had my roo "processed" today

[andy]

hi its me again..well i dont think think i'll have a problem eating them,, its killing them..right then..lets say my eggs do hatch, and i end up with a cock or 2 ,,that i definatly cant keep..how old is the best age to turn them in to a dinner? before they start cockaldooing

 

[werblessd1s]

$1 WOW, THAT'S AN AWESOME DEAL.

I COULDN'T DO IT MYSELF EITHER. I WOULD LIKE TO THE THINK THE CHICKEN I BUY AT WALMART THAT SAYS "HORMONE FREE" IS GOOD FOR ME.

 

[suburbanhomesteader]

Hormone free chicken still lead a pretty miserable life while it was growing up.

I have seen a poultry shed up in Indiana; from what I hear, many of them are hundreds of square feet, and when the little chickies are first thrown in there, it looks like a lot of empty space and they are free ranging (of course, no one goes in to pull out sick or deformed chickens, and so they suffer until they die) in what looks to be a pretty good life.

HOWEVER, by the time they are about a month old, they are out of growing space, and they are climbing all over each other. There is no room to move, and the smell (including a pretty strong, although not toxic, level of ammonia) is just horrible.

The video I've seen on the internet is even worse than what I saw in person.

I have tried not to eat a chicken from anywhere other than a pasture-raised farm (which I've visited) since viewing those awful "free-range" chicken sheds.

That is why I am going to make the sacrifice and take responsibility for raising and killing my own chickens, if I decide I just have to eat flesh. I've been doing that with venison for years (instead of beef); guess it's time to raise my own cornish rocks and tilapia!

 

[Slim]

Awright, I gotta share this story. Sorry if its a bit long.

The first time I ordered day old chicks, everyone was excited for them to arrive. I kept warning my wife and both daughter (the daughters were 10 and 11 yrs old) to PLEASE DO NOT NAME THE CHICKS. WE CANNOT KEEP MORE THAN TWO ROOSTERS. I AM BUTCHERING ANY EXTRA ROOSTERS!

But daaaaad, can I name a hen? Can I name the roosters we're gonna keep? I wanna name them....... blah blah blah.

Then my sis-in-law pokes her head in a couple weeks later, see's the biggest freaking Black 'Lorp in the brooder and immediatly names it Walter. "Hey, look how big that one is. Oh yeah, he's a Walter if I ever did see one". .... O.K fine, I'm keeping that roo anyway, because it matured so quick. Fine, we'll call it Walter.

Then I cave in, and let the daughters each pick out ONE PULLETT that they can name. Well I guess I caved in a little bit early, as my youngest's pullett grew into a wonder slow-to develope Black Austrolorp rooster. Great.

Five months latter, Walter goes on a rampage and starts spurring the kids any time they go near the coop. He's beating up the other two roosters, and is in general just a mean old bird.

"Slim," my wife says, "Walter's gotta go." Well by this time, after learning where chicken nuggets come from, my 11 yr old decides she's a vegetarian. Thats cool by me. No biggy. And my wife has decided she can't eat chicken at all. But 'ol Walter has got to go.

So I get up nerve, and one evening while the wife and kids were away I butcher Walter. Never had done anything like that before, and was a bit worried if I'd have cojones.

The next evening my youngest daughter and I sat down to a roasted chicken dinner, complete with all the trimmings. I had raised the meat, butchered the meat, and cooked the meat. I was quite proud of myself.

Well my daughter knows exactly what is one her plate, and after eating a bit of chicken says "Ya know dad, Walter was mean, but he sure does taste good."

Is that great or what!

I butchered the rest of the extra roosters the next week and my youngest and I are the only ones that got to enjoy the stisfaction of food raised by your own hand.

Thanks for letting me subject you all to that story.

 

[motherhen]

I am new to chickens altogether but I want to know what its like to eat your own chickens. I have 2 layers and 2 meats and I want to keep an open mind about things. I want to get back to nature and the essentials, like producing my own food. I love to eat chicken and I like the taste or free range meat. I just hope when the time comes I will be able to do it. I don't want to do it when my kids and DH are around in case something goes wrong. I want it to go smooth and peaceful if thats possible.
I was wondering if anyone has done dry plucking and is it hard or do you always have to have the hot water to dip?

 

[chickenannie]

Hi. Have read the preceding discussion with interest. I thought I could "compartmentalize" when it came to butchering my first group of layers, but they've become so familiar to us and people-friendly that I can't bring myself to even put them in a box and take them to a butcher. My 6 turkeys didn't get put on the Thanksgiving table either last week either. And my 3 bunnies are just getting fatter and fatter. All in all, what I thought I could do, or have someone else do (butcher and eat them), has been much harder for me than I thought. I'm looking at the expense of feeding them all winter long, but I feeeelll for them. I guess I have empathy for them as 'beings' or something.

Our 2nd batch of straight run chickens has 8 roosters and I have gotten less attached to this new group, so I think I'll be able to have them butchered in a few weeks, and even eat them myself (I hope). Otherwise I will sell them to family and friends and make them promise to cook/eat them well and not wastefully.

The shameful part seems to be to treat a bird without respect for all it provides us (when cooking/eating), meaning if it's wasted, or chowed down hurriedly and inattentively, it seems to suggst that the bird's life wasn't valuable or respected. If the chicken is made into an amazing feast that is truly appreciated and that we're thankful for, then we've respected it's life and it's value -- a more respectful attititude.

 

[picklespickles]

i think a dollar is a good price. i do kill my own and i would say it takes mroe than a dollars worth of time.

 

[Dinos_rock]

Quote:
I know how you feel. I wouldn't want to eat one of my chickens. I do eat chicken, but I just wouldn't eat one of my chickens. Also, I am in FFA and I am raising a pig. I wouldn't want to eat my piggy, but I LOVE bacon.

I know that when I sell my pig at the county fair, it will be butchered. It is different when you personally raise the animal, then eat it. To me, it would be like eating my pet.

 

[Godiva]

Well, interesting discussion. We got chickens for the first time this year. We decided to order straight run and eat the extra roos - we really want to learn to be able to take care of ourselves more and I just can't stomach store bought chicken anymore. It tastes weird to me.

So right from the beginning we told our DD that these guys are all possibilities for the pot. We named a number of the roos that stood out in personality from the others. It was really hard when it came to the time to kill them and clean them. But it felt good too. We all stood around and said thanks to God and the roo for the blessing of the meat and then my DH did the actual deed. I just can't bring myself to cut a living thing. I know that if I really had to I would - but I have DH to rely on - whew! Those first few were hard to actually take a bite, I kept seeing those pretty, fluffy warm bodies. But, our DD was the one who really helped us (she was 4) when she said, Mum, Boaz tastes really good! RIght then I thought, if she can do it even though she loves the chickens, then I will too. It is a real process to get used to this for those of us who have grown up with store bought chicken that required no thought. I feel that we appreciate our meat so much more now that we have to do the actual deed ourselves. Life is not cheap but we believe that meat is an important part of our diet and I would rather raise a happy healthy chicken and be the one to kill it humanely and also know that it has been cleaned without contamination etc. Anyway, that is our view. I can totally understand not being able to eat your own chickens, it has taken some getting used to for us. But, it is an awesome feeling to eat something you raised yourself and that you know is good for your kids and family.

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

I am with southern28 on this one as well. I am to chicken to kill my own because they are like my babies. I just eat there eggs. The best thing is 15 minutes away there is a farm that sells chicken that I am going to go to.