FFA Project

[mom4apc]

Hello,
My son raised five meat pens as his FFA project. We have become very attached to them. This was the first time we had chickens. We loved them so that we got we got six babies for eggs. Now we are thinking that we don't want to process the meat pens. Is it possible to have these two flocks together? Some say that we shouldn't keep the meat pens because it is inhumain for them to live.
Any help or advice would be VERY appreciated.

 

[itsy]

Hello! Welcome to the forum!

I understand what it's like getting attached to your chickens. Do you have other chickens that he may love as layers if in fact you have to process the meaties?

What breed of meat chickens did he raise? Cornish Crosses?

 

[pinkwindsong]

ffa and 4h are great for teaching children about pets vs livestock. one thing is .. meat birds are geneticly bred for a short fast growing birds.. there are not meant for long lives. their organs will not sustain them for long lives. and then thats heart breaking..

if they cant eat the meat that i presume have anmes ... something we have done whenwe have extra meat i donate to a soup kichen. the kids learn noit onluy animal husbantry but how to help people..

)o(
GOOD LUCK
pink

 

[mom4apc]

That's kind of what I thought. It's breaking my heart! I have no idea what bread they are....they are white!

 

[itsy]

White meat birds are generally Cornish Crosses. (cornishx)

I agree with pinkwindsong.

I was hoping you'd tell us that the birds you were raising for "meat birds" were actually some sort of dual purpose bird that you could have kept as pets/layers.

Have you folks processed chickens before? I'm not too familiar with FFA, so I just Googled them to learn more. Was the ultimate end result of his project to process the birds?

 

[mom4apc]

We have never processed chickens, but I have a friend that will help out with that. Yes, the ultimate result was to process them, but it's getting more difficult by the day! They are so sweet! We will do what is best for them, though. I don't want them to suffer. The good news is that we have six new babies that we love love LOVE!
Thanks for much for the advice. I really appreciate it.

 

[itsy]

I'm sure it isn't going to be easy. The best thing I've learned from the peeps in this section of the forum are to respect the chickens you are raising for meat as meat. It's a tough thing to comprehend and I'm certain that I'll have trouble with that next week when I get my new shipment of fuzzybutt meaties in.

What type of chickens are your new ones?

 

[mom4apc]

That's what we will do. Give thanks for them. As for our new loves, according to the Feed Store: Barred Rock, Red Sex Link and Rhode Island Reds. Two of each. They were born May 23 and we've had them a week. Like I said, I'm new to the whole thing, but am jumping in with both feet!

 

[FeedYourself]

Best of luck as you jump in.

Farming is something that requires decisions to be made beyond what "feels" good. Many outstanding farmers I know never take for granted the gifts given them, are always thankful, and they do the right thing. In many cases, that means that an animal gives its life.

That decision should be difficult, and also...should be made. Congratulations on learning where your food comes from.

 

[Amarisus]

Its kinda like meat turkeys. they grow so fast and get so big they can barely walk. Its cruel to try and keep them. Get yourself an orpington they are super sweet loving dual purpose birds.