DD wont let me butcher

[morelcabin]

I gotta tell this story...your DD most likely wouldn't be affected this way because she is a hunter/fisher...
When I was a young kid (about 9 or 10) my dad packed us all in the car because we were going to visit my uncle. We were brought up in the city, but my dad was brought up a farmer so many of his siblings still farmed and raised thier own meat. This uncle we were going to visit was a farmer...
Anyway, the purpose of our visit was so my dad could help my uncle slaughter one of his pigs. All I remember seeing was them dragging this big pig out of the barn and laying it on a table ( it squealing the whole time) I went over to find out what was going on, and got there just in time to see my uncle cut it's throat, and the squealing got even worse for a minute or so.
After that day i had nightmares about my uncle and that farm...and never wanted to go back:>) Never much liked my uncle after that either LOL!
One day about a year after that, we went to visit again and my uncle had a barn full of hogs...probably about 40 of them. I didn't want to see them killed so I let them all out of the barn...Hee hee did that day ever get interesting quick...and did I ever get a good spanking when we got home

 

[Southerngirl]

Our 12 year old DS was the same way. However, upfront he knew the chickens were for meat and eggs but he was allowed to pick his pets out and those we keep for him. He did see us processing them and he said he would just stay in the house. Our 8 yr old DS on the other hand was helping us and playing with the chicken guts !!! I made them both understand that the McDonalds nuggets they eat come from the same animal but ours were raised and loved but their purpose in life is food for us. They do eat the meat without a problem. Once she understands that her food has to come from somewhere it may be easier but do allow her to keep her favorites. NEVER NAME THE ONES FOR FOOD !

 

[annmarie]

Quote:
I saw one in the mirror this morning. She was stunning, the picture of health and vitality! (and she's been a vegetarian for 21 years!)

 

[Wifezilla]

Have you ever seen a healthy looking vegetarian?

There are right ways and wrong ways to do vegetarian.

(I did it completely wrong...LOL I was more of a carbatarian)​

 

[morelcabin]

Vegetarianism is great...until our food supplies get scary, and depending on the climate you live in perhaps you won't be able to get what you need on a daily basis:>) Where i live it's too cold to be vegan for one thing...we need meat just to stay warm! And animals can be hunted any time of the year. Love my greens...but need my meat as well:>)

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

It's likely that the reason your 11 yo DD has "changed" is because her female hormone production is on the rise. This is just an example of things to come!!

Her feelings about things will change...and change...and change...over the next 10 years. You will feel like you are riding a rollercoaster...and you are!!

Two thoughts...first, never lie. Whatever you decide, do it and don't apologize for it.

Second...don't sell or auction off older hens. That's just not fair to the hens. Perhaps you could re-home them to a large farm that would take them knowing that they are older hens and production might not be great. Perhaps they will butcher them at some time but that will be the new owner's decision.

 

[Felicitas]

Quote:
There are right ways and wrong ways to do vegetarian.

(I did it completely wrong...LOL I was more of a carbatarian)

LOL - me too. A carbanddairytarian.

I gained more weight the two years I didn't eat meat than at any other time in my life.

 

[AK_Button_Mama]

I guees I am lucky my kids dont mind butchering day and they help me out with it too....

I have not really had any issues with them not wanting to butcher things with the exception of this ONE mutt rabbit my DD found out at a friends farm in her milk room... its mommy died and the friend was feeding it goats milk from a cup..... it would drink, and eat the grain that fell to the floor.it wasnt enuff food and it was only three weeks old (no one expected this mutt rabbit to survive).. it was dehydrated and hungry.... My kid caught it and brought it home...... Nursed it to health and since will not let me sell it or butcher it.... she says its her pet... and I have to give that to her.. she raised it... and as long as she takes care of it it can stay!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I wonder just when this became such a big issue, and just how widespread it is around the world. This detatchment not only from our sources of food, but from the amount of toil & sacrifice required to bring it to the table. I think it's made our culture ignorant, conceited, greedy and ungrateful. We've come to expect, and feel entitled to, year-round fresh produce available in stores open 24/7/365, and hot meat sandwiches for $1 obtained in minutes. All with little to NO idea of its natural origins, or the enormous effort others, both animal & human, made in its creation.

People who knew me as a child in the suburbs, or later as a soft-hearted vegetarian teenager, would be surprised at the changes in my current lifestyle. I myself am pleased with the progress.

Now, with the veg gardens we plant, and the laying & meat chickens we raise, I hope to enlighten my own children as to the realities of real life. Life Takes Sacrifice. Starting with pregnancy, labor & birth, someone sacrificed her comfort to bring each child into the world. Even if you are 100% vegan you're affecting the animal kingdom by displacing habitat with your house, the roads you use, the places of business you frequent. Animals are displaced by fields of produce, and are injured or killed during harvest. Many humans are needed to plant, tend & harvest produce, and they in turn need to eat, and many of them are eating meat.

By raising some of our own produce and processing some of our own meat I have gained much gratitude and appreciation for the effort required to bring food to the table. I hope my children will grow up with this same awareness of the sacrifice life requires, and be grateful for the sacrifice of others, and be inspired to themselves sacrifice willingly for the benefit of others.

To the OP, I pray for wisdom & grace in dealing with DD's dilemma. That you'll know just when to stand firm, and when to grant favor. It's an awfully tricky topic. I'd say don't insist too firmly that she allow her original laying hens to be butchered or sold, that just might be too difficult to cope with. I myself, and I know that many folks here, are too sentimental about our original layers to contemplate culling them. To others who have progressed beyond those feelings, this seems almost absurd.

I try to view our meat birds like the produce I raise in the garden. They're cared for tenderly while they're young, provided with all their needs for food, water & warmth, enjoyed & admired as they sprout & grow, and feel pride & anticipation as they bloom & ripen. But it would be as much of a waste to allow produce to just wither on the vine as it would to keep every single chicken alive until it just died of natural causes. My kids are still too young to be much help with the acutal processing chores, but they are fully aware of the purpose of our meat birds, they help take good care of them, they enjoy them while they're here, and know the purpose they serve in this world.

They just won't let me name the meaties, not even something obvious like "Drumstick", nor do they want me to refer to the meat as "him", as in "The soup is done, do you want a bowl of him?"

 

[Wifezilla]

Re: DD wont let me butcher
Wifezilla wrote:

Have you ever seen a healthy looking vegetarian?
There are right ways and wrong ways to do vegetarian.

(I did it completely wrong...LOL I was more of a carbatarian)
LOL - me too. A carbanddairytarian. I gained more weight the two years I didn't eat meat than at any other time in my life.

I was never more unhealthy or fatter than when I was a carbatarian. Low carb with lots of fresh veggies and plenty of meat works great for me. I have no problem with the dairy now that I am off the carbs. Some of my low carbing buddies did have to drop the dairy though. They eat more of a paleo style diet and are doing great. Lost most of the weight and cured my hypertension. Still working on getting ird of the last 20 lbs though