Does the killing get easier ?

[giasmom]

ETA: on the roo question, some people care if you're going to eat it, and some people don't. I think it's appropriate (and decent) of you to ask them ahead of time. "I'm planning to kill and eat it, is that okay with you?" If it's NOT okay with them, they will be really grateful that you asked.


In response: Oh, I would most definately ask first, I would never decieve anyone when it came to something like this. I just wasn't sure if most folks would really care or not. Seems to me like they just want to get shed of them. Maybe most would just prefer not to know or somrthing. I don't know.
This whole deal is just tugging at my heart in so many differant ways. I've still got do do a whole lot of searching within myself, before I can think any more about taking actions towards doing this. One side of me says"Go ahead you can do this, stock your freezer" the other side says "Those poor little un-wanted roosters, mabye I'll just adopt them all and have a roo farm!" Gees , see what I mean!

 

[bheila]

It took me a year before I could even watch my husband butcher the chickens. Now I can do it myself. So for me it has gotten easier. Definitely have someone show you first. Then do it with them.

 

[English Chick]

I can't kill anything...............I have to get someone else to dispatch a bird if it is ill ...... then again, if my family where starving I would have to do it.................it all depends on the circumstances......luckily I hope we never have to face real hunger....

 

[Boyd]

I'll do the deed, I don't like to but I'll do it. I even hate killing those rascally racoons that get caught up in my traps, and I dislike those fools!

 

[IHeartCapnHook]

I can't do it. When I bought a few birds from a farm and they had coryza (sp?) and I lost a few, I couldn't even get the dead hen out. I had to call someone over to do it for me. I can't deal with it AT ALL. If I was starving and I had no choice to do it to feed my kids.... I would find a way. Until then.... I keep calling my brother and hubby over to help me.

 

[Lunachick]

I couldn't do it. I've seen the threads where they show you how they do it. (the Quail one) I give people credit that can butcher their own. (or have to cull one) I simply can't.

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Mine ability comes from my respect for their life and my gratitude. It has to do (probably more than you wanted to know) with my spirituality.

Some creatures are prey animals. Chickens are prey. They are meant to be eaten by something and if let in the wild will soon be. I know my chickens have a lovely life. They are spoiled and cosseted. They eat well and have better living accomodations than some people. When the time comes I thank the chicken for giving me its sustenance and thank the universe for allowing me to be part of the cycle of life. Then I make sure it is quick and painless.

Thus the life has had purpose. I don't eat supermarket meat generally. But, I will eat meat that I know lived well and was killed humanely and with respect.

Lots of people don't agree with that philosophy, but living in the country showed me that if we are not good stewards of our animals, wild and domesticated, they suffer worse than if we took responsibility for it.


You might get more of what you are looking for if you wander over to the meat birds threads....

 

[Wynette]

I have a huge respect for their lives, and ample gratitude for my chickens...and I am also spiritual. However, I cannot do it.

I had an ill chicken awhile back that I knew would not get better, and I knew I was in danger of her giving whatever she had to my valuable flock that she was a part of. I summoned the courage somehow to cull her; and I spent many, may sleepless nights after. It was horrible. I was sick to my stomach, cried and cried, and I feel like I'm actually a pretty strong person. Apparently, just not strong enough to take a life.

I had a sick one that I put in a dog kennel by herself...she was there for 3 months. She was eating and drinking just fine, and even laying...but she could not walk. When I finally came to terms that she would never recover, I asked a good friend to dispatch her for me.

It most definitely depends on the person as to whether it gets easier. IMO, it doens't have a thing to do with how much respect you have for the critter. I do WISH I could dispatch, and I feel guilty as heck that I can't.

 

[WalkingWolf]

It is not my favorite part of keeping chickens, but I can do it with most. It is a little harder with a pet though. My DW now is a pain, she can not understand how I can feed and sometimes love a animal and then kill it. We are fussing over a mallard/peking duck right now that I want to process, and she wants to give it away. He has drove off my pekin drake and even pulled a spot of feathers from the pekin's neck. I personally like the taste of roast duck, and that is what most of my poultry is intended for. It's not like I am asking her to do it, and I always make sure she is not home when I process.

 

[kitkatbahr]

I'm a vegetarian so I don't think I could do it even if I was "starving". There are other things I could try and find to eat. Berries, grass, etc. I truly don't think I could kill and eat the chickens. Or, in my case, my ducks. I just cannot wrap my mind around it. But, that's just me. Everyone is different.