How do you do it?

[Illia]

I don't raise the fast growing, dumb, dirty, ugly Cornish X birds, in fact I work on my own dual purpose and meat birds who grow at a normal rate, a lot of them I even get slightly attached to (in fact the more friendly bird, the more I like it) but how do I do the killing? I consider it this way -

A bird is going to die, no matter what. At some point, we all go. So as long as it goes fast, (I use a very fast, easy, humane method) and as long as it had a good life (I pasture mine and give them daily attention, just as I would a pet laying hen) then what's the issue?

Plus, there's something about processing the bird, (once it is already dead) that is just so neat. The process of skinning it, cleaning it, cutting it up, - It's a very, I guess I could say, "beautiful" process. It allows me to feel productive, and it requires so much "instruction."

Plus, I'm the kind that has to enjoy my meat birds before they're processed. I like mine healthy, pretty in body and/or color, and able to forage like any other chicken. Plus if they're friendly, it is that much easier for me to just grab one, get it prepared, and do it in.


Much better than buying something from the store in which you just ignore the thought of the process because you know the bird had a horrible life, likely slow death, and unsanitary environment from beginning to end.

 

[tagra123]

Quote:
What a great answer.

I had to prepare myself to kill the first time it took me a week to psych-up to do it.

I know it's not exactly the same but if you try to think of it no differently than harvesting in your garden it may help.


To add to bigredfeather's great answer. I think many learn that there is a greater appreciation for the food they eat when they have cared for the animal and then butchered it themselves. It is actually a very natural act once you convince yourself it is OK.

 

[booker81]

It's hard for many folks who've grown up knowing their food only comes from the store. After all, a cello wrapped chicken breast sure doesn't look like a chicken.

Learning how to "make" your own food from "scratch" is a skill that will last a lifetime. If you garden, think of how much more rewarding it is to have a meal of fruits or vegetables you planted, cared for and picked yourself - that good feeling is why many people choose to also raise their own meat. It's the most natural way of things - much more natural than shopping at a store.

Read around here in the Meat Bird section, and read the "graphic" posts on how to butcher - not to gross out, but to learn. The stickied one from "frugal" is really good. Work on overcoming the ew factor, and really look and understand how the process works, and how a living animal makes the transition to dinner.

The hardest part is making that first cut/shot/whatever that ends a life, and that's ok. It's kinda scary if you've never done it, and you don't want to be someone who makes a critter suffer. There are many humane and minimally painful ways to end the life. After that, it all becomes anatomy and physiology, and there is a LOT to be learned - take your time and learn how a chicken is put together. That knowledge will most likely prove useful in caring for your live chickens as well.

Then if you need to, watch something like Food, Inc. to make you not really care too much for store meat

 

[ourflockof4]

Quote:
Our first couple of meaties were actually accidents, we picked up 6 birds at the feed store and 2 happened to be meat birds. By the time we realized what they were we already had them named and the kids were playing with them. My wife was very persistant that we were not going to eat them. She wanted me to give them to a friend who had done meat birds in the past. At about the 10 week point they started to have difficulty breathing. After explaining to her and the kids that they had lived a great life and been treated well, but were now ready for the table, she agreed to just have me butcher them (I have been hunting for year, so killing an animal for food wasn't really a big deal to me). She said that I could keep the meat, but that her and the kids would not eat it, so in the freezer it went. For the next month every time we had chicken for dinner the kids would ask if we were eating our "pets" by name.......Then another friend gave us 6 meat birds that he didn't want.....these were named fried chicken, nugget, ect.....they were raised by all of use with the same care as the first 2 were, but with the intention from day one that they were our food....after they went to freezer camp the kids would ask whick chicken we were eating, in a good way though. Everything kinda came full circle fr them then and they were also OK with eating the original two, and even a mean rooster from our layer coop.....then in the fall we did a larger batch and even a couple of turkeys.

The moral of my story though is that you may need to take baby steps. Get just a couple to start with if your worried about it and just see how it goes. It was a bit of a battle to start for my family to eat them to start with, but once they realized it was ok it's no longer an issue. They are to the point now that they know we just raise & process our own chicken and turkeys, thats just what we do. As we expand our farm and add pigs, goats, and cows, they know that they are not really pets, but that they are being raised for a purpose and one day either we will butcher them, or they will go away and come back in white, neatly wrapped packages.

