From the suburbs and struggling internally with making the plunge into keeping (and slaughtering) meat birds. Need advice!

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Hello all. I am new to chickens in general but have fallen in love with them since getting my 4 layers. I live in the city but am very connected with nature and love doing things that make me feel more self-sufficient, so between these birds and my garden, I've started to feel that way and I'm really happy.

I recently have started browsing the Meat Birds ETC threads and it seems like raising a few meat birds (just 4-5 is all I have room for) would be a great way to be more self-sufficient, more educated about the food source, and would help me feed my family.

However, I come from the suburbs - a place where 99% of the people have never had a farm animal, and where the people are very adamate about animal rights and such. Just to put things in perspective, my sister is a vegan, and every person I've brought up raising meat birds to has said something like, "I can't believe you would actually kill and eat a chicken you raised!"

My reasoning for wanting to do this is the same as most of yours. It's fresh food and you know the source. You can know the animal was treated with respect throughout its life. But with that said, I'm still internally struggling with the idea of killing the birds. It's just really different from the way I was raised to treat animals, but at the same time, if I keep buying my meat from grocery stores I'm likely supporting much worse treatment of chickens.

So, how have any of you who didn't grow up slaughtering animals deal with making the leap? Or, if any of you have struggled with having to slaughter chickens, how did you get over it? How do you rationalize it with yourself internally?

 

[Isadora]

Hello all. I am new to chickens in general but have fallen in love with them since getting my 4 layers. I live in the city but am very connected with nature and love doing things that make me feel more self-sufficient, so between these birds and my garden, I've started to feel that way and I'm really happy.

I recently have started browsing the Meat Birds ETC threads and it seems like raising a few meat birds (just 4-5 is all I have room for) would be a great way to be more self-sufficient, more educated about the food source, and would help me feed my family.

However, I come from the suburbs - a place where 99% of the people have never had a farm animal, and where the people are very adamate about animal rights and such. Just to put things in perspective, my sister is a vegan, and every person I've brought up raising meat birds to has said something like, "I can't believe you would actually kill and eat a chicken you raised!"

My reasoning for wanting to do this is the same as most of yours. It's fresh food and you know the source. You can know the animal was treated with respect throughout its life. But with that said, I'm still internally struggling with the idea of killing the birds. It's just really different from the way I was raised to treat animals, but at the same time, if I keep buying my meat from grocery stores I'm likely supporting much worse treatment of chickens.

So, how have any of you who didn't grow up slaughtering animals deal with making the leap? Or, if any of you have struggled with having to slaughter chickens, how did you get over it? How do you rationalize it with yourself internally?

For me there was nothing to rationalize. If people eat meat from the store, it comes from somewhere more cruel than you raising it yourself and processing it yourself. Factory animals have terrible miserable short lives.
If people have not grown up around other people slaughtering their own animals for consumption or doing it themselves, it can be a bit of a shock to the system at first. I did grow up on a farm with many animals but we didn't really process our own chickens. We just had them for eggs.
If it's something you're going to do, you have to decide in advance not to worry about what other people are going to think / say to you. You're an adult (presumably! ) And can make your own decisions and stick by them.
I would get a few meat birds and take care of them well but keep yourself at a distance. There's no need to get overly attached and get all emotional with them if you know they're going to end up in your freezer.
When it comes time to actually do the butchering, pick a method that you know you can handle. For me it was an ax chop to completely sever the head. Yes, the bird flails but I know that they are dead instantly and feel no pain. The first animal I ever killed was a guinea that had perosis that I attempted to treat but couldn't fix. I knew he wasn't going to have a good life if I let him just hobble around so I decided to end it. Yes, it was hard and definitely a shock to my system to actually kill him, but I took a lot of comfort in the fact that he was no longer in pain and that his death was swift and not painful.
My husband and I raised over 300 meat birds last year and this year are doing just under 200. When you are working around that many, you get desensitized to the killing pretty quick. I think it will be a little bit of a slower process for you, but you can definitely do it.
We're all here for you if you have questions and need moral support.

 

[Battlepants]

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you right now, except maybe a couple steps ahead where I have some extra birds currently growing that will eventually become meat for my family.

My rationality for it all is pretty much the same as yours, my birds will live well, be dispatched quickly and used respectfully.

