Just Butchered My Cornish X. Now I Feel Terrible.

[NurseBerger]

I never take delight in the killing of the meat bird, however, I have been raising them for years and have realized that if you let them go too long they will die of heart failure, so really butchering them at a reasonable age (by 12 weeks)
Is actually the humane thing to do. Meat birds are for eating and I think they know that too, otherwise they wouldn't start dying when they get too big. There is no comparison between store bought chicken and the ones you raise yourself. Enjoy the gift they are!

 

[cassie]

This may or may not help. First of all, you need to know I am a wuss. I butchered my first chicken because there was no choice. Nobody else was home and wouldn't be for several days. It was a large (dressed out over 10 pounds) Cornish X and it couldn't walk. It was either butcher it then or let it die and then throw that nice fat roaster in the dumpster. I chose the former. Now, after printing out how to process a chicken I followed the steps one by one. I just did it. I didn't think about it at all. We also had a rule we followed religiously. We never ate pets, and we never made pets out of food so I didn't have a personal attachment to that chicken.

It might help to keep in mind that Cornish X are not long lived. You can either butcher them and use the meat or you can let them die on their own (which in most cases is sooner rather than later) and put them in the dumpster. This last is a waste. In any event the chicken you butchered was in all likelihood not going to last many more weeks.

 

[Happy hen lover]

This may or may not help. First of all, you need to know I am a wuss. I butchered my first chicken because there was no choice. Nobody else was home and wouldn't be for several days. It was a large (dressed out over 10 pounds) Cornish X and it couldn't walk. It was either butcher it then or let it die and then throw that nice fat roaster in the dumpster. I chose the former. Now, after printing out how to process a chicken I followed the steps one by one. I just did it. I didn't think about it at all. We also had a rule we followed religiously. We never ate pets, and we never made pets out of food so I didn't have a personal attachment to that chicken.

It might help to keep in mind that Cornish X are not long lived. You can either butcher them and use the meat or you can let them die on their own (which in most cases is sooner rather than later) and put them in the dumpster. This last is a waste. In any event the chicken you butchered was in all likelihood not going to last many more weeks.

I love the rule " never make pets out of food"

 

[kcult]

I love the rule " never make pets out of food"

Uh oh.