do you eat chicken? just curious....

[DTchickens]

i dont eat mine personally, as they are bantams. and even if i had large fowl i probably wouldn't eat them. now if need be i could with no problem, and if i had meat birds, i could eat them even if i named them with no problem since thats what i got them for.. The chickens in the grocery stores i have no problem with. as thats what they're there for me to eat, if not me someone else will come along and eat them anyway... there life is already gone so why should i let them waste?

but i eventually plan on processing my own as i hate factories, and home grown is always better

 

[estpr13]

I just ate part of a crock poted roo with potato and onion. As I type this, I have 7 of my 16 meat bird chicks watching me from on top of their brooder. It takes me about two weeks to eat a bird (I'm single and not a big meat eater).

My birds have a lot better life than the store bought bird. They have a safe and stimulating environment, abundant food and some I name.

When growing up my grandma inoculated us to the meat processing environment early so as to make it a nautral part of life. You tend to respect life more when you understand death.

Holding a live animal then holding the same animal shortly after death is a bit confusing, because outwardly nothing has changed. You then start to understand that life is precious and fragle and should not be abused.

When I kill an animal it is for food, I do it quickly so there is little if any realized pain. Once dead, the carcass is not the live chicken, the personality that it once had has left with the spriit of life it once posessed.

 

[HennysMom]

I eat chicken but I dont eat my girls... funny though - before I got them I would eat chicken alot (like..was checking for feathers to grow LOL!) but then....

here comes these little chickies, sitting there peeping in the dining room and we had *gulp* chicken for dinner that night. Four of us sitting down to eat - oh the shame... just didnt seem right as those cute little PEEP PEEP PEEP's come at ya

We ate anyway - I just averted my eyes LOL. Took me forever to eat their eggs too - but I've always had issues with the little white "thing" in any egg though, I call it the umbilical cord *gagging* - I HAVE to pick it out... LMAO! Dont ask...my entire family does the same thing...

Now though - they're outside and when we eat chicken, I try not to look at them - although, I have had this aversion to chicken lately - not so much because of our having chickens now, its just have you SEEN grocery store chicken?

I just about gag when I am shopping for it, I cant stand it to touch my hands, and even when I open the pkgs at home - ugh ..I do NOT like the slimy feel of it nor the membranes/fat pieces (omg..I'm gonna gag in a minute! - yes I have a weak stomach!)

Beef I dont have an issue with - but poultry - ANY poultry - I just have this aversion to at times. Clorox is a staple in my house after we have chicken on the cutting boards, etc - ugh. I think I have OCD with raw chicken sometimes....*sighs*

 

[Clay In Iowa]

I understand the Pet thingy.

But to raise nice fresh organic/free range/hormone free birds and then run to the grocery store and buy tasteless chemical laden hormone filled chicken like meat.


Makes not sense to me. Don't name your food and you'll eat better.

 

[BeakSanctuary]

I can see how this thread could have a very long life while it meanwhile cuts quite close to our fundamental beliefs. What would be perhaps more interesting to me is wondering, for this forum, what percentage believe their chickens are pets? Could be a small minority, maybe 10-20%, but those who think they are pets rather likely will not have plans to eat them, regardless of whether they'd eat a "strange chicken", or belong to PETA, or are vegetarian - basically, seems to be a normal kind of taboo response or ability to hold something dear, even a chicken. I don't consider that a burden to put on a chicken, btw.

 

[elcunni75]

I don't eat my chickens.. just yet. Too squeamish to actually kill them myself, as DH refuses! He likes the idea of organic meat.. but we raised these fuzzy butts from chickdom to now and some _ mostly the boys - have names.
I eat store bought chicken, alot! No problems there! Too squeamish to kill my own little guys and girls.. for now!
How does one do it?? I mean.. I've read about how to do it, seen videos on UTube on how to do it (various ways).. but how does one who has never killed anything beyond bugs and pests simply get over it and just do it???
Anyone??

 

[DTchickens]

Quote:
i think killing them takes hunting "spirit" once you've killed one animal cant be any different then the others

I wouldn't have a problem with it, but its because im killing them to eat them if i was doing it just for fun.. or sport. i probably wouldn't be able to.. or even have a need/want to

 

[mychickensrock]

Quote:
I became a registered vegetarian maybe 6 months ago. I do not even buy or cook meat for my DH or kids. They can eat it other places. I hate that they do eat it because it's generally at MIL's and she buys what's cheapest (aka factory farmed!). They eat a lot less that they used to anyway. I certainly do not miss it and they don't miss it as much as they thought they would. We eat lots of tasty food. Thank goodness my kids are not picky eaters. They love veggies!!!

We do not eat our girls. They are breakfast making pets. They also provide a little income (selling the eggs). DH said he just can't bring himself to kill an animal. We are all more aware of what we eat and where it comes from. I'd rather that if people are going to eat meat, know where it comes from, how it was raised, treated, and killed.

 

[walkswithdog]

The first time you dispatch something. Yeah, it is hard for some folks. It tends to get easier.

Mine start as fuzzy lil wiffle puffs in my kitchen, become lap chickens and the excess roos are eventually dinner. So are excess hens that don't meet my breeding needs.

I like that they are obviously cared for, fear free animals all their lives. Some stay to make more chickens and more breakfast.

Life has a cycle. I find it reassuring that the cycle here is humane and healthy. Respect for the purpose of the animal just makes sense.

I don't have a problem caring for a critter and using it for it's purpose. Admittedly I have one surplus Roo who has earned an acquittal by flinging himself headlong into my arms while saying " choo chooo chook" each and every time I come out to the chickens.

If I really get over stocked even Tuchas has a limited term, but boy he's a happy sucker.

I won't feel bad. A life of health, freedom, joy and cuddles that ends humanely is more than the lot of most humans born.

So, yes, I eat what I raise for food.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Our chickens are NOT pets.

We eat chicken from the store, and we eat our hens when they stop laying so well. We also eat any extra roos.

We don't raise meat chickens, because I frankly don't like to butcher and so I don't want to do it that often.

Our hens, while dear to me, are livestock, not pets. When they have outlived their useful time, then they are humanely butchered. They have had long, happy lives (for chickens). It's a necessary part of farm life. We couldn't afford to keep non-laying chickens around with feed prices being what they are!

Some hens and roos do get to stick around. Good broodies and hens and roosters with great genetics might not produce meat or eggs for us, but do earn their keep. It doesn't do chickens as a whole any good to breed obviously bad specimens. Poorly performing chickens, or those with poor feathering or confirmation, do a lot more for their species by going into the pot rather than breeding.

It's difficult, I always feel bad, and we say thank you to the birds we raise for meat and eggs when we sit down to the table. But it's a necessary part of farm life.