How to Not Get Attached to Meat Birds :/

[new2chickens2011]

Thank you all for your advice. You all make good points!!

I just got the chicks. Just three, to start. Named them Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.

 

[CALI CHICK]

Stew and Denny were Cornish X and like I mentioned...we did get attached. I didn't think we would because everyone says they are just fat and lazy, but they do have real personalities. I raised them right alongside my 3 pullets, which maybe taught the CX a thing or two about being chickens. This attachment didn't interfere with us butchering them -when the time came -because we knew we were doing the right thing.

If you are getting a bunch of meat chickens, you may have a much different experience with getting attached to just a few.

 

[WishboneDawn]

Quote:
We raised a couple of dozen this summer and they certainly CAN act like normal chickens (when you raise them lie normal chickens) and you certainly CAN get attached to them.

I keep saying this over and over on different threads but ours were outside at 3-4 weeks and free ranged. They ran around and foraged our lawn until there was nary a slug left. When we came outside they would all run over for food and were much more friendly and willing to be patted and handled then the heritage birds and most of the production layers we have now. They were stinky. I'll give you that but only that.

Otherwise they were fun to have around, sweet and even tempered. The only chickens I have now that are a match (but not quite) for them in that department are the 6 production layers we've been raising from day-olds and a silkie rooster.

I got attached to all my meaties and won't hesitate to get attached again next year. It didn't mkae processing them especially hard, it just meant I cared for them better while they were here.

 

[WishboneDawn]

Quote:
Same thing I found. My experience was so counter to much of the advice I was given that I've come to the conclusion that people get what they raise. Treat a CX like a normal chicken and you'll get a lovely, friendly chicken.

 

[booker81]

It's not about not being attached and treating them like things, it's about caring for them with the complete understanding of their purpose and end result. I like my meaties - especially this batch because they're so active and just funny. I talk to them, touch them, and spend time checking on them closely - it's good animal husbandry. Just because they are destined for dinner doesn't mean they should have zero contact and be avoided. Rather, it's our human mentality that needs to be changed to understand that killing an animal that isn't attacking you is OK. We have to remember that if we want to eat meat, an animal will die for that purpose,and it should be our duty as their caretakers to give them good care and a humane death. Somewhere with the advent of grocery store meat, we've lost that mentality - as a society. Taking the step to raise meat birds - or any other livestock meant for meat - if a hard step for many at first, because you're bucking years or even generations of teaching that you should never kill anything yourself.

Luckily for me I suppose, I grew up in a household and community where livestock for meat was commonplace - I grew up eating chickens we raised, and eating beef and pork from our neighbors - cows and pigs we knew and visited and fed when we would go over there. I understood how good care made a better meat animal. If anyone here has ever bought a pig or cow from a county fair, they'd know what I mean

I do understand it's difficult for folks who didn't grow up like me - who are just starting to raise meat and don't have generations of that knowledge behind them. Remind yourself constantly of the meat animal's purpose - food - and remember to treat them well through their life. Give them the honor of a clean and humane death, and don't try to drag their life out for longer than it is beneficial for them. Their purpose in life is to provide food, and your purpose is to raise them to their best potential for good meat. That goes hand in hand with good care.

 

[babyscuz]

we did our first one yesterday, I didn't named him, but watch him grown from hatching, i was quite upset yesterday, I didn't watch it, but it was all done so quick and over in a flash, no stress and all calm, I did pluck him though, which was very easy, a couple of tears in the skin, but not bad for first go, he's now been roasted for dinner today, hope it goes well

 

[jessicayarno]

I cried when I took my last batch of meaties to process and I will cry when this batch is processed.. I believe that it really helps us appreciate where our food comes from.. I don't treat them any different than I do my layers, I treat all of my animals the same, but I do know that these little guys have one purpose and that is to feed my family.. I do name them names like chicken nugget, chicken soup, chicken tender.. It helps me to know that these meaties have the best life that they could have until they are processed unlike the chicken you buy from the store.. Oh and these guys are cute when you get them, but very quickly become ugly little critters..
Very well said booker81......

 

[Tracydr]

One area that sort of gets me is the head. After dispatching, I bleed out the chicken and I always have to remove the head and put it in the gut bucket right away. I know it would be a great food for my raw fed dogs/cats (I've seen my cats kill wild doves and bunnies, they always eat the heads first), but I can't bring myself to save the heads. Feet, no problem cleaning the feet, although they're a little creepy looking in the stock pot.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I raise my Cornish X like they are chickens and they act like chickens. I think they are fun. Just like having a pack of lumbering clumsy little dinosaurs in the yard.

They are nice natured and easy going. The only problem I have is the fear that they won't be able to stop and they will run into me when they come running to greet me. They are big and they are klutzy.

But they are food and they aren't designed to live a long life. I appreciate them very much and treat them with kindness. I think that happy birds taste better.

I raise them with great care and they return the favor by nourishing my family. It is a mutually beneficial relationship.

 

[Tiffrz-N-Kidz]

I ditto what booker1 and the others have said. My dad remembers getting chicken delivered and playing with them in the yard before my grandmother 'took care' of them and fried them up for dinner, so he was understanding about all this. My mother is horrified at the thought. It even took her a while to eat my hen's eggs. So, yes, this is new to me, too. The first batch I did was hard. Not hard like crying hard, but more like steeling my resoplve hard. I caught each one and thanked him for being in my flock before putting him in the crate. Driving over to the plant, I felt weird, like I was the one walking the prisoner down the Green Mile. Gotta be done.

When I got there and handed them off, I asked the guy to be nice to them. He looked at me like I was a nutcase and said, "You know I am going to kill them, right?" I said, "Yes. I know. Just please kill them nicely." I think he got my meaning, though they do so many I think it gets routine.

But afterwards, when I was driving home with 9 cleaned carcasses in the cooler, I felt SO PROUD! Not happy, exactly, just accomplished. Like I had set out to run a marathon and crossed the finish line. I had meat for my family, and it did not come from poorly treated commercially raised birds that were fed God knows what. It was awesome! My advice it to keep your eyes on the prize. I admired my birds beauty, enjoyed their antics, but I always referred to them as the McNuggets or the meat birds.