Exposing kids to butchering. Please take a second to weigh in.

Shikens! :

Both girls were outraged that he "MURDERED HIS CHICKEN" how could he "KILL AN ANIMAL?" that man should be in "JAIL!". Somehow they were able to block out all the scenes about commercial farming and the billions of chickens we eat per year as if it's not real, choosing to focus on one "real" person killing one "real" chicken.

I don't think that this is an unusual attitude in children. I think that many people have gone through their "Cleveland Amory" or "PETA" phase, where they learn about the way the world works, and overreact. I know I did. Some take it to heart and become vegans or animal rights activists, most people eventually realize that there is a balance to be achieved. Believe me, I'm all for humane treatment of animals under any circumstance, and I find so much of our factory farming system disturbing, but I am not willing to give up the benefits that can come from our appropriate use of animals for food, or in other important areas like medical research.​
 
Shikens! :

Here is an example-

Last weekend while watching"The natural history of the chicken" with the girls. A segment on a commercial chicken farm played showing 5-6 chickens in a cage being grown for slaughter. Then it panned out to show rows of cages stretched to infinity. The girls tuned out the commentary, ignored this segment and chit chatted about other things as if this segment had no truth to it and wasnt worth seeing. About 5-7 minutes later a rural hobby farmer is talking about his chickens and how they feed his family and all the benefits of raising your own food. The farmer was filmed walking towards a barn with a chicken, then the scene cut and commentary by the farmer explained that it's hard to do- but to eat a chicken, a chicken must die.

Both girls were outraged that he "MURDERED HIS CHICKEN" how could he "KILL AN ANIMAL?" that man should be in "JAIL!". Somehow they were able to block out all the scenes about commercial farming and the billions of chickens we eat per year as if it's not real, choosing to focus on one "real" person killing one "real" chicken.

This scared the crap out of me. So I want to try to help.

Eek! That attitude would scare me too!

I don't have kids but when I was around 11 - 12 I went vegetarian when I learned how meat is raised commercially. Now at 29 I do eat meat but I only buy free range/organic from local farmers and I have now eaten my last bought chicken after processing my first home grown roo on the weekend.

I'm guessing if that was their attitude to the farmer processing his chicken they won't take your raising and processing well. There is a good chance they won't eat it but they might surprise you and take it really well, won't know till you try it.
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Either way facing the fact that all meat was alive and had to die for them to eat it I think that is a very important life lesson.

The suggestion to watch Food Inc. is a good one. I convinced my DH to watch it recently and he was in denial about where meat came from. He has now agreed that I can raise any meat animals I reasonably can here on our few acres and that the premium I pay for free range is indeed worth it.

Good luck with your decision.
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my kids don't watch the kill but do watch the processing. they even help a little. I tell them what the different organs are and what they do in the body. They think its neat to see them and get to touch them. mine are young and have no problems with it.
 
If you decide to raise and butcher the meat birds with your daughters, I would start preparing them for the butchering phase well in advance of even getting the birds. If one of them seems more ok with it, then involve her and not the other. I'd definitely invite my children to participate, but, wouldn't make them. This may have to be a process of several batches of meaties rather than a one time thing to gradually get them used to the facts of where food comes from. At first, you may have to do the actual butchering out of their sight, etc.

One outcome that you may have to be prepared for is that you murdered a chicken. That would be my biggest worry, given how they reacted to the TV show.

Dale-Ann
 
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I don't recall this being mentioned but you had better have written consent from the biological mother. I can't IMAGINE the ways this could back fire on you in that regard!

As for raising and butchering, I'd be careful. My children will probably help me raise a couple meat birds one day, but I could NEVER butcher something, I just can't. I have nothing against eating meat, I LOVE chicken (I feel guilty because it really is my favorite and I have hens
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) We ended up with a few extra roos this year and when I told my husband I'd send them for butchering, he couldn't do it either! Eat or kill them. I don't think that makes us bad "farmers". Neither of us was raised around animals, but have a healthy respect for life. I do think about where food comes from and try to buy local. I don't think you have to kill something to appreciate it.

So my new plan is for my kids to help raise the little roos, and then I'm going to give them to a needy family that will eat them. Hahaha! Someone should enjoy my fat happy roos!!

