How did you prepare yourself (mentally) for first time butchering?

[CoopBoots]

Since starting our flock I've been telling myself that I'd like to reduce my dependency on "big chicken" as an industry. I love the animal, I see what it has provided to humanity, and I want them to live happy lives as I partner with them to support my own family. I provide food, shelter, places to roam and encourage their success in reproduction. In turn, I replace eggs and some of the meat I used to eat with animals (and animal products) that have had lives full of bugs, socialization, and sunshine.

I don't enjoy it but it is 100% an inevitable side effect of, well, the size of my property and their success in reproduction. In the end it should be mutually beneficial, at least as much as possible, and above all else I'm deeply grateful for what these animals provide for my family.

 

[cassie]

Bottom line is don't think about it. Just do it. One step at a time and just concentrate on the step you are doing. Do not think ahead.

 

[LilRedmamma]

I had to put my favorite roo down on Monday. He injured a leg while free ranging then attacked by 2 beta roos two days later. They beat him up pretty bad and to the point he would not move around. I used the broomstick method to dispatch him. One thing the videos do not tell you is if you pull to hard and to fast you will pop the head off. The other thing is in these videos is the post mortem movement last 30-45 seconds. My guy kept moving for 5-6 minutes. That was the worst part of the whole ordeal. I've been a hunter for 40+ years, this was a lot more personal.

Absolutely agree that that twitching and flopping is nerve-wracking, and also a hunter, I didn't expect it to bother me. But that is still one reason I have a hard time reconciling to bow hunt vs rifle... killing my first chicken was very difficult, her body flopping on the bench. An axe was the wrong tool for me. She was dead, and in no pain but my rationale was only omg what have I done?! My mindset of biology student got an F. Thereafter, I changed my whole set up, watched several Youtubes and now, use my ULTRA, SUPER sharp fish filet knife and deer processing scissors.
Telling the bird thanks you're God's blessing calms my nerves, as if HE knows it's my responsibility to be respectful and quick about it. I do not stop until the whole process is done, with the bird on ice in the cooler... one bird takes me 1 1/2 hours when I pluck. My husband asked for neck feathers to make flyfishing lures... his cut just made a real mess, so I told him, he can butcher IF he wants feathers. Ya know he won't Lol. Even as a skilled hunter, he turns green to butcher a deer and turkey but does all the heavy lifting, very respectful of my unladylike and chicken-whisperer abilities. smh

 

[UluLaté]

As my journey with raising laying hens progresses (including hatching my own eggs), it seems inevitable I will wind up with excess roosters. And I feel that the most logical, humane, and responsible thing is to dispatch and butcher them myself. But, I am not a farmer nor a hunter, and I don’t know if I have it in me.

To be clear- I have no qualms about the butchering process. I’m sure I can learn and would have no problems with someone else’s chicken. My concern is killing, butchering, and consuming MY chicken.

I’ve had a few thoughts about how I may better prepare myself-

#1 raise a small flock of broilers so I know without question what the outcome for those chicken will be.

#2 wait until I wind up with a really hateful aggressive rooster.

#3 just give away my cockerels/roosters and let other people dispatch them and try to shake the guilty feeling that it’s MY responsibility to make sure my birds have a peaceful and humane ending.

Folks on this forum were so supportive and helpful when I had to put down my favorite hen last year. I’d love some more advice or sharing stories of your experiences to help me work my way towards and through this next part of the journey.

I tried butchering a dual purpose chicken...it had no decent meat to speak of. We literally had nothing available to eat from it.

Years later I got a good deal on 50 broiler chicks. With 50 chickens to butcher we didn’t have a lot of time for over thinking the situation. We were in it and it had to be done.

A friend had a de-feathering machine that we used.

We just set up an assembly line. I swung them and got to the point where the head popped off all in one motion. Then you put them in a cone upside down, then a quick dip in hot water and then into the feather machine. The bird was cleaned and put in an ice water bath...next!

They were rinsed, dried and vacuum sealed and frozen. Then we either distributed them to friends or took one out to defrost as needed.

We just put a cow in the freezer, too.

