We have chickens for the 1st time. When we ordered, we ordered layer hens for eggs and Cornish X's for meat. When they came we all knew that the Cornish's were only going to be around for 8 weeks or so. Even my 2 kids, 8 and 5 are aware of it. We have not named them, and we do not play with them like our layers. We have a place here locally that will butcher and dress them for around $1.50 a bird, so we will not being killing them ourself. I was worried about getting attached to the Cornish's, and they were darling little fluff balls when they first came, but after the 1st week, they had grown so much, they start loosing there cuteness. In fact my husband has nicknamed them the Mutants. We have had them for 2 weeks and they had 4x their size and just really are not that cute. So I know that when it is time in about 6 weeks to cull them, it won't be hard. And I have been told by my next door neighbor, that until you have eaten a homegrown cornish, you have not tasted chicken.
We are also getting a couple of dexter cows to use for milk & meat. This is all new to us, but we are really excited to be able to raise our on meat, eggs and milk, and be somewhat self-sufficient. And it will be awesome to know what we are eating, and what has been or not been put into it.