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

[cluckcluck42]

The cold hard truth is that roosters have limited use. This year I have been cursed with tooooo many roosters. In some hatches I have DOUBLE the amount of roosters as of hens. Woe is me. So what am I to do with them? Give them away for free so someone who has not raised them that will kill them for themselves? Where is the logic? The stress that the move will cause the birds is reason enough for me not to even contemplate it. I decided to get into chickens, and I will deal with the extra roosters my own way. We killed three on Sunday, have a lot more to do. The dogs and chickens get whatever we do not eat. The lives of the roosters are not wasted, and they died quickly in the place they were raised. I know what kind of life they lived and I know they were happy. That means the world to me.

On killing day, my heart gets heavy before we catch the first roo. I look at them scratching and eating and pooping in our yard, having a grand ol time and I feel so sad that we have to end their lives. And then I feel privileged that I have the chance to feel that way about my food. Every single person I know would not understand what I meant, but I know this forum does. Owning chickens has given me a perspective I did not have before.

We are working towards being self sufficient. I hope in the next few years we can be 100% independent with the meat we consume. The quality of life of the animals used in factory farms are so heartbreaking it should drive us all who have hearts to raise our own meat. If you cannot do the deed yourself, hire someone to do it. Or buy meat locally from someone you trust.

 

[gavinandallison]

I know what you are saying - I am new to the chicken world - I my husband and I have 5 young BR ladies and we just adore them like we do our dogs --- they set on our laps and enjoy a cuddle - they roost on our shoulders , they are so gentle and well ,,, fun as heck.

I do not look down on folks that do raise meat birds but like you I would eat grass and dirt before I could kill - Alan, Geena, Angelina, Erin or KayKay --- LOL

but then again - to each his or her own

 

[silkiechicken]

Didn't really read the thread, but to me, the quality of life was key, not the fact they were taken for the table. Eating animals I see and cared for allows me to live better with myself.

However, some animals are food, some are not.

 

[gocrow77]

I have enough chickens that some are favored "pets with a purpose' who provide us with eggs, affection, and entertainment. We have a special attachment to a favored few and those will NOT be eaten unless the apocalypse is at hand. The rest will lay eggs and/or breed/provide hens with protection when ranging. When the hens stop laying they have had a great life with more freedom and stimulation than any factory or battery hen. When the fellas get aggressive with people or I have too many they get "thinned out". No guilt here. I don't buy chicken from the store and contribute to the factory farm problem.

 

[The Tinman]

I think so you can get a better idea where MISSY CHIC is comeing from. Could you raise a dog and eat it?

 

[Gold Griffin Chicken Mom]

All right, disclaimer up front, I'm super busy and have only read up to page two. I promise to read the rest by the end of the day.

Someplace I read a story about a boy asking an Indian man what he was whispering to the birds before he bled them. The older man said "I'm thanking them for feeding my family. Even if I don't eat them, your father is paying me to slaughter them for your family. That payment helps to feed my family also."

Years ago I could not kill a rooster I had raised from a chick. I took him back to the Feed & Seed and traded him for 3 Tootsie Pops and a handful of old seed packets. Mister Jake (the ancient store owner) assured me HE was getting the better deal. I said "Enjoy your Sunday Dinner". I could not do it.

Flash forward more than a decade. I'm living on a "farmette" in the midst of real farmers. Mr. Fluffybutt was wonderful with me and the children. He was super rough on the hens, so couldn't leave him with them. Whichever rooster I left him with beat him up. If I let him out in the yard with me, he worked very hard at destroying my garden. I have my last picture of him, pouting in the distance beyond the (tasty) squash plant. I yelled at him so he ignored me for about an hour. Then I looked up and he was going at the squash plant AGAIN. When I calmed down from the squash incident, I sat down with him and explained that his life was becoming a chore. Everybody was beating him up (chicken wise) or yelling at him (hubby, kiddies, and myself). I wanted to end his suffering while he was healthy and still enjoying life.

