I've now gotten accustomed to butchering the chickens I have raised intending from the start to be meat. I tell the kids "don't worry, we won't eat them while they're cute". And I find that the cute wears off awfully fast!
Right now I don't think I could butcher the roos we keep as leaders of their flock, nor our old faithful laying hens. But I can see how others can, and could forsee doing the same in years to come.
These meat roos make themselves easy to say "good-bye & come back for dinner" to when they spend their days in their pen just eating, pooping, pecking & crowing. It seems the best destiny for them, unless you're going to keep a chicken preserve. They won't live forever anyway, and run a good risk of getting eaten by some predator unless you hurry & eat them first.
Most of all, I like being so much in touch with the food I eat, and want my children to know about and have more appreciation for what they eat. You don't want to waste a bite of the meat that came from a bird you know & processed yourself. It seems that most folks, especially in urban/suburban settings, are at least one or two generations removed from butchering even chickens. I wanted to acquire this essential survival skill for myself, and be able to teach it to my children & others.
I think about how detatched our culture is getting from its food, how you can now buy pre-made PBJs in the grocery freezer. I don't want my grandchildren to someday say "Oh, PBJs? I remember my grandma used to make those from scratch! Perhaps I still have her recipe..."
Right now I don't think I could butcher the roos we keep as leaders of their flock, nor our old faithful laying hens. But I can see how others can, and could forsee doing the same in years to come.
These meat roos make themselves easy to say "good-bye & come back for dinner" to when they spend their days in their pen just eating, pooping, pecking & crowing. It seems the best destiny for them, unless you're going to keep a chicken preserve. They won't live forever anyway, and run a good risk of getting eaten by some predator unless you hurry & eat them first.
Most of all, I like being so much in touch with the food I eat, and want my children to know about and have more appreciation for what they eat. You don't want to waste a bite of the meat that came from a bird you know & processed yourself. It seems that most folks, especially in urban/suburban settings, are at least one or two generations removed from butchering even chickens. I wanted to acquire this essential survival skill for myself, and be able to teach it to my children & others.
I think about how detatched our culture is getting from its food, how you can now buy pre-made PBJs in the grocery freezer. I don't want my grandchildren to someday say "Oh, PBJs? I remember my grandma used to make those from scratch! Perhaps I still have her recipe..."
