How do you live with yourself eating the birds you raised?

[Beekissed]

I am asked that question on a weekly basis and, quite frankly, I've come to see that people who ask it are of limited perception and life experience.

Lets dissect the sentence, shall we? "How do you LIVE with yourself" implies that I shouldn't be able to do so as I have committed an act so greivous that I should be experiencing enough guilt that I should not want to live with myself. In other words, I'm an awful person and no one would want to live with me because I can kill my own livestock.

Do you realize how completely idiotic that sounds? I raised a food animal and ate it for food. How stupid of me to do that! How morally wrong of me to plan to kill an animal that I raised for food....as FOOD for my family.

I really don't see someone struggling with the enormity of it...I see someone who wants to make people feel guilty because we don't feel as you do. You think chickens are pets. That's okay for you. We think chickens are pretty and interesting sources of food. As are cows, pigs, ducks, deer and just about any other meat animal. Fish are even entertaining.

Every person who asks that questions doesn't want to really know the answer...they just want to make you feel badly because you do eat your own chickens. End of that story.

If you had really wanted to know the answer to how we have come to make that decision you might want to phrase your question in a different manner. Like..."So...why did you all get into raising chickens?" You will find out right away why we do and it will solve the mystery you so need to clear up.

The simple fact is that there are sensible and strong people on this Earth that know, if you are going to eat meat, you should be aware of whence it comes, how it is raised, what it eats and how it has lived before you use it for consumption.

You eat what you want, we eat what we want. Do we ask you "How do you live with yourself eating that processed food you eat?" Or even, "Do you know the veggies you eat from the store were fertilized by the feces of millions of animals raised in confinement operations? Why do you support the torture of all those animals? How can you live with yourself?"

 

[El Naked Neck]

How do you live with yourself eating the birds you raised?

very Happy, I call them chicken Tacos, Orps, slw,glw,NN,white rocks, RP turkeys, and I got like 10 BLRW roos waiting in line

 

[myfivegirls]

I raised 10 Cornish Rock cross this past spring/summer, and had no problem making them into dinner. As other people mentioned, I named them "food names" and they weren't that attractive-looking. Plus, like what other people said, it's a way to get away from the inhumane treatment of commercially raised chickens, even though we still buy the inferior chicken = would eventually like to get away from it.
I have had to cull some of my pet and named layer hens. One was "Fluffy Buns", who was the last of my first five girls, after she hadn't laid any eggs for two months after her sisters were killed by my dog. The other one was just the other day. Roseblossom, was still a good layer, but she was pecking, chasing and giving a really hard time to the other chickens, and they wouldn't be able to get along together all winter long. It was a hard decision, as she was still laying eggs, but she would eventually effect the production in the other chickens.
Plus, I set out knowing that I will have to eventually eat these chickens, whether it's 12 weeks or 2 1/2 years from the chick stage. And when you set out to do the "deed", don't "think" much about it, just DO IT!

 

[tammyd57]

The only times I "can't live with myself" is when I do something I KNOW is wrong.
Eating food that I have raised for the purpose of food is NOT wrong and it bothers me not at all.

 

[Crusaderwithgat]

We all have a job. The chicken's job is to be food. We've had five roosters do a really good job lately, my 10 year old daughter actually helped dispatch one.

Jim

 

[booker81]

Animal husbandry is a big, big business that affects every single person. Unless you are a perfect vegan who can grow all your own food, you are contributing to the giant animal machine (at least here in the US). The US loves it's large animal operations, where critters aren't animals, they are money on the hoof or foot, and the only necessity is to keep them alive and healthy until their designated slaughter date. Their waste is used at best to fertilize fields, at worst, to contaminate waterways. There is a HOST of other issues as well that come into play - I live in a big dairy state, and I know for a fact most of the workers are underpaid illegal/legal immigrants. That's a whole 'nother ethical problem.

I prefer not to pay into such systems - I don't pay someone else to raise living creatures in substandard conditions, use people and treat them to sub standard pay and work conditions.

