Can you raise chickens to eat, and still love them?

[Hobbley_Farm]

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Yeah, I second MissPrissy in her feelings. Each time I receive eggs, I thank the girls. And when we have to put some on death row, we toast them(we have to numb ourselves a lil) and thank them for what they are about to do. Sounds kinda corny, but it works for us.

 

[NoelTate]

Personally, I could never kill or eat one of my chickens because I do love them. However, I choose to be a pescatarian for that reason. I do not want to be responsible for killing animals because I love them, especially my pets. Any animal that comes to my house will be a spoiled rotten pet that will never be killed and used for food.

 

[MissPrissy]

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A pescatarian is someone who doesn't eat meat or animal flesh except for fish.

Are you saying you are not a meat eater or that you do eat meat as long as someone else is responsible for the killing of it?

 

[greyfields]

I find using a processor makes it a lot easier for me. But, part of me always wants to the turn the truck back around and drop the whole thing.

But, to be honest, taking in the ducks and geese is so much harder than the chickens. I can't watch and I always feel terrible for days.

 

[cozycritters]

I loved my rooster, Blue, from the moment I first saw him-- sweet, beautiful, a little shy-- as he got older he got more and more beautiful. He crowed a lot, though, and it's not legal for roosters at my MILs, so we made the decision to eat him.

I was worried, as I've never killed anything for food in my life. I cry over scorpions I've had to squish... so, I thought this was going to be traumatic... esp. since Blue was *mine*. It wasn't, though. My MIL took his head off with an axe and, then... it wasn't him anymore. It was meat.

I think loving them and still eating them teaches us not to be wasteful of the lives given for our food-- but, once the deed it done, it really isn't them anymore...

And my MIL appreciates not having crowing ever thirty seconds all day and night (literally).

HTH!

 

[the1much]

i love every single bird i have,,, even the ones in the " for sale" pen,, but especially mine,,, and i love eating them,,, throughout their WHOLE lives,, they get treated as an individual,, each one has its "thing" ,, and that gets treated as a "need" for that bird,,,, and i see to EVERY need of my birds,, attention, love,, petting,,, some i have to let attack me,, some i have to fight with, because THEY want that,, so,, they get it,,,, i dont do things for people or animals i dont like

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

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I am with you. I recently found someone who will process for me. I had raised chciens for meat twice, but my wife said no more. She did not like the idea of me killing them and processing them.

She has said that maybe if I take them somewhere and the come back ready for the freezer, it will feel more like they came from the store.

I am ok with that, because with 3 kids into lots of activities, I don't always have the time to process them.

But, the ones raised for meat, are raised seperate and no one plays with, pets, or names them.

Some come here and are here forever.

 

[MichiganWoods]

NoelTate, I can understand that too, and I respect your choice. My cousin won't eat meat of any sort, but she will eat eggs. We honor her beliefs and when she comes around for the holidays, we've always prepared a special vegan meal just for her.

I'll be honest. I love all kinds of meat. I've tried a variety of creatures (alligator, emu, buffalo, lamb, deer ect.). The only creatures that I have personally culled to eat thus far have been fish. My brother tried to go vegan. He too gets very attached to animals. But he soon discovered that his particular body chemistry wouldn't allow for it. He never felt well, even with eating a "balanced" vegan diet. He's slowly started to get back into eating meat, and he feels a lot better physically for it.

Teach97, you're making me hungry to try goat!

I guess I will see come spring if I can do a little more convincing!


Edited to add, you all either typed really fast or I typed this post really slow.

I think it's awesome there are so many of us that truly care for our animals the way we do, even if we end up eating them. If I have too hard a time with processing our chickens, I'll look around to see if there is someone within a 10 mile radius of us that will do it for me.

greyfields, are ducks and geese sweeter (personality-wise) than chicken?

 

[Nikki28]

We are planning on trying out meat birds in the Spring.

How much is it usually to take them to be processed?

mmmmm I wish I could have goats I love goat milk, cheese and meat.

 

[greyfields]

It's highly regional. I hear of people getting them processed for $2/bird. I pay closer to $5, excluding fuel costs.

Money well spent.