Can anyone else NOT get rid of chickens?

[Preservation Acres]

I'm kinda in a lucky position here. My wife loves our chickens as much as I do. My kids carry them around, pet them, and talk to them.

So....I get to sit back and say that we can't use any of our chickens for food purposes because the family won't let me.

Truth be known, I'd never do it either, but this way, I get to stay "Manly!"

 

[Lucy4]

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Putnam County. I live on a 100 by 80 foot piece of land. And my chickens are illegal (though I really didn't know that when I got them! They're allowed in our town, but not on our size piece of land.) Most of my neighbors are cool, but the ones closest are evil. I would like to borrow one of your roos and put in bed with them one morning for a fun, fun surprise.

I like the 4-H idea, by the way!

All these responses are making me smile this morning. And to whomever was talking about names: that is so right on! If I hadn't named them, it probably wouldn't be so hard. But even Evil Alice is named, so there you are.

Hubby is being nicer about it, now that he's seen how it's worried me. He had originally agreed to two new australorps... til he learned chickens don't lay an egg a day the rest of their lives. Then he said, how about we get rid of two before we take on two new ones? (which means he wouldn't have to expand the coop.) Now we're in compromise mode. Two new ones and a coop move in 2011; all the girls can stay. And Evil Alice can remain, unless some 4-H kid decides to be very brave and take her on.

 

[randomchick]

If you can't get rid of your chickens knowing they will become meat, then can you eat chicken yourself? Every chicken you eat, every piece of meat you eat comes from a living breathing animal. I understand your feelings, but I find it funny how humans are predispositioned to love some animals and not give a second thought to others.
There are humane ways of killing a chicken, and I would not feel bad at all about giving the animal purpose, i.e. feeding an omnivore like humans. I would honestly feel worse about letting the chicken go to waste.
Just my opinion and I do sympathise with how you feel, and it is perfectly normal.

 

[Lucy4]

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It's because they're mine.

I know it's irrational. And I have no problem with other chicken owners using their flock for meat! In fact, I respect that far more than buying poultry that comes from a factory-farm source. We only eat certified-humane poultry, and only 2 times a week. No other meat. It's not that I "don't give a second thought to it." (I was a vegetarian for 16 years, so I take this seriously. I only started eating poultry at all because I was so sick and anemic when I was pregnant, and the midwife suggested animal protein.)

That said? I don't think keeping a chicken as a pet is "letting it go to waste." They're funny, entertaining things. To each their own, right?

 

[Preservation Acres]

Quote:
It's because they're mine.

I know it's irrational. And I have no problem with other chicken owners using their flock for meat! In fact, I respect that far more than buying poultry that comes from a factory-farm source. We only eat certified-humane poultry, and only 2 times a week. No other meat. It's not that I "don't give a second thought to it." (I was a vegetarian for 16 years, so I take this seriously. I only started eating poultry at all because I was so sick and anemic when I was pregnant, and the midwife suggested animal protein.)

That said? I don't think keeping a chicken as a pet is "letting it go to waste." They're funny, entertaining things. To each their own, right?

You're not irrational. It's a simple attachment. You can't equate an unknown chicken that you buy from a grocery store with a chicken that you've raised, fed, and cared for.

 

[teach1rusl]

Well, I don't have any eggs yet, but I will be keeping my girls until they die. But I got chickens as kind of a hobby...they relax me, and I think of them similarly to my cats and dogs. I'm very much looking forward to them laying, but eggs will just be a bonus for me, not the primary purpose. If I had chickens for the primary purpose of eggs, I'm not sure what I'd do...thankfully I don't have to worry about it.

ETA: I just asked DH if he could eat our girls and he said "If I was starving I could!" lol I asked about your concern and he said "Nope...I can just go to Kroger."

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

Quote:
It's because they're mine.

I know it's irrational. And I have no problem with other chicken owners using their flock for meat! In fact, I respect that far more than buying poultry that comes from a factory-farm source. We only eat certified-humane poultry, and only 2 times a week. No other meat. It's not that I "don't give a second thought to it." (I was a vegetarian for 16 years, so I take this seriously. I only started eating poultry at all because I was so sick and anemic when I was pregnant, and the midwife suggested animal protein.)

That said? I don't think keeping a chicken as a pet is "letting it go to waste." They're funny, entertaining things. To each their own, right?

I agree! It's hard to love something you don't know. We also purchace only organic/humanely grown chicken as well as other poultry and I never truely enjoy it. I'm a picky eater, and quite frankly, I don't consume enough protein to sustain a healthy diet without having to eat some meat. But that's not the point.

I cannot truely love some animal whom I have never met, made memories with, or knew a day in my life. Of course I spare countless times to think about those whom are bred for human consumption, but things are not in black and white. Eating animals, or not eating them. Can't it be in between? Can it not be a little of each?

I don't think it's irrational at all. We're only human. Once again, just IMHO. I second that: To each their own.

 

[randomchick]

Quote:
It's because they're mine.

I know it's irrational. And I have no problem with other chicken owners using their flock for meat! In fact, I respect that far more than buying poultry that comes from a factory-farm source. We only eat certified-humane poultry, and only 2 times a week. No other meat. It's not that I "don't give a second thought to it." (I was a vegetarian for 16 years, so I take this seriously. I only started eating poultry at all because I was so sick and anemic when I was pregnant, and the midwife suggested animal protein.)

That said? I don't think keeping a chicken as a pet is "letting it go to waste." They're funny, entertaining things. To each their own, right?

I stated above that I do sympathise with how you feel, and it is perfectly normal.

It is our biological predisposition to care for some animals and not give a second thought to others.

I was merely giving my opinion, as another perspective for you.

 

[Katy]

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Even those of us who live on a farm and have lots of room can't afford to keep them forever. I take mine to the local poultry auction. I don't always like doing it, but I can't afford to feed them all forever either.

 

[Lucy4]

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No prob. I really do appreciate the other perspectives... just adding on to state my own.

And Katy, I understand that perspective too, particularly if you keep a lot of animals. It does get expensive.