I hatched him May 13, 2009. The second Saturday in June 2010, I sent my daughter across the yard so she wouldn't watch. I knew I would be bumbling and not doing a swift job this first time. While I cradled him like a baby, my friend tied Fluffybutt's feet and we hung him upside-down. I didn't realize the arteries are on the SIDE of the neck (part of my bumbling around). I apologized to him for taking so long. We told him he was a good boy, doing exactly what he was supposed to do. He died quietly with one long shudder and some wing flapping. My daughter joined us for the plucking. I suggested she not look at the head on the ground.

I did a few things wrong, backward, and so forth. Fluffybutt tasted wonderful. Yes, we all at least tasted him.

I have butchered one more chicken since then. He was a factory farm rescue. We only called him The Runt, and he got to see grass and the Sun for the first time. (Isn't THAT sad?) The bleeding out and everything else went much faster with The Runt. A little of The Runt is still in the fridge. He was very tender.

I have assured the children that the two adult roosters are here with us for life, so long as no one has a sudden personality change. We plan to cull a couple of these CRAZY hens, but otherwise laying hens will live with us as long as we can afford to feed them. The 25 "assorted heavy males" two week olds from Meyer are destined for Freezer Camp. One Barred Rock has made himself the "Adorable Pest" and runs to me and tries to jump into my hand anytime I reach in their brooder. A.P. has earned himself a place in my yard already. So long as he stays "sweet", he can stay. Life is too short to deal with mean roosters, or anything else for that matter, lol.

Getting back to the OP's questions, no I couldn't live with myself and kill that rooster a decade ago. I've matured. The ladies at church refuse to believe that "sweet little you can butcher a chicken???" If the world goes to Hell in a handbasket, I (and my children) won't be starving. We'll have lots of eggs and the occasional chicken that needs to be culled.

 

[terri9630]

Quote:
Yes I could. If we were a culture that ate dogs. It wouldn't bother me at all.

 

[Bossroo]

Quote:
Yes I could. If we were a culture that ate dogs. It wouldn't bother me at all.

I have NO problem eating every chicken I have ever raised. In some Oriental countries there are specially raised dogs for meat. When some of the Hmong were resettled here in my town after the Viet Nam war... there was a noticeable difference in the number of dogs and cats at the local pound.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I think it helps to think about the meat birds the way I think about produce growing in the garden. I carefully nurture their growth from the very beginning, provide well for their needs, take pride in their growth, admire their natural beauty, and anticipate a tasty harvest. To say "How do you live with yourself eating the birds you raised?" is like saying "How can you bear eating that melon you raised from a seed?" What a shame it would be to let the produce wither and die without eating it, just because you were too sentimental to pick that fruit.

Most roosters especially have their purpose on a plate. In an ideal mixed flock the ratio is 1 rooster to 10-12 hens, and many flocks have no roosters at all. That leaves a good 90% with no other job placement than nourishment. Most hens are fruitful for just a few years, and not every chicken owner can afford to feed non-productive poultry.

There is a wide spectrum of chicken-keepers, some are more practical, others more sentimental. Everyone is free to decide what to do with their very own chickens and shouldn't criticize others for not sharing the same perspective. It's fine if you keep all your chickens as pets until they Cross The Road on their own. But I think that for most folks, the longer they keep chickens and the more birds they keep, the more likely they will be to consume their own.

I'm still on the fence. I can process my extra cockerels but still cannot dispatch my older layers, some of whom are my original flock. I cannot process my ducks or geese either. But I think that as I add new hens to the flock I will try to keep their future destiny as dinner in mind. Sometimes I'll hold one of my older hens and feel her heft, and think "Hmmm, she'd make a nice meaty soup!" Which really isn't such a bad end for an old hen, to provide fresh eggs for a few years, then make a rich nourishing soup for her human family, maybe even help someone get over the flu.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Quote:
It all depends on where you live and your culture. I have traveled to parts of the world where the family dog would be on the table faster than you could say "see spot run". Read some history and you will find native Americians ate it. And to be flat honest dog meat is actually pretty good.

Steve