don’t you feel bad?

[Kusanar]

i have ducks, drakes, and everyone says to kill them. i’m not going to. my question is how do u kill at a few months old when it can live 10+ more years? not to upset anyone this just makes me so sad when i see my ducks playing and swimming...

If your birds are happy and healthy and you can afford to keep them and keep building more pens as troublemakers have to be separated then good for you! Do what makes you happy and your birds happy.

One thing that stood out to me though was that they can live 10+ more years, think about that for a second, what does a 10 year old bird look like? Having trouble keeping weight on? A limp from an old injury that is getting stiff with age? Being picked on by the younger birds because they are not fast enough or strong enough to get away or fight back anymore?

Animals don't think in the future like we do, and they think very little of the past, they live very much in the present. If a 10+ year old bird is sore and tired all of the time for the last month of their life, to them, that month is their whole life, they don't sit and think fondly of their younger years, they just know they don't feel good now.

A bird that is culled for food typically is healthy, active and loving life until they have 1 bad day, and if you are careful when handling them and don't spook them all, they only have a few bad moments, not even a whole bad day.

Like I said, do what makes you and your flock happy and healthy and good for you if you can do that while keeping everyone around for their natural lives, but, just some food for thought on why some people would not feel guilty about eating their birds when they are young and healthy.

 

[Beaglegal]

I'm still not exactly sure what you are asking? who is telling you to kill them and why are they saying that? This sounds like it may be a difference of opinion between you and family members who have different goals. When families have this type of disagreements it can get rough. But all that is your business and for you to manage. Good luck!

What are your goals? Why do you have ducks to start with? Lots of people keep them for things other than meat. I think you need to manage them in a way to keep the numbers where you can properly manage them, you do have responsibilities when you own animals, whether that is ducks, dogs, or cattle. For you that might mean don;t let any more hatch of or find a way to get rid of them.

One of my main goals is to raise chickens for meat. They would never have hatched and lived to start with if I were not planning on eating them. I try to raise them the best I can. Some I hatch in an incubator or buy from a hatchery and raise in a brooder. These are usually out scratching in dirt, eating grass and other vegetation, and chasing insects by 5 to 8 weeks of age. About half are raised by broody hens with the flock. I think mine get to live like chickens in a flock and have a pretty good life up to the point they have a very bad moment. I try to make that bad moment as quick as I can.

I don't feel good when I kill the chicken though the rest or the butchering isn't bad. I try to use as much of the chicken as I can so nothing is wasted. When I butcher I have two buckets. One bucket gets the stuff that I will bury in the garden or orchard to rot and be used by the plants. The other bucket gets stuff that will be fed back to the chickens. That upsets some people but the chickens enjoy it and it gets used. I cut off traditional parts of the carcass for the table. I feed the liver to the dogs. I keep the wings, back, neck, gizzard, heart, and feet to use in broth. I save the bones from the parts I eat directly for broth. I pick the meat out of the stuff I cook up as broth to use as cooked meat. The only thing that goes to the landfill is the bones after they have been used to make broth.

I don't feel good when I do the actual killing but I don't feel bad either. I'm going to be eating chicken anyway, even if I have to buy it from the store. I can buy it cheaper from the store than I can raise it and it would take a lot less work. But it is worth it to me to raise them myself, know where the meat comes from, and treat them the best I can and still meet my goals.

How come you throw away the bones instead of burying them in the orchard? I was thinking of this exact thing, how to get fertilizer out of leftover chicken parts and a was thinking a chicken skeleton might break down faster because the bones are so light and provide phosphorus to the soil. So when I saw this I thought I’d reach out and ask you what your experience with the bones were. Thanks in advance for any reply.

 

[Ridgerunner]

How come you throw away the bones instead of burying them in the orchard? I was thinking of this exact thing, how to get fertilizer out of leftover chicken parts and a was thinking a chicken skeleton might break down faster because the bones are so light and provide phosphorus to the soil. So when I saw this I thought I’d reach out and ask you what your experience with the bones were. Thanks in advance for any reply.

You could bury them, they will eventually break down. Sometimes, when I time a butchering to coincide with starting a new compost pile, I put the parts I usually bury in the bottom of my compost pile. I've also put rabbits I removed from my garden and occasionally rats I happened to get at a good time. One time I had a hen die so I put her whole body in there. The way I put my compost piles together stuff in the bottom is sealed so critters don't dig it out. I have had some experience with bones. These are usually still around for over two years, including the larger chicken bones.

The main reason I don't bury them is that it is not convenient. When the bones are available is after I've strained, de-fatted, and canned the broth, plus clean-up. That makes for somewhat of a long day. I could put the bones in the freezer and bury them some other time, but to me it's not worth it.

If you do bury them in the orchard critters can dig them up. I've had that happen. I put a piece of wire mesh over where I bury it and weight that down with pavers.

 

[FortCluck]

You could bury them, they will eventually break down. Sometimes, when I time a butchering to coincide with starting a new compost pile, I put the parts I usually bury in the bottom of my compost pile. I've also put rabbits I removed from my garden and occasionally rats I happened to get at a good time. One time I had a hen die so I put her whole body in there. The way I put my compost piles together stuff in the bottom is sealed so critters don't dig it out. I have had some experience with bones. These are usually still around for over two years, including the larger chicken bones.