My kids are all under 4 and I would never involve them in butchering at this age. (If I ever had the guts to did, which I dont). At 11 and 14 if you find them very detached from real life, raising a few meaties and taking them to the butcher might be a great way to show them where chicken really comes from
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And they might eat it then too. But I speak from experience when I say, seeing a perfectly healthy animal die for the first time is extremely traumatic. I was a pre-vet student and never considered that perfectly healthy animals could be killed, I did not become a vet. I had assisted in the euthanizing of several sick animals, which made sense to me. The first time you see the life being drained from a perfectly healthy animal, at that age, it's devastating.

Good luck!!
 
Shikens! :

*I feel self conscious posting about parenting my step daughters. I feel award and always worry people silently resent me for it any time I mention it. So I will say that I will be suggesting this to their dad who will handle decisions from there; as usual. Please dont feel like you have to post and "remind" me that I am not their mother and that parents need to make important decisions like this.

I, personally, feel the opposite. The world has changed so much since we were kids. My niece was riding with me in the car the other day. She's 8. And, she asked me why Rusty and I (my husband) were still together? That we were the only parents she knew that were still married. Kids are going threw so much upheaval throughout their lives by divorce, moving, changing schools, that things like butchering food is looked at as traumatizing. I think it's a great thing that you are stepping up and help take on this role. It is so very important that, whichever house these girls are in.. that they have guidance, love and support.

When I take my birds down to the Mennonite farm for butchering, the little daughters run out to greet us from the butchering shed. They are wearing their aprons which have blood all over them. They are younger than my son. That family is so ... together and strong and gentle with their animals. I think we could all learn a little something by turning back the clock and living like it was a hundred years ago. ...maybe the news wouldn't be all so depressing.


I have done it myself (butchering) and my 4 yr. old watches and plucks. We call our cornish "meaties" and we know what they're for. We take excellent care of them and, when a horse stepped on one and broke it's leg, my son was very compassionate for him. We put him out of him misery and processed him right there. I think your daughters are in for a real shock because they've gone this far and don't have a clue. You could bury your head and, I am sure they'll be fine. They'll grow up to be young ladies in this new world and will never need to know the importance of where food comes from. Some believe it's necessary to learn in case the worst happens and they are forced into that situation.... If it were me, they'd be out there helping today! My 8 yr. old niece doesn't want to leave. She's been here all summer and loves the farm. We did up about 30 catfish the other night and had a party. It's food and it comes from somewhere... it's real life. So many grown adults have no idea.

eta: I just read the previous post and would like to comment on that. The first time my son saw the actual death part, it was shocking to him and he did cry. I did comfort him and explained things the very best I could. He VERY quickly got over it and is never shocked about much of anything anymore. He is so self sufficient and it's funny to watch him. I think this farm life is beneficial for so many reasons. The simple truth about how our food gets here and the work he sees us go through each day to put food on the table (whether it's grown or bought.. we also teach him the value of money by having chores and earning his own) has gave him an edge over his peers that I cannot explain. Everyone says it's like talking to a small adult. He still has fun. He's out on his power wheels now... which he's rigged up bailing twine to the rear and attached our utility garden cart to, laid a cushion in and stuck his 2 yr. old brother in the cart, covered him with a blanket and is taking him on a guided tour of the property
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Oh! and he grabbed the battery off of the charger first thing this morning before I got up, unscrewed the hood of the gator, hooked up the battery and put the screwdriver back where it goes before he started it up
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I think having them participate willingly is great. But only if they want to.

As long as you don't lop of the chicken's heads and just let them flop around the yard headless, spewing blood and overall looking horrid like my dad did when I was little. Oh, it didn't scar me for life or anything, but it would have been a much more positive experience had he hung them up or not let me see that part or something. Kill cones are the greatest as far as I'm concerned. After seeing that, I didn't want to see any of the rest of it and though he butchered more I never wanted to watch after that. And I so wish I had, because I had to rely on videos and such when the time came to do it myself since he has been gone for quite some time now.

And I applaud you for being a real mom and caring so much for your children.
 
