DD wont let me butcher

[ScoobyRoo]

Not sure if I'm posting in the right place, if not, please let me know. Anyway, when I bought chickens last spring my intentions were to have laying hens and then butcher when thier time is up. My DD who is 11 is having an emotional time with this. I'm sure there are others that has dealt with this situation before. I need advise on what to do or tell her. I want this to be a positive solution. Was planning on getting meat chickens but put that on hold. My DD went from a hunter to an animal lover and this is getting very frustrating for me. At least she will still eat wild game. What do I do? Remeber I want this to be a positive for both of us.

 

[BirdBrain]

Nothing is worth what your relationship with your daughter is!!

It is just a few chickens. If you can afford it, let her keep the birds and buy the meaties too. My kids hated the thought of losing their roosters (packing peanuts from Ideal) so we rehomed them. They went to Grandpa and Grandma's ranch. They dispatched them. The kids knew it, but it wasn't me that did the deed. My kids don't really like to be around on butchering day, but they love the chicken and know that when the chicks arrive they are headed to the freezer before long. We enjoy them while we have them, but never forget their destiny.

 

[crtrlovr]

Is there any way you could get some strictly meat birds and raise them to butcher, leaving the laying hens to live out their lives? If you got them last Spring, they shouldn't be anywhere near finished laying. Can you divide up the responsibilities of care, letting her care for the laying flock, while you take care of the meaties?

 

[Sugar Sand Farm]

Its very hard when they become attached I have the same problem with my granddaughter who is 7. Hence we have a tom turkey Gobbles who is now 2. She didnt mind eating the Thansgiving turkey last year but ever since we slaughtered our pigs she won't even eat deer meat. No matter what you cook she asks if it is deer or pig. The one thing we did was to buy her her own chickens. That helped when it was time to do some of the roosters. She just won't eat them. We don't force her to eat the meat but we do encourage her to at least try it. Try giving her some of her own chickens and see if that helps. We plan on getting meaties as well but when we do she will know in advance they are not pets.

 

[Indiana hens]

Why does there need to be a conversation about it? Does she eat chicken ? Do you have chickens?= chicken

 

[morelcabin]

I truly believe that we are doing our children an injustice when we allow them to carry the "animal lovers" rant too far. I would begin by explaining to her that in the wild, animals that aren't hunted becone overpopulated and end up dying terrible deaths. As for your coop, she needs to also know that your chickens, while they are fun to raise and collect eggs from, they also have a purpose. In this day and age I think it is very important for our kids to have a sense of being able to use certain animals the way they are meant...for food. I hate to see what will happen to all the "animal lovers" out there if things get really tough and they refuse to hunt for thier food...I have a feeling they will be the ones breaking in to peoples homes and stealing what they have 'prepackaged'
In the long run your daughter needs to be lovingly taught these things in a way that won't jar her emotions too much. Start preparing her somehow and then just do it.

 

[ScoobyRoo]

crtrlover, she does take wonderful care of them. I know the hens will be good for a couple more years. We were just planning ahead because she wanted to get a different breed (crested) and I told her realistically we had no more room. I suggested rehoming or butchering and the debate was on with a few tears.
Birdbrain, I agree with you. That is why I want a positive solution. Taking care of the deed while she is away was not good. She would "know".

I'm think about telling her that we rehomed them but butcher and put them in the freezer before she gets home. But that makes me a liar.

 

[Wifezilla]

I truly believe that we are doing our children an injustice when we allow them to carry the "animal lovers" rant too far.

Agreed.

I know someone who wont buy whole chicken, only cut up chicken because it doesn't look like something that was alive. Uhhhh...HELLO! Something still had to die to feed you!

Now, I do know people that, once they really got the whole food cycle, decided to be vegetarians. Nothing at all wrong with that, but don't let your daughter be a hypocrite. Either she eats meat and knows where it came from or she stops eating meat.​

 

[ScoobyRoo]

Quote:
Yes, she eats chicken. We just have not yet butchered our own yet. She will eat wild game. She use to hunt herself and had no problem with eating the turkeys and wild boars she shot. I just noticed the transition taking place this last fall. She did not want to deer hunt. She is my kid out of 3 that checks on all of our critters and takes wonderful care of them. I have been explaining the 'purpose' of farm animals. I have told her not to name them. I'm trying to get her to just pick a few favorites and let the others be.
Morelcabin, she wouldn't get far with the 'animal lover' rant in our house. Too many hunters and fishermen/kids

 

[morelcabin]

Well then stick to your guns...no other birds added until some are put in the freezer where they eventually belong:>) And then start getting her REALLY interested in other breeds:>) LOL