Please help me understand meat eaters not wanting to process a chicken!

i am somewhat the same....I hunted ducks, geese, dove for many years, Cleaned hundreds, hundreds of all 3.
But at 60, I have pretty much given up hunting, just lazy, and don't have the desire any longer, FIsh alot these days.
Last year I raised a dozen mallads for our pond and also started raising chickens (eggs). I love eating the eggs, but I have
absolutly no desire to kill the chickens. I guess I am just soft in old age, I like the darn birds.
I do buy chickens processed, at the local farmers mkt, locally grown birds. Glad to support them.
I know deer hunters who too at some point, just don't want to kill any longer. I think it's just a progression
for some of us......

Hey I have chickens that come to me when I call them.I name them fried,roasted,barbecued,and dumplings

ladysfield said:

I used hypocrite because the writer was suffering criticism from those who did not choose to attend the processing class. People certainly have the freedom not to process with no judgement from anyone as long as they don't condemn the one does does make this choice.

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That was the point of my original post.
I think the hypocracy is not in eating yet not wanting to process but more importantly in not even wanting to know what a grocery or fast food chicken went through in its life and how it ended.
Just my opinion.

johnster said:

...I have
absolutly no desire to kill the chickens. I guess I am just soft in old age, I like the darn birds.
I do buy chickens processed, at the local farmers mkt, locally grown birds. Glad to support them.
...

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I think that is the other answer. If one has no desire there are other alternatives to large scale poultry production.

I get it. As others have said, it is because it is easier to go into the store and grab a packet of meat without thinking of WHERE it came from or HOW it got there. I have been there, done that. However, my husband and I have been talking of extending and raising a flock for meat and not just eggs. We live on 5 acres, which helps. With all of the crap going into food, it seems like knowing where our food is coming from is better than having no idea.
My 5 year old is one of those kids that asks a lot of questions and somehow we got into what meat is. Now everytime we eat, he asks me "Is this meat?" or "Is this pig?" Although he is saddened that we are consuming animals, he understands it is what we do. He asked me why we eat animals and the easiest answer I can give him (and the one that does not bring on MORE questions) is "I'm not sure, we just do." I want my kids to be aware of where food comes from and I try to educate them on healthy choices and more "natural" food rather than processed all the time. Especially if we do begin raising chickens for food. It's not aood. bad thing at all, having the knowledge of where our food comes from, but we have just gotten so used to things being handed to us and given to us prepared. 100 years ago (and probably less) I am sure most people wouldn't have batted an eye at the idea of catching their own food, however now that idea is viewed as absurd by most. These things are a detriment to society, but I get it.

I have never met anyone that both was a chicken eater, and told other people they should not kill chickens. Lots that eat chicken but do not want to see them butchered much less help butcher. Not wanting to participate in butchering does not make someone a hypocrite.

Now I will agree that it would be hypocritical to be concerned about animal welfare, quality of life for the animal, or quality of food for ones table and still purchase factory farmed chicken.

jak2002003 said:

I eat meat, but I don't want to kill or process my own animals.

This in not for sentimental reasons!

Its just messy, looks disgusting, unpleasant, and takes up time I would rather spend doing other things.

People who live in the city would also have trouble getting rid of the waste, feathers, guts etc, of any animals they process.

Its just like people who drive cars, not everyone wants to be a mechanic or gas station worker.

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ladysfield said:

I think you just defined "hypocrite"....