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I grew up on a farm. We raised beef, pork and chicken. Occasionally I'd raise a pig or calf by bottle. Notice the difference there? Sometimes we'd butcher right on the farm and I always helped as I did with the feeding and birthing from as early an age as I can remember. My sister on ther other hand would only help with the packaging not processing except maybe to bring out a glass of tea for someone. Now with my calves and pigs - those were never processed at home - they could be sold to someone else for them to butcher I had no problem with that but not for our own freezer. I guess it was easy because we always had plenty to choose from and I could easily make a stance not to have to eat the ones I had hand raised and which were like pets to me.
Life and death are a natural thing. For anything to live something else must die be bacteria,fungus,plant or animal. The sooner you figure that out the better off you are in my opinion. I feel it gives you a little more respect for life.
Is it murder for the farmer to chop off a chicken head so his family can eat tonight? No, it theca in of life. Is factory farming cruel and inhumane? Yes, but until some one come up with an efficient and cost effective method of feeding the the masses it will continue and there would be a lot more hungry people out there without it. Now that does not mean I don't believe there are better ways. I thoroughly believe that free ranging and cage free and organic is better but if it was really cheaper in mass production then I could afford to buy it all the time. I cannot which is why I'm raising my own.
My kids are now 20 and16. This is the first year we've actually had chickens to butcher. From the day we got them it was known that one breed was for meat and the others eggs. My younger daughter would feed the chicks but would not hold the meaties. She just could not bring herself to do it. The older son had no problems and helped with the butchering. At the time he said that was not something he'd care to repeat but now that he has eaten a few of those chickens he has changed his mind. Says the difference in taste an texture between our chickens and store bought is worth the butchering work. My daughter loves chicken and just doesn't want to talk about which one is one her plate but ido notice she goes back for seconds quicker on the home grown.
I do think the younger the better. Young children are more accepting of things than we think. They have a natural curiosity. The older you are the my opinions are developed and ideas start to get set in stone.
Maybe if more people really felt comfortable with where their food came from and with butchering and the real difference between commercial meat practices and a smaller scale more humane practice then maybe more voices and thoughts could change the way things are done. I mean a vegetarian telling me eating meat is immoral -says to me we each have our own choices to make. A meat eater who always get his meat from the local grocery store telling me my butchering in inhumane has no ground to stand on. Someone who has butchered themselves and want's to complain about my methods- ok now this is a person who I sit down and talk to I might even learn something.

Bottom line from the get go let the girls know these are for meat. Have some for eggs too that the can become friendly with. But at their age they're gonna have to decide how much of the butchering they can tolerate themselves but I think they should win il Ed as much as they can stomach.

Ps just so you know I am almost a vegetarian myself. I eat about as much meat in a month that the average person eats in a day. But it is basically because being raised on home grown meat I think most stuff from the grocery store is yucky doesn't taste right or smell right and I cannot afford the organic. My family on the other hand loves meat.
 
we are considering raising meaties next year for some of the same reasons! My daughters are wonderful, compassionate children (the oldest are 9 & 11) and I am constantly amazed by them. However, when it comes to food, they are very wasteful and have no idea what goes into getting the food onto their plates! So next year we plan to raise meaties and expand (and hopefully succeed this time!) the veggie garden. The kids will be involved in the raising/maintenance of each. I am sure, especially with my oldest who is already not a big meat eater, that they will be turned off meat for a little while. But I HOPE that by having them work in the garden and help raise the meaties that they will finally have a better understanding of everything it takes to get the food on their plates.

And (and to some of you this may sound silly) we will be sending them off to the butcher for processing for several logistical reasons and to save me the humiliation of passing out in front of my children:lol: (yes, that is how weak my stomacg is. And after 31 years I have decided to just accept it!)

To the op- good luck to you and keep us posted on how it goes!
 
Many interesting and well-reasoned perspectives here. My own thoughts are that while understanding where food comes from is important (that's my own opinion), that doesn't necessarily mean that is important to others. One question you might want to ask yourself is "am I ready to do all of this on my own, including eating the bird?" If you are, then go for it! If not, then you shouldn't expect that your kids will feel any differently than you. I admire your thoughtfulness in considering your kids' feelings in this. Keep us posted!
 

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