Hesitating with dispatching them

[CascadiaRiver]

The weight off my shoulders now is immense. I strongly believe the birds I have remaining now are hens, behaviorally, visually, could not produce any foam from them, I am happy with what colors I have remaining. I chose to not keep a rooster, with being in a high risk category for today's politics I decided I want to streamline things, and now my quail I can easily pick up and breed & hatch again with an unrelated rooster if the time and life events align better than the next few months might be.

Thank you guys for your words of assurance, it was extremely helpful. In the end I did not butcher any, 3 of the 5 were honestly young & lean and it wouldn't have been worth it I think for the effort needed. I thanked each of them and dispatch was immediate (used a pipe-cutter, dislocated & cut but did not decapitate, it cupped them actually very nicely). This I think was a really good first cull, it was all peaceful for them and a little bizarre but successful for me. I did feel around at how easy manual dislocation would be, these birds really are held together with scotch tape and a prayer! I have learned a few lessons without sacrificing the wellbeing of the birds and I am at peace with all of this, and the ladies will appreciate the quiet and no overbreeding. Next time I do this I will plan ahead with a better set up (and not at 8pm!) to better set myself up for success with butchering the birds. Thank you all.

 

[McChooky]

I've pushed off dispatching twice, just a total shutdown I was extremely confident going into this, but now that it's time to buy a nice pair of shears and sit down and do it, I'm second guessing myself. What if I don't have the stomach to eat them? What if I feel sick gutting them? I wanted to start with quail since they're smaller and easier than say a rabbit or chicken but now that it's time I'm feeling guilty and icky. If I feel sick and unable to eat them, it's a life wasted. I'm not sure if someone would buy cockbirds, I'm doing a final sexing today. I wanted to do this, but now I'm just I guess geeked out. Anyone been in a similar boat? Easier once you've done it? Advice? Do I just need to man up?

Field dress a couple first.It doesn't take 1/2 day to prep and clean up or package like plucking them. Always age it a couple days in the refrigerator to make it tender. Nothing goes to waste if you can't eat it.Give it away or Mix it with store bought and make homemade soup.

 

[cassie]

I raise chickens for meat and eggs. Some of the eggers get names and are pets, and I spend time with them, but my meat birds do not get named, as they are not pets. I clean their enclosure and care for them, and that's it, because at the end of it they're dinner. They had a good life, and now they are done. I always say a prayer to thank them for their sacrifice, and then I make it quick. Any life I give them, regardless of how short, is 100x better than anything they would have had commercially. If it weren't for my desire to raise meat birds, they wouldn't even have had a life.

If you end up dispatching but can't eat them, your dog or cat would love them. Or your compost heap. Fertilizing the yard is not wasting them. Or you can boil them and feed them back to their flock mates. I'm not kidding - chickens (and I assume quails) are omnivores, and very happy to eat raw and cooked chicken (any meat really). They will also eat feathers, skin, bone meal, etc. They have no qualms at all about it and will descend upon the delicacy with great joy. They need protein in their diets to be healthy, and will happily consume frogs, mice, snakes, insects, fish, and anything they can catch. I generally feed them the leftovers when I roast a chicken once I get all the meat off the carcass.

What some folks do, is go to the store and buy a number of commercially raised chickens/ chicken breasts (or quail would work), then package them the same as the home raised ones, so you can't tell the difference. It helps with the guilt, because you don't KNOW you're eating the chicken you processed. I think the home raised ones taste so much better, and once it looks like the whole chickens sold in the store, the ick/guilt factor is done for me, as then I'm on familiar ground. Once it's plucked and gutted it looks like food, and doesn't bother me much if at all. I know what to do with a whole chicken - been cooking them for years. And once you've done the processing for a while, it gets easier. Because darn they're tasty!!! And so incredibly fresh. So much better than anything I ever bought at the store!

Good luck with it. The first time is hard.

When I was growing up, we had a rule. We did not eat pets, and we did not make pets out of food. Ever. It sounds like you are doing the same thing.