I'm an omnivore, therefore I require meat. I want healthy meat, meat that came from an animal that had a semi-standard life at worst, a pleasant life at best. Part of eating meat means a living creature will die, and will become my food. I would rather handle that aspect as well, because I can make sure that the final moments are not petrifying, horrific, scary, or stressful - be it a gun shooting a deer or a knife to my chickens. I do my own homework and make sure *I* don't screw up - I practice with my gun, I use a sharp knife, etc.

As for the actual deed - I would rather carry that guilt and heaviness than pay someone to do the dirty work and pretend that I'm blameless. Some folks can't do it, that's ok - as long as they don't darn me for being able to do it. Coming off as morally superior because they don't kill but rather pass the buck is what gets me going.

Besides, if I do the killing, at the moment life passes, I can sent the fleeting soul off with a thank you for the nourishment it will provide my family. Hard to do that to a cello-pack of meat at the store.

 

[eKo_birdies]

how do i live with myself? quite easily, thank you!

name 'em if you want... but it might be kinda tough when you have 300 birds at any given time.

 

[AHappychick]

I understand your question.

I was a vegetarian for 7 years not because I like veggies but because I could not live with the cruelty involved with the raising of factory animals. I was even Vegan for the first 3 years and let me tell you there were not as many choices back in the early 90's.

Here is what I learned: I was unhealthy and had to take supplements because eating rice and beans everyday got old, I was tired and my body was unhappy with me. Slowly I began finding small local farmers where I could but meat that came from a real farm that took care of their animals, I incorporated a little meat into my diet.

As I got older I realized even more that wer are OMNIVORES and need to eat meat to be healthy and whole and that in order to be a strong healthy person I had to take better care of myself.

I started raising chickens because I was starting a family and wanted to know what was going into my child's system. I raise my own birds for that exact purpose.

It can be very sad and I hate processing them but it has to be done. I eat any extra roos that don't sell and raise freedom rangers (and have raised meaties) before. They always get the best life I can give them, I fix them if injured and they get to free range all day long. I DO NOT name them (why would I) and try not to spend as much time with them as I do my layers or breeders but make sure they are well cared for.

The day of processing is never easy but I am as gentle as I can be using a cone and cutting the throat while holding their head gently and talking to them gently. I used to bring them to a processor but no longer do so as it is no longer legal in NY. I don't let the others watch so they have no idea what is happening and I am thankful of the sacrifice they have made in order for my family to eat.

Now I don't raise my own beef or pork but I buy shares of each from organic and very humane farmers who also give the animals the best possible life before processing.

If you feel as though eating meat is cruel it is understandable but remember we are animals too and if we want to see less suffering and more humane treatment of the animals that make up our diet then raise your own, and buy meat selectively. The more of us that do this the better we cane make the industry which right now is beyond reprehensible. In order to make a change we ourselves must stay healthy or the message is lost.

As for how I live with myself: I am glad that I always feel sad when processing, it means I still understand the great sacrifice being made and provided my back is not hurting I sleep very soundly. When I take my DS to the dr for a check up and he exclaims how healthy he is and how good he is growing I am satisfied and know I am doing the right thing.

 

[Hillsvale]

Quote:
Exactly!... My 21 year old named the meaties chickens nuggets, fajitas, chicken strips, chicken pot pie... you get the idea. Not to sound flippant but when I put my livestock in the freezer I labled my lambs and goats so I knew which was which (they were different breeds and I wanted to know which was more flavourful), as well the two berkshire pigs (one make one female) so I could determine if there was a difference there as well...

I don't have names for any of my critters including my laying hens except my tiny silkie who comes when you call her "baby silkie".. but she weighs less than a pound I bet and just too cute. One of the lambs had a name when it came to us (cranberry) but when its incessant baaing didn't stop when we first got him I changed it to baa for identity purposes! lol

I just remind myself that they were raised for a purpose and that is for food. They were spoiled when they were with us as a reward for the mission they were about to undertake.

 

[Ironmaiden]

I think your question has been answered missychicky