does anyone ever get used to killing and eating their birds

[Delmar]

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You shared where you are coming from and I appreciated what you had to say. I am, however, still going to eat meat.

 

[stormylady]

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This is so well put, and it's exactly how I feel.

I agree, I feel exactly the same way. Sandy.

 

[pigfarmer]

I have no problem with processing my own animals, that is one of the reasons for raising them.
I really do not like store bought, snowbank tasting birds. Since raising my own, store bought birds are bland.
As for my pigs... no problem there, just my girlfriend is the biggest issue, not that one, but not that one either.

 

[BlackDogPack]

I do not feel 'guilty' for eating my own birds but I do feel a bit of remorse at the loss of any life. I always thank the animal and get it over with quickly. I feel worse about myself if I eat something that I don't know that was treated humanely with respect when slaughtered.

 

[sandcat]

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Thankyou for that, Im at a crossroads where one day i decide i can kill our ducks for food and the next day i couldnt bare the thought of it, hopefully i can make up my mind once and for all, im really leaning towards not eating meat at all but as my family does eat meat i want all the meat they eat to be raised by us and killed by us. Just after christmas i was raising a duckling that was very ill and he eventually died and i was devastated, i had become so close to this tiny helpless little thing and loved him dearly. Ive had alot of thoughts since then as i dont think my heart could cope with another abandoned duckling but im sure if one needed rescuing i would do it again. My ducks all got so upset the last time we killed some ducks, they were very unsettled for ages and are still not happy, i feel like i upset their happy little family but we just cant keep every single duck that is born every year or we would have hundreds in a few years and that would be crazy, it costs enough to feed 10 of them. Hopefully i can feel ok with the decisions we all make as a family.

 

[Becky_H]

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This is very likely true for a lot of cases, but I think it goes beyond that. My chicken (singular right now, yes) is a pet. In fact, he's as much a pet as the blue front amazon I had for most of my life and passed away this year. He's sweet, he cuddles, he watches TV with me, he sleeps in the deceased amazon's parrot cage at night. Would I eat him? No, no I wouldn't. Did I have a problem culling out other rooster chicks when he was young? Nope. Though I'll admit the first time I accidently popped a birds head off I just about fainted.

I do animal rescue -full time, full tilt. I *save* animals, with a 5013c group. Hundreds of 'em a year. but thousands more, right in my county, don't get saved and die. I also support hunting, fishing, or back yard farming and butchery. I have a massive, massive issue with factory farming. You stick those things together and what you get is a very pragmatic view about the value of life and the value of animals.

I love my pets. I love animals. I believe animals have the right to good lives and to be treated humanely. I rage at the mistreatment and abuse of animals. I just do not believe that every life CAN be saved, and I do not believe that humanely killing a mean rooster -and eating it- is anything but eons better than a biting dog that's put down, or that that rooster's funadmentally different from the one sleeping in my lap right now.

It's a chicken. It's made out of chicken. I eat chicken. Loving my pet chicken doesn't mean it's not... chicken. THIS one won't be taking a bath in hot oil any time soon, but I don't have much issue raising and slaughtering meat birds, either. At least morally, ethically, or with nausea. Space. Space I'm lacking.

 

[Becky_H]

...I am slightly disturbed that this thread makes me want to post on Craigslist and offer to take (and process) spare roosters people no longer want/can't handle. Obviously without deceit, but seriously? A thread about feeling bad about killing/eating their chickens made me see an opportunity for 'homegrown' chicken and dumplings? (I have one chicken. As I said, I'm not eating him. And now I really, really want real chicken)

*facepalm*

 

[booker81]

Heh, I did that all winter (collected unwanted chickens for dumplings).

We ate our first chicken from last weekend. It was good.

 

[chickened]

I have come to the conclusion that some folks own chickens and some chickens own folks.

Just thinking out loud.

 

[Illia]

I get used to it because my killing method is just about the quickest and most accident/mis-aim free out there, but the most important reason why is because I know the bird or other animal had a good life. It wasn't bred to grow incredibly meaty or fast, it was raised on a free-ranging diet with as minimal commercial grains as I could give it, and it was cared for to prevent the stress of being flighty or skittish or scared.

The first few were hard for me, mainly because I used a hatchet and a stump. Ugh. Terrible if you don't aim well. After I found a new method, it was really easy for me. I'm not a squeamish person with blood and all though, so that didn't bother me. As for ending the life of an animal you took care of - Well, death happens at some point, best it happen respectfully than say from a health reason or a predator or something.