As a city girl, I have trouble eating anything from our farm, from artichokes to eggs, chicken, turkey and beef. My other friends from the city who have gone country are the same. It causes me to eat less, which is helpful to the waistline. My kids and husband (an old farm boy) have zero trouble eating up the bounty from our farm. The hubby says it’s the best he’s ever tasted. Loves our farm fresh lifestyle.

I haven’t met a city girl yet who was raised tonforage the grocery store aisles who is able to mentally deal with the butcher and eat way of living.

Now I’m at a catch 22, because I also don’t want to eat crickets and “not meat” products.

At the end of the day, it’s pretty cool to know that you’re feeding your family the best food possible.

 

[FunClucks]

City girl here. Like, I wasn't really even sure which part of the chicken the meat came from that was sold in the grocery store in the plastic covered package. I'm still not really clear on that for anything but chickens. I didn't even like pulling up the plants at the end of the season in my garden because they deserve to live out their natural lives. Never hunted or fished in my life. Never owned or had family who owned any livestock or raised anything and ate it. No hunters or fishers even in my family, that I've known anyway. And yet, I eat meat and enjoy it.

I always wanted to learn how to process my own meat, because I felt it was an important life skill. But I don't believe in killing anything that I won't eat, and I can't eat anything that tastes the least bit gamy (and I've tried). So, after a number of years pondering this dilemma, raising meat chickens finally occurred to me. I had no idea where to start, so I went and figured it out. I'm super grateful for everyone on this site who has helped me. You tube videos can only do so much, talking to folks who have real life experience was key for me, and I'm very grateful. I thought my husband would at least help me slaughter them - nope, that ended up being my job also. I was sad, but I managed the entire process, start to finish.

I guess my point being, everyone's journey is different. Some city girls can start from point zero and successfully raise meat chickens, because I've done it, and expect to do it again in the future.

 

[Morrigan]

I haven’t met a city girl yet who was raised tonforage the grocery store aisles who is able to mentally deal with the butcher and eat way of living.

Another city girl here, although my father did spear fish and I helped him clean them.

My husband was the main driver behind the getting the chickens. But, I ended up really enjoying raising the chickens, and so it became more of my thing, although he still takes the lead on butchering day. But, its always my job to select "who goes" and get them crated up and ready to go, and then pluck and help clean. Occasionally, I've had to be to the one doing the deed.

It's been a journey for me, but it's one I decided I wanted to go on. The thought of raising my own food in more humane conditions appealed to me. The act of raising and butchering made me acutely aware of the incredible value and nutrition those chickens give to me. My food waste has gone, way, way down. I now greatly prefer the taste of home raised chickens over supermarket chickens.

The first couple of butcherings were rough. One thing that helped me, was that we bagged and froze everything up and then waited a couple of months before pulling one out from the freezer to eat. The separation between raising/butchering and then dinner was important for me at first. Now it doesn't bother me, and I will eat a chicken we've butchered after its rested for a day or two, but it took me some time to get there.

In the city, we are so far removed from where our food comes from. It can be a shock at first to live the entire experience. Everyone's path it different, but for me, it did get easier, and now I wouldn't have it any other way.

Good luck with wherever this takes you.

 

[UluLaté]

City girl here. Like, I wasn't really even sure which part of the chicken the meat came from that was sold in the grocery store in the plastic covered package. I'm still not really clear on that for anything but chickens. I didn't even like pulling up the plants at the end of the season in my garden because they deserve to live out their natural lives. Never hunted or fished in my life. Never owned or had family who owned any livestock or raised anything and ate it. No hunters or fishers even in my family, that I've known anyway. And yet, I eat meat and enjoy it.

I always wanted to learn how to process my own meat, because I felt it was an important life skill. But I don't believe in killing anything that I won't eat, and I can't eat anything that tastes the least bit gamy (and I've tried). So, after a number of years pondering this dilemma, raising meat chickens finally occurred to me. I had no idea where to start, so I went and figured it out. I'm super grateful for everyone on this site who has helped me. You tube videos can only do so much, talking to folks who have real life experience was key for me, and I'm very grateful. I thought my husband would at least help me slaughter them - nope, that ended up being my job also. I was sad, but I managed the entire process, start to finish.

