How to butcher a chicken and not feel guilty?

[LinckHillPoultry]

Any helpful information for butchering a chicken and not feeling guilty?

I'm an animal lover, never butchered my own chicken before. Been considering though, but I know if I do it I'll have guilty feelings.

It's just hard for me to kill something I hatched, like to bring it into the world and then take it back out. I'd just feel sad to take somethings life that I see every day.


I have a couple mean mean mean roosters that run over to the fence and attempt to attack me through the fence. I try to avoid going into the pen, only if I have to.
If I'm in the pen they beat the snot out of me.
The 2 that do that are RIR's... they'd be the only ones I'd consider butchering. I would still feel guilty.


Any thoughts or opinions on this?

 

[ginbart]

I'm right there with you. I think I only way I could eat my chickens is if I were out of money and food. Then I think I would kill a deer before I could eat them.

I guess if you looked at it like you were saving money, the meat would be better, you know where they came from, and you know what they have been eating. That sounds good. I could kill them but can't clean them. I have never cleaned one.

Guess I'm not much help. Sorry.

 

[LinckHillPoultry]

Yes, I agree with you Ginbart. I can kill a deer, since I'm a hunter, but it would be hard for me to kill a chicken.

 

[Psittizen Shikkin]

I tell myself that without the nice life that I let it live here, it wouldn't have had one at all. Better to have lived and died than to have never lived at all if the life was a good one.

 

[fullhouse]

This is how I look at it. I eat meat. I can either eat chicken (roos) I have given a good 15 weeks of quality of life, or I can eat a chicken raised in a broiler house.

 

[belibutn]

We made a very distinct connection to our egg laying hens, and could not butcher any of them. If we had a problem with roosters in the flock acting like that though, I don't think we would have gotten so attached... but still I know what you mean.

We made sure to NOT make that connection with the chickens we planned on butchering from day one. It was hard, but we forced ourselves to see some as only food, and others as pets.

 

[cheeptrick]

I just told myself...that if I could clean a fish I just caught...I could butcher a chicken. You just get used to it...
Also...they would eat themselves to death anyway...so I felt like I was helping them from the shame of suicidal gorging!
The first flock I could not butcher though...I had someone come and process them for me. Next time...I'll save the $ and do it myself.

Best chicken I've ever eaten...truly!

 

[menageriemama]

I'm not sure how to link one topic on this forum to another, so-if you go to the search and put in Inspiration for Butchering Day under meat birds, maybe it will help a bit

.

 

[chiknlady]

There is a really good thread on 8/15/08 Called I did it, and now I have mixed emotions" It helped me to come to the conclusion I wanted to follow thru and get some meatys. There is also a very good sticky on processing by hinkjc...I wish you strength and a calm heart....

 

[sandspoultry]

Quote:
You said you avoid going into the mean rooster pen, how do you care for them? feed and water? What if one has an injury and needs to be put down? will you let it suffer or do what needs to be done? sorry for being so blunt but as a livestock owner, yes chickens are livestock, you need to be responsible for the care in all respects. Being sad should have been something you thought about before the time comes.

Steve in NC
Haven't bought poultry from a store in many years