First time processing a white broiler...It was heartbreak!

[hhong3138]

A few days ago, I processed a white broiler. It was not as easy as I thought....

I had heartache for hours afterwards and the images of the dying bird just lingering in my head for days. I love animals, but I am not a vegetarian yet though I eat very little meat, but I love fish and seafood. In our household, both of my husband and my son and our dog love meat. I started to grow my own vegetables since early this year and I also got some hens to lay eggs so we can live a more self-sufficient life style. About one and half months ago, I thought to myself, why not raise our own meat so we can be totally self-sufficient and have healthy and tasty meat as even the organic chicken we buy from store are tasteless nowadays. Under this motivation, I ordered some white broilers and only now I found out that killing them is such an impossible task!

Both of my son and my husband don't want to slaughter the birds and they said they have no problem of eating meat from supermarket, but to my mind, what is the difference between that? Although you didn't kill the animals, someone had to kill them, so you can have the meat on your table. Or not eat meat at all, then there is no killing!

My husband is looking for some local butcher store to do this for us and he doesn't want me to do it again as he is concerned about my heart (I have mild heart condition), but I really wish I could do it as I have always wanted to have a farm and raise animals someday.

 

[NonnasBabies]

It's not for everyone. You have to have it set in your mind that you'd rather raise your own birds and give them the best life possible while they are alive and humanely kill them. Watch some of the chicken videos on youtube and see how the birds are treated and killed that you buy in the store and that will make things easier!!

 

[itsy]

I know. It's not easy. I've heard it gets easier the more you do and the more clinical and professional you make your set-up. There's no harm in finding someone locally to do it for you, either though. I know what it's like to want to self-sustain. Many of us here feel the same way!

 

[hhong3138]

Thanks Barred Babies and itsy,

Your words have already made me feel better. I am so glad that I found this place, so I can talk about these things

Vanessa

 

[becky3086]

It is better if you don't watch them dying. I hang mine, cut the throat and walk away until they are done. The quicker and faster you do the cutting, the better as well. Can't give yourself time to think about it.

 

[Avalon1984]

Hey Hhong,

You need to do what you are comfortable with without upsetting yourself. Talk to your husband, discuss how chickens normally are raised and that you could make a difference by raising your own meat. The method of killing also has a lot to do with it. We killed and butchered our first 2 roosters the other week and I was very worried about that part, yet it was not traumatizing at all. They were gone almost instantly and the rest was just work. The plucking was a bit of a pain though

. It may also help to do a really angry, nasty and unfriendly bird next time

 

[KenK]

My lovely wife is an avowed carnivore but I can guarantee she would be a vegetarian if she had to kill and clean any kind of animal for food.

She is just now getting her head wrapped around eating the chickens I kill. I tailor the process so that she doesn't see the dead bird until it is on a plate, ready to eat.

While I have a hard time understanding this mind-set; I do respect it because I know that my wife is a profoundly good person.

 

[hennylove]

I know exactly what you mean, h. We have done meat birds the past two years. The first year I had to take them to the butcher and that made me feel a bit sad and like Judas, or something like that! First you are their feeder and they come running then

But that feeling didn't last long. Last year we raised 35 and decided (along with my brother and his wife) that we should do the butchering ourselves. We all felt kinda poorly after it was all done and didn't have chicken for a while

. I think it was a good thing to know we can do it ourselves if we have to, but this year they will go to the butcher. We have done cornish x in the past but this year I am going to get a mix of heavy males to raise. I would like to have sheep and goats someday too, but I know that will be REALLY hard to deal with. We shall see...

 

[SteveH]

Quote:
It's undoutably different for someone like myself that was raised on home grown meat, but I seldom think of those birds as anything other than future meat, though well cared for, and perhaps a bit easier with CX because the quality of life for them will be poor if not processed at an early age. I hate to think of an animal's life being wasted, and by my processing them they have lived for a designed purpose. The smell of the fatty tissues I absorb during processing always makes me want to allow them to age awhile before I'm ready to have a meal of one, but its not an emotional issue. [However, last week I buried a much loved bulldog after her final heart attack; and confess I cried long and hard.] I'm getting to the point where processing is hard on me due to some physical problems, so this year intend to pay the Amish to do most of mine; but like you, find it good to know that if it comes down to it I can help that bird fulfill its purpose in life....................... to me there's just something right about a being a part of raising and harvesting my own food.

 

[saddina]

It's fine if you need someone else to do the processing for you, I can do the "dissection" steps of the butchering, but I'm still iffy on the killing blow. Mr saddi can dispatch them, but can't stand the cleaning steps. You have to do what's right for you. If that means having someone else process the birds, that's just fine, they'll still have lived a happy, healthy life.

Or as my son puts it "store chickens taste like guilt".