Don't you feel bad?

[ThracianHorse]

You want to feel bad? Let one of those Cornish chickens go, and see what happens. Even cornish kept on a diet as "pets" look terrible, and ultimately wind up outgrowing themselves. A quick death is preferable than that particular fate.

That said. Killing, slaughter, and butchering is something I think everyone should eventually have to face when it comes to eating meat. Receiving clean, spotless supermarket trays belittles the fact that they were once real animals. You wanna eat it? You need to face the ramifications of that choice, if only once. For me, slaughter does not get easier over time, but merely the surety I can deliver a quick, humane death. I like to eat chicken, even though I don't like killing them. I do so because it's a responsibility. I also get to know how my animals were treated and what they were fed through their lives - I am assured they are given my best personal care. Can't ask for better, I think.

 

[The Green Bean]

I was raised on a farm and saw the processing of more animals than I could count. Animals I had bonded with as fellow beings. It desensitized my siblings. It left me bitter and turned me into a vegetarian. I haven't eaten an animal since 1992. My flock now includes layers but also roosters and hens who stopped laying years ago. They're pets, they get the same vet care as our dogs and horses. The eggs are secondary. I do take it upon myself to euthanize when quality of life is diminished and had to let go one of my oldest hens a few months ago. I don't judge people with meat birds. But chickens are friends for me - not food. I've felt that way since I was six and received two chicks as an Easter present. They were my babies and were puppydog tame. Followed me around the garden and came running to me for treats after school. Until one day i came home from school and they weren't there. My mom had them cooking in the oven.

 

[pintail_drake2004]

For me It's business, not personal. I eat meat so Animals are food, we owe it to them to cleanly dispatch them. When my wife (who was a city girl most of her life) moved out to the farm with me, I told her not to get attached to ANY of the animals. Rabbits, ducks, chickens, etc. I don't care how "cute" or "fluffy" they are. I raise food! I don't name them because they are food. If the wife names the animals now, she has opted for things like "pork chop", "dumplin'", or "stew" at my request so that she can be desensitized. She has no problem cleaning or dispatching the animals now. When I got rabbits, I intentionally got NZ whites because they are all white with red eyes. I figured if she thought they looked possessed she would be less apt to get attached. It worked.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Until one day i came home from school and they weren't there. My mom had them cooking in the oven.

Thats awful!! Did you know that was going to happen? I thought they were pets!?!

 

[Cayuga momma]

Thats awful!! Did you know that was going to happen? I thought they were pets!?!

I don't plan on butchering my chickens and ducks, but I have. When one of my roosters was attacking my girls I butchered him. He was my favorite, but I did it. Recently I butchered a hen who was just terrorizing everyone. I don't enjoy it, but if they are being vicious then I cull them and we eat them.
I don't plan on culling any of my chickens that stop laying. I do care for them. Especially my 2 exchequer leghorns, but they are the sweetest girls.

 

[Mimi13]

It left me bitter and turned me into a vegetarian.

Until one day i came home from school and they weren't there. My mom had them cooking in the oven.

Unfortunately, I think quite possibly it was your mother’s betrayal that left you bitter. It would have me. That was a very mean thing to do to a child.

 

[igorsMistress]

Afterward I'm ok, it's the killing I dislike and I still struggle with it.

Don't name your birds, don't snuggle them and let them sit in your lap. Have the mindset that they're food not pets. Sometimes that's easier said than done, I know. I've had to distance myself from the meat or I won't be able to do it so I spend only enough time to make sure they're all healthy and have foid and water. No sitting and watching their cute antics, etc.
If a killing cone and knife don't work for you, an air rifle works well and is very quick. It's our method of choice for the egg layers, all named of course. I can't eat these birds because I allowed myself to get too close, but we cook and feed to the dogs.

 

[BroodyBea]

I agree with what’s been said.

Honestly, as bad as it sounds, dealing with traumatic things that led to culling made it much easier for me. My three biggest events, a very large rooster who was actually hurting people, he was an absolute monster. You couldn’t do anything in the yard, you couldn’t go in to feed him when he was eventually locked up, nothing. He was out for blood. I carried him around for weeks and got gouged and pecked while doing it because he was HUGE. Eventually he jumped me from behind one day and left a 2 inch deep puncture wound about half an inch from my spine. It became infected within hours and took weeks to heal. Doctor said I was very lucky. That was the last straw.

It had to be done. He was one of my first chickens, I was 17, grew up on a beef farm processing our own beef. At this point you couldn’t get anywhere near him to catch him so I grabbed the 22. Rifle and sniped him from afar (I also hunt.)

I didn’t know how to process a chicken, so I buried him out back and sat there for awhile. I’m a hunter and I grew up helping my dad butcher beef cattle, but every kind of animal is different. I loved my cows, showed them too, but I had to eat, and I knew they lived a wonderful life until their last breath, so it didn’t bother me much. Hunting as well, the animal is completely unaware, living its best life.

