MissyChick - thanks for getting all this discussion started
I have poured over every post, and read quite a few to my hubby. I think this is exactly the kind of discussion that we need to help build awareness of food sources, horrible treatment of food animals, and the benefits of raising our own. Emmy award to all the posters, this is better than TV!
Like most folks here, I'm fairly new to chicken keeping, was raised in the suburban sprawl and got all my food at a grocery store for most of my life. In the past few years I've started a garden and talked my hubby in to having chickens so we can have the most awesome tasting eggs in the world! The films exposing the food industry in recent years has certainly helped us come to this decision. We hatched our baby chicks almost a year ago,
kept 5 of them and have loved them much. Now, I am beginning to think about what happens next. We only have room for a small flock, we don't want to exceed 6 birds. I do want to continue to enjoy the fantastic fresh eggs forever. So now we are faced with the issue: in a short while the girls will slow down and eventually stop laying eggs. So, what to do? If we keep them we'll be paying for the feed and not getting any eggs and not have space for layers
OR we can get rid of them to make room for new layers. If we are going to get rid of them why not use them for food? The eggs are so much better than factory farm eggs, wouldn't the meat be equally better? (having never had anything other than store meat I really don't know) And doesn't it make sense to use our own birds for our family rather than let them go to waste or have someone else enjoy them?
Anyway, I think I'm convinced, thanks to all the fantastic thoughtful responses here, that we should in fact process our birds and use them as food for our family. Now, the biggest obstacle: my children have, from the very beginning, when we were candleing the eggs to see the life and growth inside, have a deep strong love for these birds. It has never entered their minds that these loved pets might ever be dinner. I don't know how I could possibly convince them. My daughter spends lots of time holding, hugging, petting and kissing them each day. I love the story of the 5 yo who asked for his birthday dinner by name, but that just won't happen in my home.
So my question is: how do ya all convince your family to sacrifice their pets for food?
I mean this in the most respectful way, I would very much like to taste the meat but I think my 8yo dd would never forgive me.