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ladysfield,

the quote above yours in this post was what It seemed you were refering to. and what I took objection to. the quote feature is a usfull tool on this site and can help make statements less likly to be misconstrude.

paul

I was discussing this topic with a friend just before I got my chickens, when I had an epiphany of sorts. It is painful to be grateful for our food. We have been conditioned with the notion that chicken (bird) and chicken (meat) are homonyms, without thinking of the life and death of the animal. We are comfortable with that. It is not comfortable to take it into consideration, it requires a heart of gratitude. It requires no thought or gratitude to drive up to the window and get a McChicken sandwich for one dollar.
I love my chicks, I love all animals. I hope to keep them safe from predators. I hope they provide me with many eggs for my family to eat. I hope they enjoy flying into the branches near their coop. I hope they have fun scratching and pooping all over my yard (which will provide me with fertilizer, while killing bugs and weeds). I hope to provide them with a happy life.
And when the time comes, I hope to give them a swift and humane death.
I will certainly prepare dinner with greater care than would go into a grocery store chicken (meat), placing greater value on a bird I have raised than on meat I got on sale for 97 cents per pound and is easily replaced. I will consider the happy life my chicken had, and be thankful for the things she gave me. I will enjoy the one last gift, with mashed potatoes.
I don't think the factory farm chicken eaters are necessarily hypocrites, I think that they have a subconscious aversion to the pain of gratitude.

Oh, and we did name our chicks: Teriyaki, Kung Pao, Sesame, Wings, Nuggets, And Biscuits.

itshotinjt said:

... He asked me why we eat animals and the easiest answer I can give him (and the one that does not bring on MORE questions) is "I'm not sure, we just do." I want my kids to be aware of where food comes from and I try to educate them on healthy choices and more "natural" food rather than processed all the time. ...

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I like to say "because it is nutritious and delicious"
For someone older, I'd say because we're omnivorous - just like chickens.

pbjls said:

...

Now I will agree that it would be hypocritical to be concerned about animal welfare, quality of life for the animal, or quality of food for ones table and still purchase factory farmed chicken.

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That's my point. Many people are concerned about animal welfare. Well if they are, then do something about it.
With urbanism it probably isn't possible to do away with large scale poultry production completely but a significant impact would be made if all the people that are the subject of this thread only bought from humane sources or raised their own.
There would be many small holders that would rush to meet the demand. If the demand were significant enough then large scale producers might alter some of the methods.

.....................................
Now I have to go kill a rooster if he doesn't shut up.

ChickenCanoe said:

I've raised chickens and lots of other livestock over my 60+ years. As an omnivore, I eat meat as I believe all people should.
I'm an organizer of a backyard chicken meetup group.
I also teach classes on backyard poultry.
The majority of people in classes want to learn about processing.
I have taught processing with tremendous turnout. 21 people are braving the ice and snow to help process chickens tomorrow.

All that said, there are people in our group, including other organizers that are extremely put out by this processng session.
I would understand if they were vegetarians but they eat chicken from grocers and at fast food places.
How can adults, that eat chicken be so disturbed about processing humanely raised birds by the label rouge standard, pastured freedom rangers, be so hypocritical that they will leave the event after believing they should attend because they can't wrap their heads around killing a chicken? Yet the same people, knowing how commercial cornish rocks are raised and processed will continue to eat them with impunity.

I don't get it.

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I would love to be able to find someone who sells farm raised, free ranged poultry. I would buy from them in a heartbeat. When I went to college out of high school, I took an agricultural class. It was a broad view of all the different kinds of farming. We even got to see chickens processed from kill to dressed. I thought it was done very humanely - I did not see any chickens "suffer".

Later I had to witness how my then mother-in-law "processed" chickens. She would have someone stand over the pen and scream at them - just scared the h*** out of them. She said it gave them more flavor??? Then she chopped off their heads with a pretty dull axe and laughed as the poor headless critters ran around. Again, she said this gave them more flavor. Flavor schmavor - she was just a sadistic, mean woman who liked to make other creatures suffer (humans included). It was the most disgusting thing I have ever witnessed.

Now that I have a layer flock, I find I do like each individual chicken's personality. However, with excess or mean roosters I have no problem giving them to one of my neighbors. He has so little and he is always grateful for a rooster that he can butcher and eat or freeze for later.

I have no interest or desire to process my own meat birds or watch it being done. I fully appreciate those that can do it in a humane manner.

Just my two cents worth.

Vickie et al
Kelso, WA