Homesteaders

[Beekissed]

I use the 2 gal. bleach jugs....MUCH cheaper than anything else out there, as we use the bleach here and the jug is a free part of that. They do just fine with 15 lb CX and on downward to little silkie bantams. The flashing cones and highways cones are just not shaped like a chicken, so the chickens tend to work themselves out of them. The bleach jugs have shoulders that cup the chicken just perfectly and they cannot flop out of them at all. Just use a wide headed nail or two...I use roofing nails...so the weight of the chickens don't pull the nails through the plastic. I can use the same jug for years upon years.

 

[Molpet]

I use the 2 gal. bleach jugs....MUCH cheaper than anything else out there, as we use the bleach here and the jug is a free part of that. They do just fine with 15 lb CX and on downward to little silkie bantams. The flashing cones and highways cones are just not shaped like a chicken, so the chickens tend to work themselves out of them. The bleach jugs have shoulders that cup the chicken just perfectly and they cannot flop out of them at all. Just use a wide headed nail or two...I use roofing nails...so the weight of the chickens don't pull the nails through the plastic. I can use the same jug for years upon years.

Up in N IL I have not found any 2 gl jugs,,I had read that was what you used and have been looking since March when I got the cx... of course I'll probably find a bunch now LOL
but I did find a smaller cat litter jug that worked well for the cx,.. how ever it was too big around for a 1yr standard rooster. I used screws with fender washers to hold the jug to the post
A traffic cone didn't work for me either,

 

[duluthralphie]

So the traffic cone is out..

I don't think I have seen a 2 gallon hylex jug in years.

 

[greenfeathers]

I made my cone out of some metal flashing I had laying around. Instructions on this site. Did 9 boys today.

My 4 y/o daughter was mad I wouldn't give her the knife to help.

My 13 y/o son wanted no part and it about made him sick.

 

[OrganicFarmWife]

Lol i have 2 girls, Thing 1 & 2, thing 1 is about to be 4, thing 2 just turned 2. I was worried last year about my girls watching us butcher the birds, thinking is might frighten them. But it is very difficult to keep children away from anything you are doing, so they both watched the whole thing. It fascinated thing 1, and she remembers every detail.
We had a Rooster turn mean this spring and go after thing 2. The first thing Thing 1 did after we all got to the house was start filling her bucket with hot water

I admit I was quite proud. I think allowing small children to see those things is good for them.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

Lol i have 2 girls, Thing 1 & 2, thing 1 is about to be 4, thing 2 just turned 2. I was worried last year about my girls watching us butcher the birds, thinking is might frighten them. But it is very difficult to keep children away from anything you are doing, so they both watched the whole thing. It fascinated thing 1, and she remembers every detail.
We had a Rooster turn mean this spring and go after thing 2. The first thing Thing 1 did after we all got to the house was start filling her bucket with hot water

I admit I was quite proud. I think allowing small children to see those things is good for them.

I totally agree. We processed our evil roo 3 weeks ago and all 5 watched. They learned a lot.

 

[Beekissed]

I agree as well! Start them out early and do it often and it becomes a way of life that's common to them. Children take their cues on such things from their parents....if the parents act like it's a matter of fact, so will the kids. My kids were helping with such things as soon as they could walk and talk and my grandchild is getting the same start. Last fall she applauded when the bunny stopped moving around after bleeding out. That was spontaneous and made me laugh...so I applauded too! She's 2 now, so I expect she will be very interested when I do the fall cull.

 

[duluthralphie]

We all agree on Kids should be involved in the processing! I "forced" my kids to be involved and now my kids have theirs involved. We did not want the kids to think meat just came from a store. We wanted them to know something has to give it's life for us to live.

Our kids now feel the same way we did when they were young,

 

[GardenNut]

We all agree on Kids should be involved in the processing!    I "forced" my kids to be involved and now my kids have theirs involved.  We did not want the kids to think meat just came from a store. We wanted them to know something has to give it's life for us to live.

Our kids now feel the same way we did when they were young,

I totally agree! Although I had to live in the suburbs when my daughter was growing up, I tried to teach her that our food did not originate on the grocery store shelves. She watched me plant and grow things most of her young life, although she never took an interest in it. But now as a young mother, she appreciates what she did learn! We now are teaching her son. Unlike his mom, he likes helping me plant seeds and seeing the plants grow. He's not a "GardenNut" yet, but he's a work in progress. I don't know if I'll be able to do my own butchering, when I get my little retirement homestead, but I figure I can at least raise the meat and have it processed elsewhere. I just have to not give the critter a name, or it'll be eating my pension, instead of me eating it!

 

[Beekissed]

I just have to ask....I've asked others on BYC and other forums where this idea seems to reign supreme,but they couldn't give me a logical answer to it. Why does an animal with a name have any greater value or be less easy to butcher than an animal without a name?

It's just a word that one assigns to a creature, but other than that it holds no magical powers that would prevent that animal from becoming food, nor does it put any special value on that animal emotionally...at least, logically it shouldn't.