Exposing kids to butchering. Please take a second to weigh in. - Page 7

After re-reading this before submitting it, I have determined that it sounds very preachy, and for that I want to apologize in advance.  My writing skills have deteriorated over the years.  Please take this as it is meant, which is only as my feelings and a reflection of my experiences growing up.  It is not meant in any way to be a directive of how to live your life.

My advise is the talk to the girls and find out if they are interested in this project.  If they have no interest in participating, then don't push the issue.  You cannot force them to appreciate the whole raising and butchering process, that is a decision that they need to make for themselves.   Dialogue goes both ways.  Listen to thier concerns if they have any.

What you can do is have frank and open discussions with them.  If this is important to you and if you decide you want to raise some meaties to butcher, go ahead and do it.  Allow them to participate as much as they want or don't want to do.  Most important to me is that you have a good solid relationship with them.  Allow them to have their own opinions and the right to express those opinions in a respectful way.  But make sure that they also know that others have the right to their own opinions as well.

From all the comments posted here, it seems that most of the people who participate in raising their own meat are those that have either been brought up with the whole sustainable living lifestyle or have chosen that route - of their own free will.  Be aware that it is a lifestyle.  It will become part of who they are.

I was raised with hunting and fishing.  Getting a dual purpose breed to raise for eggs and meat only makes sence to me.  I learned to hunt and fish, mostly so I could spend time with my dad but I found out that I really enjoy being outdoors appreciating nature also.   It has become a part of who I am.

Lol.. my mother didn't believe that.. we named all of our chickens and made pets of them.. and at slaughter she would mark the freezer packages with their names.. then when they became dinner she would announce at the dinner table who we were eating!

Speaking as a 40-something, who's father decided to buy/butcher rabits one summer and chickens another summer... I was 6-8 at the time(s).... raising them was great.  The slaughter totally traumatized me.  I didn't actually watch it.  I knew it was going on and I had screaming fits trying to save the animals.  I can still hear the sounds they made.  Reading this thread has made me cry because it brought all of that back.

To my father who hunted and butcher cows, etc... it was no big deal.  That was life.  We bought our beef from the farm down the road... so I knew where meat came from.

To me as a 6yo who made a pet out of anything that moved and had played with these animals all summer, it was very different knowing they were all killed like that.  I can't eat rabit to this day.  I have hens for eggs and am working myself up to processing my own meat birds (hence why I wondered into this forum)... but even though I can rationally understand why I'm choosing this lifestyle... it does not change the trauma from those summers as a kid.  I can't believe how this thread has totally destroyed weeks of effort to decide if I can raise and process meat birds.  (But now, I"m making a lifestyle choice as an adult)

As someone has said, if you want to continue raising meat birds, then great.  That is your lifestyle... but if you are going to buy them to teach a lesson to children who haven't been raised on a farm... even if they don't participate, they will know that they are eating the birds that they had been feeding last month... I think it would be far better to enroll them in a 4H program that will discuss all aspects of animal husbandry and the business of it.

I'm only posting because you asked people to weigh in. You guys can call me any name you want, but it won't change the fact that 40 years later, I'm still brought to tears by the memory and can still hear the thrashing sounds as if it had happened just today.

ETA: I was only posting my experience as a child who had not been raised around slaughter.  You are free to choose what ever is best for your situation.

After re-reading this before submitting it, I have determined that it sounds very preachy, and for that I want to apologize in advance.  My writing skills have deteriorated over the years.  Please take this as it is meant, which is only as my feelings and a reflection of my experiences growing up.  It is not meant in any way to be a directive of how to live your life.

My advise is the talk to the girls and find out if they are interested in this project.  If they have no interest in participating, then don't push the issue.  You cannot force them to appreciate the whole raising and butchering process, that is a decision that they need to make for themselves.   Dialogue goes both ways.  Listen to thier concerns if they have any.

What you can do is have frank and open discussions with them.  If this is important to you and if you decide you want to raise some meaties to butcher, go ahead and do it.  Allow them to participate as much as they want or don't want to do.  Most important to me is that you have a good solid relationship with them.  Allow them to have their own opinions and the right to express those opinions in a respectful way.  But make sure that they also know that others have the right to their own opinions as well.

From all the comments posted here, it seems that most of the people who participate in raising their own meat are those that have either been brought up with the whole sustainable living lifestyle or have chosen that route - of their own free will.  Be aware that it is a lifestyle.  It will become part of who they are.

I was raised with hunting and fishing.  Getting a dual purpose breed to raise for eggs and meat only makes sence to me.  I learned to hunt and fish, mostly so I could spend time with my dad but I found out that I really enjoy being outdoors appreciating nature also.   It has become a part of who I am.

Hogwash to the entire "written consent" and discussing this with your stepdaughter's bio mom.  That's not your job, that's your husband's job - I don't think you raising meat birds and encouraging them to be a part of the process is anything that could be used against you.  If you force them to be, that's another story.  I assume that your husband is an active parent, and has a say in their lives, so if he's on board, and you're not overbearing and forcing the issue, the knowledge they will gain from the process is invaluable.  I say start with Food Inc. and begin discussing as a family where food comes from, how its made, etc.  Start teaching them now, and prepping them for later.  I also suggest laying birds first, get day old chicks and then get a couple of pullets so they don't have to wait 20 weeks to see the fruits of their labor.  As you're doing this process working them up to having meat birds around might be a bit easier.

When the decision to have meaties is made, then you'll need to discuss the process of slaughtering them and what to expect.  They may (or may not) want to be a part of it, let them decide.  I think it would be far more traumatic to force them to watch, so if it is participation or watching by choice - I think that's fine.  Your entire family may like it, and next year you might raise more, and your girls may want to be involved.  Kudos to you for stepping up as the stepmom and trying to impart some widsom.  Blended family raising isn't easy, I know because my son's father probably watches from a distance what we are doing to raise our son with my husband.  But, he trusts us and our parenting style.  That is key.  Best of luck!

I have a 4 yo, and wonder the same thing, is it appropriate for him to see us process the chickens?  I don't know what the right age is, but I know the longer I wait the more traumatic I think it will be.  He knows our meaties are dinner, we've told him that from the beginning.  We are also raising pigs, and have egg birds, so he's getting the full experience in raising animals for food.

Thanks to another family in his day care, their son told mine how they get slaughtered.  His parents did a better job than I would have ever done trying to explain it to my son.  Essentially it goes a little something like:

First you put them upside down in the cone and then let out all of the blood until they don't move anymore.  Then you put them in hot hot water so the feathers will come out.  Then you pull the feathers off, and then you reach in side and take out the insides. 

I have to admit that I'm a little nervous about processing the birds, but as I read, look at images, and prepare myself, I have an easier time with what I'll be doing in 7 weeks (and counting).  If you asked me 2 years ago if I'd have 17 laying birds, 2 pigs and 25 meaties, I would have said you were nuts!  I like knowing where my food comes from.  My husband refuses to listen to my ramblings, he'd rather not think about it.  Its better to know, and make the choice to eat that food, or to raise your own.