Just Butchered 2 of my Roos (First Time)

[rhino533]

I just butchered 2 of my Roos. I had 3 roos and 1 hen so I had to get rid of 2 roos. I've put off doing it for a while now and today the roos were jumping my hen every 5 mins so I decided today is the day or they will kill my hen. It's defiantly not a pleasant thing to do but I was able to do it. I just don't look them in the eye if I can help it. I got quite a lot of meat and just hope my mind doesn’t play tricks on me and makes me feel like the meat taste bad. I defiantly felt a little bad and somewhat guilty. How to get over that? And does it get easier after the first time your butcher???

The good news is I have 8 baby Hen Chicks waiting to join the flock.
One more quick question not related to the topic: How many Roos should I have per flock?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Does it get easier? You learn how to process them, so that part gets easier. There are little tricks you will learn and you better know what you are doing. I never enjoy the killing part. I raise them for meat so it is somwthing I have to do, but it is not enjoyable. I don't feel guilty about it though. They have a good life, they would not have hatched at all if they were not for meat, and I do the deed as swift and sure as I can.

How many roosters per flock? There is no one answer that is right for everyone. It depends on why you have the roosters. There is a 10 to 1 hen to rooster ratio floating around this forum, but that is just the ratio the commercial hatcheries use to insure fertility of their hatching eggs. If they have 200 hens, they have 20 roosters in their flock. The 10 to 1 has nothing to do with roosters fighting or overmated/barebacked hens. Many of us have multiple roosters, but the more roosters you have, the more likely you are to have problems. There is no magic number of roosters or magic ratio that takes care of any of these problems. My advice is to keep as few roosters as possible and still meet your goals.

 

[Badbaby05]

I don't eat mine right away. I let the memory fade a bit because like you I'm afraid I'll turn myself off of them. The first time is the worse, now you've been through the process next time will be better.

 

[Denninmi]

Just keep reminding yourself that if you don't do it, someone else is doing it for you to a bird that was most likely factory farmed and led a miserable life. If we eat meat, we're participating in it. Modern society has just made it easy to distance ourselves emotionally from the reality of it -- its simple to view it as just another consumer product at the grocery store like toothpaste or a bag of flour, especially in this day and age when "meat" comes in forms that often bear little resemblance to the original. That's why I am referring to my batch of meaties as "The McNuggets" and "The Butterballs" just to remind myself of their purpose.

 

[comptonsgonecountry]

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So true... this is a big reason why my husband and I want to raise our children working off our land. Here soon we will be consuming the fruits and meat of our labor.

 

[donrae]

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x2

We're still waiting a few weeks from butcher to eating, mostly cause my mind can convince me of bad things regarding food sometimes, and even though I know it's all in my head, this is just easier. In a few weeks, you just pull a pack of chicken out of the freezer and cook it, just like always.

 

[Gallusfarm]

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Well said.