Live well - my birds will have room to move around, they will feel the earth under their feet, they will be generally allowed to do natural chicken things. This is in heavy contrast to the 1x1 wire cages of the industrial meat birds.

Dispatched quickly - I've put a decent amount of study into this and I believe I will be going with the stump and axe method. From my reading, there's no real wrong way to dispatch a chicken (except those involving suffocation), so pick the one that you can do with the least chance of hesitation. Hesitation will bring an unclean kill. So practice the motions many times before hand, chopping sticks, for example. This is in contrast to... I'd rather not know what happens at the factory farms here.

Used respectfully - NOTHING is to be thrown away. Every bit of the bird will find use somewhere on my property. This is in contrast where most of the bird just goes to a landfill. The meat goes to market and may or may not sell.
*Meat - freeze and eat
*Bones - bone broth, then burnt and the ashes given to the fruit trees
*Cookable organs - soup,
*Non-cookable organs/head - burnt and ashes given to the fruit trees
*Feathers - burnt and ashes given to the fruit trees
*Feet - Dehydrated and given to the dogs as treats

 

[U_Stormcrow]

There's an expression, "takes all kinds".

I can't help you with your dilemna, because I'm not wired to feel as most people do. Will eat animals I've named, without a second thought. Even discuss them at the table while eating them. They get good lives - I have too much respect for them, and too much respect for myself, to do a thing poorly. If its worth doing, its worth an honest effort. They get a swift, clean end. Its no courtesy to you - or the bird - to hesitate.

Educate yourself on methods. Set up your butchering station. Make sure everything is in reach. Do a "dry run". Now, actually DO IT. Like the first time you got behind the wheel of a car, the first day at the new job, etc - there is some natural hesitation, trepidation, concern of doing a thing poorly. Don't overthink it.

"Do, or do not. There is no try."

Then use all that you take. What you can't, or won't, eat should be burned and turned back into the soil - including the bones after they have been used for making stock. That too is a gesture of respect.

/edit DO IT enough and two things will happen. One, you will get very good at it. Two, a mistake WILL happen. Be shocked and all emotional later. Finish the job now. Don't prolong its suffering to coddle your emotional wants, or to worse, to demonstrate the emotion response society tells us to show. In the main, they don';t know what they are talking about - being far too detatched from the process, or relationship with the birds themselves - for their opinions to matter.

 

[babyratt]

Hello all. I am new to chickens in general but have fallen in love with them since getting my 4 layers. I live in the city but am very connected with nature and love doing things that make me feel more self-sufficient, so between these birds and my garden, I've started to feel that way and I'm really happy.

I recently have started browsing the Meat Birds ETC threads and it seems like raising a few meat birds (just 4-5 is all I have room for) would be a great way to be more self-sufficient, more educated about the food source, and would help me feed my family.

However, I come from the suburbs - a place where 99% of the people have never had a farm animal, and where the people are very adamate about animal rights and such. Just to put things in perspective, my sister is a vegan, and every person I've brought up raising meat birds to has said something like, "I can't believe you would actually kill and eat a chicken you raised!"

My reasoning for wanting to do this is the same as most of yours. It's fresh food and you know the source. You can know the animal was treated with respect throughout its life. But with that said, I'm still internally struggling with the idea of killing the birds. It's just really different from the way I was raised to treat animals, but at the same time, if I keep buying my meat from grocery stores I'm likely supporting much worse treatment of chickens.

So, how have any of you who didn't grow up slaughtering animals deal with making the leap? Or, if any of you have struggled with having to slaughter chickens, how did you get over it? How do you rationalize it with yourself internally?

Many years ago, a friend introduced us to raising chickens. The first brood was layers. When the friend said it was time to get more and eat the others, my husband said "Amy will never eat Shirley!" As for the meat birds, they are not friends. They acted like I was the enemy every day when I fed and watered them. They grow to be so big that their legs can't support their weight. I reconciled myself with the fact that they are food but I cannot wield the ax. We sent them to a local butcher who sent back oven ready roasters.

 

[3KillerBs]

It's right for it to not be easy at first and it should never be done without respect, but I find that once I get them undressed they look just like a chicken from the grocery store (except skinnier since I've only done cull cockerels).

However the broomstick method is a steeper learning curve so I don't recommend it for first timers.