The main reason I don't bury them is that it is not convenient. When the bones are available is after I've strained, de-fatted, and canned the broth, plus clean-up. That makes for somewhat of a long day. I could put the bones in the freezer and bury them some other time, but to me it's not worth it.

If you do bury them in the orchard critters can dig them up. I've had that happen. I put a piece of wire mesh over where I bury it and weight that down with pavers.

How do you make your bone broth? I'd like to do this too

 

[Miss Lydia]

12 yr old Muscovy female

 

[Ridgerunner]

How do you make your bone broth? I'd like to do this too

To not hijack this thread any further, go here.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/share-your-chicken-broth-recipes.1338618/

 

[CindyinSD]

You have your little drakes... that’s fine. Put them in your garden to eat slugs, etc. (It’s okay with you if they eat slugs, right?) Drakes are perfect for this especially in areas where you will not get away with keeping more noisy animals, such as female ducks.

People eat meat. Those who eat vegetarian can only do so because someone somewhere is eating meat. That’s part of the whole ecosystem. The prey (as a species) need the predators just as much as the predators need the prey. Cows can’t live without grass, but if nothing eats the cows, there will be no grass, and the world will starve and die—including the cows.

Poultry (because there are so many wild birds) enter into this equation to a lesser degree, but they are very important in feeding the world. Poultry is a highly accessible way for the average person to provide him/herself with personally raised, ethical meat. Don’t knock it. People have to eat and we cannot, in an environmentally sound way, grow enough vegetable matter to feed the world—certainly not without ruminants (the only significant protein source animals capable of living solely on grasses and turning those grasses into a high-quality protein source + high-quality fertilizer.)

Nobody here is telling you must kill your drakes, however if you don’t, it becomes your responsibility to provide for them with appropriate food, housing and care. You mustn’t expect anyone else (family members, etc.) to do this if they are unwilling or if it would cause a hardship for your family. It’s your thing and any support given by others is an occasion for gratitude, not something owed to you or to your birds.

 

[ValerieJ]

I'm still not exactly sure what you are asking? who is telling you to kill them and why are they saying that? This sounds like it may be a difference of opinion between you and family members who have different goals. When families have this type of disagreements it can get rough. But all that is your business and for you to manage. Good luck!

What are your goals? Why do you have ducks to start with? Lots of people keep them for things other than meat. I think you need to manage them in a way to keep the numbers where you can properly manage them, you do have responsibilities when you own animals, whether that is ducks, dogs, or cattle. For you that might mean don;t let any more hatch of or find a way to get rid of them.

One of my main goals is to raise chickens for meat. They would never have hatched and lived to start with if I were not planning on eating them. I try to raise them the best I can. Some I hatch in an incubator or buy from a hatchery and raise in a brooder. These are usually out scratching in dirt, eating grass and other vegetation, and chasing insects by 5 to 8 weeks of age. About half are raised by broody hens with the flock. I think mine get to live like chickens in a flock and have a pretty good life up to the point they have a very bad moment. I try to make that bad moment as quick as I can.

I don't feel good when I kill the chicken though the rest or the butchering isn't bad. I try to use as much of the chicken as I can so nothing is wasted. When I butcher I have two buckets. One bucket gets the stuff that I will bury in the garden or orchard to rot and be used by the plants. The other bucket gets stuff that will be fed back to the chickens. That upsets some people but the chickens enjoy it and it gets used. I cut off traditional parts of the carcass for the table. I feed the liver to the dogs. I keep the wings, back, neck, gizzard, heart, and feet to use in broth. I save the bones from the parts I eat directly for broth. I pick the meat out of the stuff I cook up as broth to use as cooked meat. The only thing that goes to the landfill is the bones after they have been used to make broth.

I don't feel good when I do the actual killing but I don't feel bad either. I'm going to be eating chicken anyway, even if I have to buy it from the store. I can buy it cheaper from the store than I can raise it and it would take a lot less work. But it is worth it to me to raise them myself, know where the meat comes from, and treat them the best I can and still meet my goals.

You always have the most thoughtful and reasonable answers and advice. I wish I could raise my own freezer chickens. I really do. I just find I can’t eat them when the time comes. Of course DH thinks it’s amusing to put their names on the packaging. So I always say I prefer to get my meat and fowl from the market where they manufacture it. I buy organic. These conversations always push me closer to being a vegetarian.

I watched an episode of Phil Robertson talking about God sending food in the air, speaking of ducks. He is another reasonable voice out there who is comfortable with where his food comes from.

I admire you both!

 

[FortCluck]

You always have the most thoughtful and reasonable answers and advice. I wish I could raise my own freezer chickens. I really do. I just find I can’t eat them when the time comes. Of course DH thinks it’s amusing to put their names on the packaging. So I always say I prefer to get my meat and fowl from the market where they manufacture it. I buy organic. These conversations always push me closer to being a vegetarian.

I watched an episode of Phil Robertson talking about God sending food in the air, speaking of ducks. He is another reasonable voice out there who is comfortable with where his food comes from.

I admire you both!

Phil is awesome!

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

12 yr old Muscovy female View attachment 1951583

she’s so precious!