I had to do the deed today. I worried about it all week knowing it was coming up.
I hadn't named these hens, but I sure did enjoy having them around. They do amuse me with their antics and they have such a zest for life. They were very pretty to look at and I loved having them grace my backyard.
I've processed many spare roosters and many meaties and those were no problem. I knew that was where they were headed from the day one. They weren't around for as long as "the girls" had been.
But we are trying to "homestead" here, growing as much of our own food as possible and doing as much of our own work as possible too. Chicken and dumplings you've raised yourself is mighty tasty. And I like knowing what's in my food, how it lived, how it was processed cleanly and humanely. These things matter to me. I would feel like the biggest hypocrite if I couldn't eat my own farm-raised chicken, but ate store-bought chicken instead. Those chickens don't have it so good! So all that helps me wrap my head around it. It's just the cycle of life. I know they had wonderful lives while they lived with me, much better than they would have had at a factory.
I briefly thought of listing them on Craigslist. Passing the buck, not getting my hands dirty, letting someone else do it and I'd never have to see it or know about it. But I decided that would be the worst kind of heresy. It would be disrespectful almost, to let some stranger haul them off and butcher them. I had to see the thing through to the end. It was only the right thing to do. I felt I owed them that much.
The first one or two, I think I told them I'm sorry and thank you for your sacrifice! I turned my head as my husband did the hard part. But once they were on my work table for me to take over with the cutting up and stuff, they looked like meat, like chicken from the store. Except I sat there and marvelled at how healthy their innards were and how much meat they had on them and I had to admit to myself that I had done an awesome job raising them. Clean, healthy and homegrown meat. I can't give my family any thing better than that!
They're farm animals. They have a purpose. I can't afford to feed 30 non-layers for the next 10 years. That would be silly.
Now I will admit though, I have 2 EE hens we named and pet a lot and are very fond of. I think they will be around for a long time. But after that--I'm not naming anymore chickens!
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Just a quick note on that... Old tough birds are super flavorful! More so than young birds. I use a pressure cooker to cook the meat for soup. But even if you didn't eat any of the meat at all and only made broth out of it--I get 8 pints of the best darn chicken stock I ever tasted. A 32 oz. box of the off-brand chicken broth costs me about $2.89 at the store (Swanson's is much more). My old stewing hen or rooster made into stock would be worth at least $11.56 and beats the pants off the off-brand (used for price comparison). Very tasty and very economical!
