Culling... To eat or not to eat? the bigger picture...

[Rodster]

Wow, again so many great replies.

Quote:
I think thats why i decided to raise turkeys as well. i just kind of feel that if one bird can only feed one or 2 people, thats not as good as one feeding 5 or 6, or giving a weeks worth of food from one life versus a single meal or less. I think i can feel better thinking the life i took will sustain me longer and go further. food for thought anyways. i sure wish my turkey peeps turkeypox would start clearing up, it's still getting worse and they aren't looking so great lately. will look into some sort of suppliment but they are picky eaters without the flock around and the flock prefers to steal their food, then see then get better. the second set of reading books also seem very interesting. Thanks for the bump. it is hard wathcing them, enjoying them, learning how they communicate, intermingle and have their own sense of society when you know the premeditated outcome. I think about culling and it jsut so far feels like murder in a way. you wonder which ones will be missed more, how the others react to the loss, the re evaluation of the pecking order... it's as fascinating as it is tearjerking in a way, yet all part of the circle of life. i can't see how anyone could have a happy life as an animal processor anymore then that guy could imagine how those poor birds feel as nothing more then cattle or product. No i could not watch any documntery on animal abuse, i'd just die inside. This is why i wrote this thread to help me and others deal with these issues. i am SO glad i am in the company of others that feel so similarly inside towards our friends. i hold my peeps who now accept it pretty well, look at those terrible pox taking over their entire faces, eyes, and theres not a thing i can do but carefully dab my very expensive antibiotic ointment on them, hoping it will reduce their discomfort and scarring. in some ways i am as cold as stone, yet, holding my peeps, i tear up thinking how i am caring for them now, they just hold perfectly still as i gently apply ointment to their beautiful, pocked up, swelled shut eyes, hoping they recover and get big and strong... so i can kill and eat them on thanksgiving and christmas.
what am i doing to myslef?
Excuse my emotion, it has been a very bad week for me. i dont care to share much personal stuff but im not having a good time right now, and if thats not enough, something is eating the eggs and spooking the hens lately. just what i need... thanks again and keep up the posts.
rodster in tpa bay

 

[cubalaya]

there is another way to look at it. i can only feed and take care of 'so many' chickens. the ones that i feed and take care of should be the best of the best that i can raise. the others are my culls. the extra roosters are food and fill my freezer and this saves me money at the grocery store. the extra hens are sold as layers usually for 15 to 20 dollars. you can sell a few good purebred roosters for 10 to 20 dollars. you can sell chicks too for 3 to 5 dollars but if you sell them too young, you might sell the good ones and end up with the culls. what you end up with is a few good breeders and they end up being your layers. i eat eggs every day. i hatch a lot of eggs in the spring and also some in the fall. the extra eggs are sold and they always sell out at 3 dollars a dozen. this pays for feed. whatever you dont want or need are your culls even your eggs. your culls are money.

 

[itsy]

I didn't think of eating my chicken pets until I got designated meat chickens. Now - after processing my first two chickens, I could say that I would process and eat almost any of my *pet* chickens if there was culling need. Well.. maybe everyone but Nelly....and Milly....uhhh.

If you're interested in meat chickens and processing them - you should check out the stickies at the top of the meaties section of the forum. It's got tons of info (and pictures) and will break you into processing chickens.

 

[bobbi-j]

Quote:
That right there is the key.

 

[Rodster]

much better day today.

Yea, keeping distance will be something to head towards. i know i was dramatic in my last post but this is all new with new emotions. hard to care for a sick bird with no concern but im understanding more and more the right outlook and attitude. Good night folks

 

[Niss]

I culled a sick pullet this weekend and it just felt awful. I would have felt better if I were eating her, but I didn't know what was wrong which let me to antibiotics--right there are two big reasons not to eat her, plus she was so scrawny.

runsw/scissors-- Banty and Jersey giant crosses??? Is the result a normal sized bird?