I found it perfectly simple BUT I had personal instruction. I recommend that any new person try to find someone to teach them in person if at all possible.

Whatever method is chosen there is bound to be a bit of trial and error and some mistakes. I've both failed to kill on the first pull and accidentally pulled the head clear off. But I know my level of skill with a hatchet and figure that I'd make worse mistakes that way.

Another option that many people like for it's ease and surety is to use a killing cone and branch loppers to remove the head completely. The key being to use BYPASS loppers, not the anvil sort.

To me the most unpleasant part is the flapping. But that got easier once I realized that a powerful flapping reaction was correlated to the swiftest and cleanest kill.

 

[fowltemptress]

Maybe a weird tip, but this helped me when i was feeling overwhelmed: watch some nature documentaries. Life for a wild animal is hard, and more often than not their deaths are grisly and macabre. After watching a nature documentary I just felt so good about being able to provide my animals with a comfortable life and relatively swift and painless death.

Truth be told, this worked a little too well on me. I haven't watched nature shows in at least a decade. They're all the unpleasantness of a horror movie without the soothing knowledge that it's fiction.

 

[igorsMistress]

I can definitely relate to your situation, it’s a tough leap. To start, I don’t cuddle or name any of my chickens, even the ones I keep. I do spend time with them, but it’s coincidental because I have to clean and garden. I know my flock has access to a good amount of space and freedom, which is better than anything a store bought chicken gets, and I use every bit of the bird I can so the life wasn’t wasted. Considering cost, it’s not cheaper to raise your own for food when you can run to walmart and get a fully cooked bird for a few bucks. It’s easier on my conscience these days though. You just have to do it and then decide if you can keep doing it or not.

As for anyone concerned about animal rights, I’d dare them to compare your treatment of your own food to the treatment their food gets before it hits the grocery aisle. Killing an animal for food is not unkind. We are omnivores and our bodies are made to eat meat. Just because your neighbor or coworker is a vegan doesn’t mean you have to be. If you can’t find like minded folks locally, you’ll find plenty of them of them here. Come talk to the folks on BYC and skip discussing these things with people who will never understand. It’s not worth the effort to try changing their minds.

 

[babyratt]

For me there was nothing to rationalize. If people eat meat from the store, it comes from somewhere more cruel than you raising it yourself and processing it yourself. Factory animals have terrible miserable short lives.
If people have not grown up around other people slaughtering their own animals for consumption or doing it themselves, it can be a bit of a shock to the system at first. I did grow up on a farm with many animals but we didn't really process our own chickens. We just had them for eggs.
If it's something you're going to do, you have to decide in advance not to worry about what other people are going to think / say to you. You're an adult (presumably! ) And can make your own decisions and stick by them.
I would get a few meat birds and take care of them well but keep yourself at a distance. There's no need to get overly attached and get all emotional with them if you know they're going to end up in your freezer.
When it comes time to actually do the butchering, pick a method that you know you can handle. For me it was an ax chop to completely sever the head. Yes, the bird flails but I know that they are dead instantly and feel no pain. The first animal I ever killed was a guinea that had perosis that I attempted to treat but couldn't fix. I knew he wasn't going to have a good life if I let him just hobble around so I decided to end it. Yes, it was hard and definitely a shock to my system to actually kill him, but I took a lot of comfort in the fact that he was no longer in pain and that his death was swift and not painful.
My husband and I raised over 300 meat birds last year and this year are doing just under 200. When you are working around that many, you get desensitized to the killing pretty quick. I think it will be a little bit of a slower process for you, but you can definitely do it.
We're all here for you if you have questions and need moral support.

My hat off to you! If I had to kill my own food, my diet would be veggies and seafood. I drive by small farms every day and my heart sinks a little looking at a future hamburger I have friends that hunt and I will gladly accept the meat but I cannot do my own killing/butchering. BTW, I spent a day with a friend on his crab boat. I have NO sympathy for those horrible creatures anymore Thank you for being the person you are!

 

[SheaLoner]

Not sure if it helps but the cornish cross, the white meat birds, have minimal personality to me. All stomache, little brain. And by the time they are 4 weeks the smell of their litter even when moved daily is so foul you will want them gone asap.
It is best to keep in mind that they will be dinner, try not to name them or handle them too much. 2 months of good food, clean bedding and then 1 bad day.