I guess my point being, everyone's journey is different. Some city girls can start from point zero and successfully raise meat chickens, because I've done it, and expect to do it again in the future.

I’ve heard it takes one generation to lose the knowledge of how to successfully run a farm. amd it takes 3 generations to regain it.
It’s a lot...good thing we're getting started! Our
grand kids will thank us!

 

[Robinator]

Raising a small batch of Cornish X really helped me come to terms with things. I raised them since day 1, took great care of them and saw to their every need, but I knew that ultimately they would have to go in the freezer. I tried to always keep that in mind. The "good" thing about Cornish X is that they will actually start to suffer from leg or heart issues if you let them live too long, so it does serve as motivation to not chicken out on the slaughter.

Like others have probably said, it's about providing a great, healthy life up until that one bad moment. And for me, we tried to pick the method of bad moment that we felt would be quickest (axe and stump method), so we knew there was little to no suffering. It was over when it was over. And you can know you raised birds that had MUCH better lives than the ones in the factories. You can feed your family meat that was humanely raised and slaughtered. There's so much to feel good about, it's just that one bad moment. and I won't downplay it - it sucks to have to take a life and I don't think that part will ever get easy. But the rewards are great and you are ultimately treating the bird with the most respect possible.

Well said. Thank you for such a compassionate message. It helps a lot.

 

[Robinator]

Another city girl here, although my father did spear fish and I helped him clean them.

My husband was the main driver behind the getting the chickens. But, I ended up really enjoying raising the chickens, and so it became more of my thing, although he still takes the lead on butchering day. But, its always my job to select "who goes" and get them crated up and ready to go, and then pluck and help clean. Occasionally, I've had to be to the one doing the deed.

It's been a journey for me, but it's one I decided I wanted to go on. The thought of raising my own food in more humane conditions appealed to me. The act of raising and butchering made me acutely aware of the incredible value and nutrition those chickens give to me. My food waste has gone, way, way down. I now greatly prefer the taste of home raised chickens over supermarket chickens.

The first couple of butcherings were rough. One thing that helped me, was that we bagged and froze everything up and then waited a couple of months before pulling one out from the freezer to eat. The separation between raising/butchering and then dinner was important for me at first. Now it doesn't bother me, and I will eat a chicken we've butchered after its rested for a day or two, but it took me some time to get there.

In the city, we are so far removed from where our food comes from. It can be a shock at first to live the entire experience. Everyone's path it different, but for me, it did get easier, and now I wouldn't have it any other way.

Good luck with wherever this takes you.

Thank you for your message. My first rooster from yesterday is resting in the fridge. I think we're making soup in a pressure cooker.

 

[edleng]

As my journey with raising laying hens progresses (including hatching my own eggs), it seems inevitable I will wind up with excess roosters. And I feel that the most logical, humane, and responsible thing is to dispatch and butcher them myself. But, I am not a farmer nor a hunter, and I don’t know if I have it in me.

To be clear- I have no qualms about the butchering process. I’m sure I can learn and would have no problems with someone else’s chicken. My concern is killing, butchering, and consuming MY chicken.

I’ve had a few thoughts about how I may better prepare myself-

#1 raise a small flock of broilers so I know without question what the outcome for those chicken will be.

#2 wait until I wind up with a really hateful aggressive rooster.

#3 just give away my cockerels/roosters and let other people dispatch them and try to shake the guilty feeling that it’s MY responsibility to make sure my birds have a peaceful and humane ending.

Folks on this forum were so supportive and helpful when I had to put down my favorite hen last year. I’d love some more advice or sharing stories of your experiences to help me work my way towards and through this next part of the journey.

Just understand that it aint a sin to kill for food.
If you eat it and dont kill it yourself, you are as guilty as the mafia don who sends a thug out to do his dirty work anyway.
Is like hanging up on or slamming your door in the face of solicitors. Hard at first but becomes easier quickly.
Jump in. Be brave. Do it. Appologize to the animal like the natives did if you must. No one who is sane enjoys taking life. It's a necessity.
My neighbor, a badass ex con with tattoos and prison time who could fight, crying, asked me to kill his dog he'd just ran over. He buried it but could not kill it tho it'd've been dead in an hour anyway.
It's natural.