggs. i like how the author wrote, "if we want to eat meat, an animal will die for that purpose..." if the markets stopped selling meat it would force large numbers of people out of their omnivorous status overnight. rapidly becoming a nation of cranky carnivores, we might be quite willing to rethink our stance toward growing, hunting and preparing our meat. as it stands now, though, we are not required to DIY en mass, thankfully. thank you for this thought provoking article.
organicmom 5/7/12 at 6:54pm
we just put 9 Cornish crosses in our freezer that a friend had give to us when they were about a week old. We have butchered chickens before, so we had the mindset that these birds were for meat and nothing else. They were so big it was almost a blessing to "put them out of their misery". We thanked each and every bird for helping to feed our family and then proceeded to process them in a very humane fashion.
organicmom 5/7/12 at 6:54pm
Oh yes, I really enjoyed the article.
Yukonchick 5/15/12 at 9:35am
I've got 30 cornish crosses coming at the end of the month and 12 layers. I know I"m gonna have a big job of the processing to do too. Don't know if my husband can do it or not. I've done it before but it was a long time ago. I love animals and don't like to see anything hungry or cold or suffering of any kind so its a bit tough to end a life, but I know that it is the way life is. Human beings are omniverous not vegetarian. Every thing survives in this world by consuming somthing else. The whole world is connected in an amazing ecological system. And when I look at all that chicken nicely wrapped and in the freezer, I thank the creater, for some day there will be a great shortage of food on this planet and to be able to grow your own food is a blessing.
Lulu1957 6/19/12 at 4:07am
I grew up with my mother processing chickens and me helping, but with a huge gap between then and now. We just started with our own birds and when we purchased the meat birds, I was sure I could process them myself. When the time got closer and I began to see that it would be hard to do that to my chicken friends, I found a processor in my area that would do it for $1 a bird. When I take them away in a crate and they come back in bags, it is easier for me to see them as food. I am sure within the next few times I will be doing it myself, but for now it works for me. My friend here at work tells me that after you process them yourself once, it desensitizes you to be able to do it from then on. I just have to get over the hump. It helps that my meat birds don't have the personalities that the pullets do.
jchny2000 7/24/12 at 12:26am
The more i read about the hormones, antibiotics and the other horrors being fed to the "store" chickens, and our food in general... Well i want my family to stay healthy. I kept chickens for meat several years ago. Rule #1 my Gramma taught me: dont name them! If theres a hen you fall in love with keep her, or even a roo. Theres no rules in who "gets it" and i usually had one or 2 hens that were just special. Did the whole coop of 30 chickens in a day with about 6 family members, the whole process was the old fashioned "by hand" way. We then fried up a huge dinner, and enjoyed the company of family. I do miss the simpler times when it was just part of a family task. I just got back into keeping chickens, and already have 9 layers. Have my meat flock planned and building the 2nd coop already!
Eievie 8/17/12 at 8:28pm
I'm veggie. It's hard to adjust to at first, but it's not hard once you get used to it. I'm much happier for it.
But on the other side, we are getting out first chicks this spring, and I hope so much that we don't get the rare male.
LightningTFarm 8/23/12 at 9:04pm
I was raised in the city, but my dad was raised on a farm and always talked about the food they raised, be it crops or livestock. Since my parents retired out to the country, we process our own venison every year, we have butchered our own hogs, rabbits, squirrels, etc. I have just started raising ducks, and we are about to have to butcher the extra drakes. I know this will be harder than the deer, but I've known from the start that's what would happen. I have to say, I am looking forward to that duck and oyster gumbo!!
chicken pickin 8/31/12 at 6:03pm
I appreciate this article. Its good to hear about how hard it feels for people to take a life, it means we are human. I felt the same way not to long ago. But I loved raising my first flock of egg layers I enjoyed watching them and tending to them and I knew I wanted more poultry around. I also decided while us as a family with 3 young kids were learning about going back to the basics, already having egg layers and a garden for veggies I thought what better time to teach my kids where meat really comes from. Our CX are almost 7 weeks and we are processing them in just 2 short days along with our 2BBWs. I am very nervous to take the lives of these wonderful gentle funny birds and I will miss them. But I know they were bred and raised for the purpose of providing meat for my family and I am so excited to have the process over and my freezer stocked full of happy loved healthy chicken/turkeys.
Thoreau 10/1/12 at 6:41pm
I'm new to chickens and will begin this spring (or sooner), but have raised rabbits for a while now. We (me, wife, and 12-yr old son) have our pets (breeders) and they provide us with food (kits). They are "bunnies" until they become "rabbits", then they go into the freezer. We play with the babies and enjoy giving them a great life for about 3 months (better than many other livestock endure), but when the time comes... we all know they go "out back" with me and come back in bags. Each and every one is thanked for it's gift to our family. Every time we discuss how fun the 'bunnies' are, we remind ourselves that they will become 'rabbits' one day.
I guess the point of this comment is that we know that food animals will become food for us, but that we do enjoy the time we have with them as living critters under our care. We don't "fall in love" with them like we do our pets because we know their fate all along, but we do enjoy their company and make their life as enjoyable as we can.
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