 

[Suzannah]

I know where my food comes from, and I am aware of the issues surrounding supermarket meat (real or imagined). I was raised by vegetarians, but please don't lump me into the category of people who grew up, oblivious, thinking that meat in general springs fully formed in cellowrap and styrofoam. I was present at friends' farms when they butchered, and processed deer were often viewed on the drive home (I grew up on the side of a mountain).

I am not trying to be hypocritical or judgemental, just trying to psych myself up for the possibility. I had a great conversation with the kid last night (as we were on our way out to eat chicken, ironically), and I told her I was considering getting a couple meat birds. We talked about much of what was mentioned here (giving them a good life and good care), and we talked about poultry operations and living conditions. The wheels were turning in her head, for sure.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

sounds like you're doing a good job paving the road towards it. I don't think anyone on here was lumping you into oblivious catagory, (we know your not or you wouldn't be here) I am pretty sure they were just using examples. Stick around, we would all love to see you through this and on to becoming butchering fanatics like the rest on here!

 

[Judy]

Ridgerunner said, "I never enjoy killing them." Once I realized I wasn't supposed to, it was a lot easier to think through the many other good points already raised, here.
The kids will most likely eat them, too, in their own time. Around here it was about a year from "never" to "think I'll try it."

 

[Captain Carrot]

I always feel bad each time I do it, I must have done 70 plus now. If you don't feel anything than that's really bad, as you're taking a life.

All the birds I've slaughtered I knew that was their purpose, and yeah they've had the best life I could give them. A darn better life than most of the chickens in the supermarket. But I always have a twist in my stomach a few seconds before I do it. I always do it with respect too, I do it as quickly as possible and with as little stress as possible. I hold the bird afterwards rather than dropping it and letting it flap about.

To say that it doesn't bother you is harsh though.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

It is quite a departure for most of us adults raised in a modern urban/suburban environment, and even more so for younger generations raised on so much pre-packaged & convenience foods. Most of us are at least one generation removed from anyone who personally killed any kind of animal for food, not even a fresh-caught fish. It's far past our comfort zone to carefully plan to kill an animal we're not afraid of, threatened by, or disgusted with, especially an animal we've had time to get to know, to care for, to even learn to care about.

And such a departure from conventional experience to have to kill an animal for food, when hot cooked meat meals are so easily obtained for minimal cost. You can be driving down a street, feel a slight hunger pang, and have dozens of places to choose from to find an instant meal. You don't even need to get out of your vehicle, but drive beside a building, speak into a metal cone, pull out a piece of plastic from your wallet, and purchase hot cooked meat for just a dollar or two. You barely have to interact with other humans to get this, let alone consider the animals whose flesh you're eating, nor the humans who raised & processed them.

Butchering is never going to be my favorite chore around here, but I'm sure glad I've learned how to do it. It's made me feel empowered to have learned this basic human survival skill, and much more appreciative of & grateful for the food on my table, even when I didn't have a hand in raising it. It's a source of satisfaction to know that the chickens I raise for meat have been given the best of care, feed & conditions, and were dispatched with consideration. I feel it's my responsibility to provide the final kindness to them, to give them a quick & humane end, hearing soothing voices and feeling gentle hands when they Cross The Road.

My boys choose not to join in with the butchering chores, at least not the real messy parts, mostly because of the "yuck" factor. But they help in so many other ways, fetching tools, catching chickens, hauling hot water & ice, carrying out the garbage, etc. And of course, help with eating the finished cooked product!

 

[bigredfeather]

Quote:
Very well put and inspiraitional SSU! What you have discussed at the begining of this is the exact reason I ask my young children to help when we butcher. So many people, especially children, think that food comes from a drive thru window or out of a box in the freezer ile at Wal-Mart. I feel very blessed to have a wife and children that where eager to be a part of putting food on the table that started and finished on our small piece of land. My 5 year old is alway eagerly awaiting, lung scaper in hand, for me to set the next bird in front of her so she can do her part.