 

[Rodster]

Morning, so sorry to hear. i went through something similar. my sick peep (pox- 11 week turk) was possibly starting to make it and i think he fell out of bed last night and broke his neck. i found him on the floor this am feet up and just starting to get stiff. Well, he was all of about... 3/4 of a pound of feathers and skin but my roomie hated the idea of just loosing 10 bucks like that. so he decided to practice for the future and provided us each with a foot to dry and keep. then he decided to try a drumstick and before i knew it the wings were in the freezer, drumsticks in the fridge and the rest of the poor thing under the dining room window feeding the petunias. Now, wheather or not it's a grand idea to eat an already found dead bird versus one you culled and bled or not has yet to be seen but for now i can say i survived the process without vomiting. wheather i ever get daring enough to even cook those legs or not remains to be seen as well. for now they will go in the freezer until i get over this pit in my stomach. i could never imagine doing that to my cat... which makes my head swim even more. i thinks me is in the wrong profession all of a suden... Anywho, so much for my first loss.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Rodster - sorry about the issues that you are having lately.

Hopefully things will turn around for you. As my mom used to say, "the clouds will clear and the sky will turn blue".

One thing that you need to remember, chickens and turkey are prey animals. Their lot in life is to be eaten. If you can give them the best life you can, and when it is time, give them a quick and humane death; then you have done the most wonderful thing in the world. Chickens do not have human feelings and emotions. They don't think deep thoughts and contemplate their end, they just simply live for the moment. Enjoy the turkey legs, and thank him for his contribution to your world.

 

[Rodster]

Morning.
Thanks Wyo...
My adult head knows all of this of course. It's just that this is my
first time ever growing an animal for the purpose of eating versus
a pet and it will take some adjustment. How to care for something you
eventually plan to eat isn't something that comes naturally to some
of us. In fact, i think i've only shot and killed one bird in my entire life,
and even that was an accident... my little bb gun that i thought wasn't
acurate enough to hit a barn at 100 feet and all i could do was cry as
i held the female jackle as her mate watched her die in my hands from above.
yea, i was 37 playing with a bb gun, then crying like a school girl.

Now, i have fished since i was 5 and even eaten my own kills. I have also
killed numerous rats in various ways but aside from that... most any animal
i have ever killed has been an accident. So i already have a dis-advantage to start with.

So, for all you creature loving, god fearing chicken/fowl keepers, know that you are
not alone. i figure if i stick with it long enough i will become proficiant at growing
and preparing my own livestock or perhaps will learn instead to grow vegetables
and becomming vegan before my experiment is done and over with. i will live with whatever
comes but i am finding my taste for meat already seems to be diminishing.

probably just a phase. keep ya posted.

 

[lauralou]

Here's the way I look at it: Hens are pets, roosters are food.

I don't have a lot of birds, and I don't hatch a lot of eggs. Whenever I hatch eggs, I hatch too many roosters. That's just how it is. I won't have my beloved hens terrorized and overmated by a bunch of horny roosters. I do try to rehome the nicer boys, and I actually have pretty good luck selling them off. (Which buys a bit of feed for the others.) The nasty ones get the ax immediately. Nothing tastes better than a mean rooster!

We have also culled a few "poorly" youngsters. I want a healthy, hardy flock, and I can't see babying a disabled chicken. Just off the top of my head, one that was crossbeaked, one that just wasn't developing properly, always crying... We have one now that may be culled. We've decided to give her a little more time, and see how she develops. Culling a cute little baby is very hard, but I feel that it's the responsible thing to do.

The act of processing a bird isn't pleasant, but it gets easier the more you do it. We have a groove to it by now. A processing table which stays out by the coops and is generally used to sit beverages on while I sit out with the girls in the evenings, The hatchet hangs underneath out of the weather. I know exactly what needs to come out when we're going to do the deed. A big rubbermade tote, a big bowl, a knife, latex gloves... Preparation is key. We also go the route of skinning as opposed to plucking. Just because it's easier and quicker. We generally grab culls off the roost in the evening, so time before dark is an issue.

I love my chickens, and they are pets to me. I never expected to make any money off of them. I enjoy them very much and spend loads of time with them. At the same time, I have to be practical.