IS it hard

[Jmanvanatta]

Thassa how old are they? Becuse i still think its crule to kill them in the first at least two years of their life or in their "prime" becuse they dont really get a good life then. so if they are only the 10 months most people slotter them at i ask you to hold of for just a little longer.

 

[locke2121]

But there is a trade off. The older a chicken gets..the tougher it gets!

 

[Henery Hawk]

I recently started processing my own birds and have to admit that it does hurt my feelings. I've been a hunter for many years so I had a bit of killing experience but it just felt different killing an animal that comes to greet me every day, eats out of my hand and generally seems to "like" me. It was especially hard killing my first duck. It has gotten a little easier but I expect it to remain difficult, as it should.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

Quote:

Ah sorry, I misread what you were asking!

As far as whether it is hard to kill animals you raise, it is hard for me. I haven't had to kill animals for meat yet, but I work at a job where I sometimes gas rats and mice. I have pet rats and mice at home, and rats in general are very, very close to my heart! They are intelligent and loving animals, and I have had rats who come when called and follow my husband and I around the house like puppies. The rodents I work with, I often watch grow up from pinkies to adults. 99.9% of my job is making sure they are healthy, have food, water, enrichment, and care. I then have to turn around and kill some of them, and yes, it is hard. But, the reason I can personally do it is because I strongly support the cause behind their deaths, and their lives and deaths benefit both humans and animals medically (it is in the area of 'pure' research/non-commercial research), just like many can kill meat birds because they so strongly support their reasons for doing so.

If you stuck me in the same job in the area of something like cosmetic testing though, I would refuse to do it because I do not personally support that, and because I feel the quality of care and level of employee training is often much less than what our facility offers. Our standards of care are better than most pet rodents recieve, and our facility adopts out any animal we can, and also donates our dead rodents to feed zoo and aviary endangered animals and birds. I very much like that we aren't wasteful with our animals. Similarly, some here would not be able to kill birds in a highly commercial setting (and some would). As far as the killing technique goes, that does not bother me. It is very humane, and I wish vets would use it (vets still tend to do a heart injection, and that *is* painful and stressful for rats. I really, really dislike that method!)

I must admit that the mice don't get to me, but I don't even have to be the one killing the rats to feel depressed for the day. But, I still treat the mice with the same ammount of care as the rats. Similarly, for some of my coworkers, it is just 'all in a day', but yet they provide the same level of care as I do. I just find it interesting that level of bonding with the animals alone does not dictate care level.

As for killing young animals, that aspect doesn't bother me personally. I love it when I can provide an animal with a full, long, and rich life, but a quality short one is just fine with me too. That's just the way I am with humans as well, as I am never more saddened by a child dying than I am an adult, and in many ways, am more saddened by an adult's death due to their often more extensive network of people who are affected by the loss. Most feel very differently than I do.

 

[galanie]

i know all that i get it i was just wondering if it was hard or if it was just all in a day but you all answeared me kindly. honestly i was exspecting the usual " what vegitarians are weird or their just animals it dosnt matter!" but you didnt do that and i thank you for being kind and answearing my question.

And thank you for not being offended with our answers. Often people ask this and end up getting all wound up. But then, like you said, the answers can get out of control, too.

 

[Jmanvanatta]

Yes but somthing that has always befudled me is when people learn what happens to kfc chickens and tyson birds and they say its good tasting so they dont care! Even my best freinds say that and i love the fact that i could finde people like you all that respect them and showed me that not all people feel that if its tasty it dosnt matter were it came from. And if incase your wondering i asked to show my self that not all people see animals as objects but as real living things. So thank you all.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

As galvanie said, thank you for your level headed listening and responses.

 

[bj taylor]

i struggle with this so hard. i haven't killed one of my birds. yet. i don't have a moral objection because i accept that i am a carnivore and i want my animals to have good lives, not be tortured through their existence. i have an extra rooster. unless i find a home for him that is what i need to do w/him. he's so sweet & comes to me & talks to me. i just don't know if it's in me to take his life.
i want some sustainability for my family. i'm one of the doomsday types that believes really hard times are coming and want to be able to provide for my family. i plan to raise meaties for the first time in the fall. i guess what i'm going to do is just take it one step at a time until it is right upon me and i will know i have to take the next step. i don't know any other way to do it.
even taking them to a processor seems brutal to me, so what's left but for me to do it myself.

 

[Jmanvanatta]

Well though its hard for me to even think about killing an animal i agree with yyou your resons are the right ones and i hope you find him a home but if you dont then its the only other opption. Haha as i was wrighting this down i look at the add its a tell tyson pigs deserve better add and i find it so ironic that i was teying to find the words to say but now i have them and they are, Thank you for caring thank you for trying to give them a good lif and thank you for giving them what they deserve!

 

[Jmanvanatta]

sorry for the spelling errors!