My second and third incidents was a very sick hen and a voracious bully. I quickly learned that for the health and well being of my flock I can’t put up with that at all. I bought a hen from a local woman, and didn’t quarantine. A couple days later the new hen was very, very sick. I ended up trying to save her and allowing her to suffer for a week before she died on her own. Then every chicken I had caught the same thing i called the vet, and he said that if I had just culled her when she started showing symptoms, there’s a high chance the others wouldn’t have caught it. I had to cull my entire flock except 2 birds.

The bully also had to go. I knew this hen was nasty when free ranging, but I ignored it and didn’t think much when I put them all in the coop with enough feed and water to last them 3 days while I went away for work.

I came home to carnage. Being confined made it impossible for everyone to escape her. She had picked the rear out of three hens to the point that their entrails were hanging out and they were deceased. One of my nicest roos had his big, beautiful comb completely torn off and was in shock but alive. Another rooster had a patch on his back that was picked to the bone and had to be culled. The final hen had almost her entire head skinned and also had to be culled. The only bird not missing feathers was the perpetrator. That day was full of heartbreak. If I would have just culled her to begin with I would have saved myself the sadness. I never culled out of anger ever, but I learned that putting off something because it’s hard often leads to worse things.

When it comes to butchering and culling, a thought that goes through my head every time I hold the knife and feel bad is “what could happen if I don’t do this?” Sometimes I don’t know, sometimes it could be nothing, but I’ll never take that chance again.

 

[igorsMistress]

I agree with what’s been said.

Honestly, as bad as it sounds, dealing with traumatic things that led to culling made it much easier for me. My three biggest events, a very large rooster who was actually hurting people, he was an absolute monster. You couldn’t do anything in the yard, you couldn’t go in to feed him when he was eventually locked up, nothing. He was out for blood. I carried him around for weeks and got gouged and pecked while doing it because he was HUGE. Eventually he jumped me from behind one day and left a 2 inch deep puncture wound about half an inch from my spine. It became infected within hours and took weeks to heal. Doctor said I was very lucky. That was the last straw.

It had to be done. He was one of my first chickens, I was 17, grew up on a beef farm processing our own beef. At this point you couldn’t get anywhere near him to catch him so I grabbed the 22. Rifle and sniped him from afar (I also hunt.)

I didn’t know how to process a chicken, so I buried him out back and sat there for awhile. I’m a hunter and I grew up helping my dad butcher beef cattle, but every kind of animal is different. I loved my cows, showed them too, but I had to eat, and I knew they lived a wonderful life until their last breath, so it didn’t bother me much. Hunting as well, the animal is completely unaware, living its best life.

My second and third incidents was a very sick hen and a voracious bully. I quickly learned that for the health and well being of my flock I can’t put up with that at all. I bought a hen from a local woman, and didn’t quarantine. A couple days later the new hen was very, very sick. I ended up trying to save her and allowing her to suffer for a week before she died on her own. Then every chicken I had caught the same thing i called the vet, and he said that if I had just culled her when she started showing symptoms, there’s a high chance the others wouldn’t have caught it. I had to cull my entire flock except 2 birds.

The bully also had to go. I knew this hen was nasty when free ranging, but I ignored it and didn’t think much when I put them all in the coop with enough feed and water to last them 3 days while I went away for work.

I came home to carnage. Being confined made it impossible for everyone to escape her. She had picked the rear out of three hens to the point that their entrails were hanging out and they were deceased. One of my nicest roos had his big, beautiful comb completely torn off and was in shock but alive. Another rooster had a patch on his back that was picked to the bone and had to be culled. The final hen had almost her entire head skinned and also had to be culled. The only bird not missing feathers was the perpetrator. That day was full of heartbreak. If I would have just culled her to begin with I would have saved myself the sadness. I never culled out of anger ever, but I learned that putting off something because it’s hard often leads to worse things.

When it comes to butchering and culling, a thought that goes through my head every time I hold the knife and feel bad is “what could happen if I don’t do this?” Sometimes I don’t know, sometimes it could be nothing, but I’ll never take that chance again.

Very well said. Doesn't make it easier but the good of many outweighs the one.

 

[Molpet]

I was raised on a farm and saw the processing of more animals than I could count. Animals I had bonded with as fellow beings. It desensitized my siblings. It left me bitter and turned me into a vegetarian. I haven't eaten an animal since 1992. My flock now includes layers but also roosters and hens who stopped laying years ago. They're pets, they get the same vet care as our dogs and horses. The eggs are secondary. I do take it upon myself to euthanize when quality of life is diminished and had to let go one of my oldest hens a few months ago. I don't judge people with meat birds. But chickens are friends for me - not food. I've felt that way since I was six and received two chicks as an Easter present. They were my babies and were puppydog tame. Followed me around the garden and came running to me for treats after school. Until one day i came home from school and they weren't there. My mom had them cooking in the oven.

Well that would do it.... not a good thing to do to a child.... or anyone.... companion animals should stay that way...
I don't even take free roosters for freezer camp if they were raised as pets. I raise all my poultry for food.. however a couple have managed to have a permanent retirement home.