Feeling guilty knowing my Cockerels days are numbered...

[McChooky]

There's absolutely no difference in taking the life of one over the other whether you raise it or hunt it.The easiest way to deal with your emotions is to let your spouse do the harvesting until you get used to it.You will in time trust me.Feeling guilty doesn't make you guilty of doing anything wrong.We all have to eat and its better to eat your own than the grocers

 

[Mrs. K]

You have to distance yourself from the bird, or birds you are processing. I no longer watch them. I feed and water them, but I don't stand and watch them.

And know that in the beginning, I would go and buy a chicken and cut it up and mix it with my own butchered bird, and put it in the freezer and wait a while.

There should be no guilt. Guilt should be for things like mistreating a bird, by not providing water and food, or keeping them in too tight of confinement. Those are actions for guilt.

Mrs K

 

[ForFlocksSake]

There's absolutely no difference in taking the life of one over the other whether you raise it or hunt it.The easiest way to deal with your emotions is to let your spouse do the harvesting until you get used to it.You will in time trust me.Feeling guilty doesn't make you guilty of doing anything wrong.We all have to eat and its better to eat your own than the grocers

You’re very wise. And you’re right. My feelings aren’t the reality of what is happening.

 

[ForFlocksSake]

You have to distance yourself from the bird, or birds you are processing. I no longer watch them. I feed and water them, but I don't stand and watch them.

And know that in the beginning, I would go and buy a chicken and cut it up and mix it with my own butchered bird, and put it in the freezer and wait a while.

There should be no guilt. Guilt should be for things like mistreating a bird, by not providing water and food, or keeping them in too tight of confinement. Those are actions for guilt.

Mrs K

I get so much enjoyment from watching them. But I can see how limiting that time would help. They aren’t meat birds for us, so to speak. But even the hens will be cycled out as they slow down laying, so eventually all of them will end up on the table.

Thanks for your experience.

 

[ForFlocksSake]

@ForFlocksSake, You can come here on BYC and talk about these kinds of feelings any time. It's not easy to end an animal's life. Or it shouldn't be, anyway.

I hate raccoons and groundhogs because of the destruction they have caused. If they would just leave my garden, etc. alone! But when I've caught one in a trap, it's still not easy to shoot it.

That’s why I love this forum. Such a wide variety of chicken keepers and everyone so open about what it means to keep to chickens for them personally.

 

[Sally PB]

That’s why I love this forum. Such a wide variety of chicken keepers and everyone so open about what it means to keep to chickens for them personally.

Yes. And I love that people respect others' "way" of chicken keeping without judgement.

 

[McChooky]

Old hens teach young chicken's to respect the hierarchy of the flock and make better roosters out of the cockerels. Keeping old hens can outweigh the bad.Lacy my sl wynadotte (on the far left) will always have a home with me. She was given to me by her previous owners after their dogs killed all her flock mates( she flew on top of my brothers house to escape)

 

[ForFlocksSake]

I wanted to come back here and thank everyone for your encouragement. The cockerel really picked up his crowing this week so it was time. I caught him for my husband, handed him off and decided to watch from a distance. It was quick. My husband was able to dress him and get him on ice in less than 10 min and now he looks like any other chicken I would purchase at the store. I’m glad I watched. I feel like it helped me remember this animal is no different than the food we purchase for our family at the grocery store every week.

I’m hoping it gets easier each time. It doesn’t feel good but like all of you said, I’m giving them a very pleasant life while they are here. Thankfully the rest are all hens so they will hang around for a few years.

 

[ForFlocksSake]

Old hens teach young chicken's to respect the hierarchy of the flock and make better roosters out of the cockerels. Keeping old hens can outweigh the bad.Lacy my sl wynadotte (on the far left) will always have a home with me. She was given to me by her previous owners after their dogs killed all her flock mates( she flew on top of my brothers house to escape)

I hope to expand our chicken area over time so I can keep a few favorites as they age. But with limited space I will need to rotate as they slow their laying.

 

[CityFarmerRob]

We can't have a rooster where we live so you can imagine my disappointment when I realized one of our TSC pullets was actually a He. The plan has been to wait until he started crowing and making his presence known and then harvesting him. My husband has absolutely no issues with the process. He has been a hunter and chef his whole life. He sees chickens as fun animals to watch but essentially they are food. I am also a hunter but have never actually raised livestock myself. Dogs and cats are the only animals ive raised so it's hard for me to separate pet from livestock.

This morning heard a very distinct (though croaky) crow coming from the chicken run as I walked out there. He's been making little hoots here and there but this one was clear. I know that means it's the end of the road for him. I don't necessarily have an emotional attachment to him, but I just feel so guilty. It's basically my call to tell my husband when its go time, so even though im not the one physically ending its life, I am sending him to slaughter. I need to get past it as we have also decided to rotate out the hens every 2-3 years in order to keep young healthy layers, but this first one is tough.

How do you move past the guilt of raising something for food? does the guilt ever subside? I love having these birds. It's been such a joy for me to tend chickens, but man is this a catch 22.

I feel you! I raised some hens for eggs and then after being in it for a while I realized that if you want to keep getting eggs you have to rotate your birds which is a nice way of saying kill them all and start over. I myself have kept animals my whole life but this is the first time I've kept animals for food and even though I bought them for eggs a time will come when I'm just feeding a bunch of birds. I originally gotten too when I started they were both over the age of eight and I had them well had the female passed away of natural causes a month ago and I still have the male. I also hatched a bunch of eggs to raise them thought it'd be fun, half of them turn out to be roosters and I still have them. So 4:00 at my house in the city you can imagine what it sounds like and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be faced with the same thing and having to get rid of them for much of the same reasons and that's really going to suck! After hearing how they've treated in the industry you don't really want to be a part of that, but your husband probably has the right viewpoint. They are fun but ultimately all things that are grown are usually grown for food. Still I don't think I could eat any of these roosters I like them too much. And right now there's a buzz about one of them because this morning it appeared he laid an egg. And I know what everybody says that's impossible. But I've been going over this all morning and I can't come up with any other explanation for how that a got into his box into his locked up coop so maybe it'll turn out that one of these males is special, it would mean his life would be secure. Don't know really what to tell you except that it does suck and it's supposed to cuz if it didn't I don't think I'd like who I would be.