Meat Birds and small children??

[Bossroo]

Just heard on the grapevine ( Ripley's believe it or not) that there is a law in Switzerland that the scientists have to consider the "personal dignity " of plants in their scientific experiments. So, is pruning a tree , boiling still living plants ( fresh out of the garden) in water or sauteing them in oil be considered a moral assault on their "personal dignity" ?

 

[coffeemama]

I haven't read all the posts, but I do agree with the first few replies to not name them. I was older when I got meat rabbits, but I knew I had pets and non-pets. I also agree to not let them see the actually butchering at that age. Some kids would be fine with it, but I know at least two adults that have horrible early memories of chicken beheading.

 

[Bren1222]

I have a 4 year old son and a 10 year old daughter. When we got our chickens we let them both know what chicken were to eat and what one we were keeping.

My son loves the chickens and helps me with chores, collect the eggs etc. He even feeds the hens by hand. He will always ask me "Are we eating this one?" I will tell him yes or no. He is fine with it and knows which is which. I think he will be fine when we process our chickens which will be next weekend. I think he will be the one that is right there helping grandpa "do the deed" He tells everyone at his daycare "we have chickens and we are going to eat them YUMMY!" LOL

As for my daughter, she hates the chickens. I don't know why but she wants nothing to do with them and she will be the one to stay in the house on processing day. We will not see her at all! She can't stand the thought of watching them bleed etc. We have even teased her some to try and get her used to the idea. We told her she could take the heads and line them up and take pictures and label the heads with each of our names and it will be our Christmas Card. We told her she could take the chickens head and make it into a key ring. She even came up with some funny ideas herself but she still wants no part of it and that is fine. I am not going to force her and if she wants to come out then she is welcomed to help.

We are planning on making processing day fun. My parents and in-laws and some friends are coming to help and I think if she hears us laughing, making jokes, and having fun she may come out. We are planning on making a weekend of it Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We have 60 birds to do. This is our first time but my parents and in-laws grew up doing this so hopefully things will go smooth and we are all actually looking forward to it.

 

[rypie13]

This post has made me think a lot about raising meat birds. (We have ordered our first batch) We have 5 layers and the kids love them, especially our 9 year old animal loving daughter. Of our four boys, our teenage son wants nothing to do with them, except when they are cooked. I know our third will not fully comprehend until the birds are here and then gone. And the twins, well they are still little and will ask questions as we go.
We have discussed why we are going to raise them to an extent, and why we think it is important to try (this is a trial run) and everyone seems to be on board.... except me, I am scared to death! My hubby and I have discussed that even if I think this is a really great plan, I am not going to be able to help with the culling. I fully understand the role of these birds, and I think it is going to be very painful for my hubby - but to be a little self sufficient seems to be a disappearing art.
Anyway, I have gone on way too much. My point was that there are seven of us here, and all of us feel differently. And to make it work, we are dealing with it for each individual. That is all you can do with kids (And grown up kids!) I have identical twins, and I can tell you what, if we are raising them when they are old enough to help if they want, I know which one will be all for it and which one will probably cry! They may look the same, but they are idividuals to the end.

 

[Leslie In North Pole]

Quote:
Okay.... that kind of creeped me out. I did show my kids the site with the painted chicken skulls but I don't think we have any plans to do Christmas cards with heads anytime in our future.

I think the earlier you start introducing the idea of dressing out your birds yourself, the easier the idea is to accept. I also think that exposure to other animals being dressed out like deer or fish can give them the experience that anyone needs in dealing with the circle of life and the purpose of some animals. Definitely teaching the difference between pets and livestock is very important.

 

[Bren1222]

Quote:
Okay.... that kind of creeped me out. I did show my kids the site with the painted chicken skulls but I don't think we have any plans to do Christmas cards with heads anytime in our future.

I think the earlier you start introducing the idea of dressing out your birds yourself, the easier the idea is to accept. I also think that exposure to other animals being dressed out like deer or fish can give them the experience that anyone needs in dealing with the circle of life and the purpose of some animals. Definitely teaching the difference between pets and livestock is very important.

We were just joking around with her. We were trying to find funny things about processing day. We weren't serious about any of our ideas.

 

[AngieChick]

I stumbled onto this page when trying to figure out how to handle my 2 chicks that are more and more looking like roos.

Some kids are just very sensitive. I am veggie (but really only because of the meat industry treatment, not that I see anything wrong with eating meat that has been raised humanely), my hubby is veggie as well as my sons. I am the least extreme about it in the house, and though I will on rare occasion eat meat if it is from a source that I know, they just can't do it. We have many good vegetarian foods in the house, and they just don't see the need. I suspect my 12 year old will eventually become a meat eater, but my 14 year old boy never will. He doesn't see anything philosophically wrong with it as long as the animal was treated humanely, but he just can't eat it. Nor will my husband, and that's okay. There is a point where a parent has to realize that their child thinks differently then they do, and though their feelings on the subject of eating meat aren't the same as the parent's, their feelings need to be respected on it. If their gut reaction to it is to not want to do it, fine. Make sure they get enough protein and B12 in thier diet and move on (eggs, dairy, fake meats, there are many options). Either they will come back to eating meat or they won't, but that is really up to them, and each child is different and sees the world differently. I have raised my sons to be respectful of other's views, even if you don't agree with them, and they wouldn't dream of lecturing a meat eater, & kids that emotionally cannot come to terms with eating meat should have the same courtesy. It's very different from not wanting to eat your broccoli. So, my advice to any parent struggling with a child that is refusing to eat meat is to let it be, make sure the child is getting adequate nutrition and wait it out to see if they will come to terms with it. They probably will, but each child is different.

Sorry if I was a bit long winded, but this is actually a subject I kinda know something about (trust me, doesn't happen a whole lot)

 

[blue90292]

maybe i shouldn't have dug this up, but i wanted to share my experience that i had yesterday.

hfc took his birds to the processor yesterday and my son and i joined him and his kids and friends to the processor.

i asked buster (now six) if he wanted to join. he was apprehensive but said yes. i let him wear his rollerskates, hoping that would help him if he needed to go do something else rather than watch the whole process.

when we got there and started driving through the gate, he started telling me how he was scared and that he didn't feel good. the place is a big building with a big parking lot. not much there but he kept saying he was scared.

i forgot ice so we left and by the time we got back, the processors had started on the birds in the cones bleeding them out. buster didn't seem very interested but i guess curiousity had finally got him and he started watching as the birds were cut one by one and then put into the scalder and then the plucker. i took him to the other side to show the plucked birds which, i think, really showed him what had just been done.

when the guys started cutting the birds and gutting them, i noticed that he was not around and i found him in the truck crying. he kept telling me how he was scared and that he wanted to go home. i tried to console him the best i could but there was no way we could leave until the birds were done so he stayed in the truck.

after a while, which was at least 10 min, he came back into the building. by then, i think the birds were all gutted and they were just cutting them up. we packed mine in ice and waited for them to finish hfc's and his friends birds. by then, buster had stopped being "scared" and was now rollerskating inside the building. i had to tell him do that outside since there were VERY SHARP knives around. lol

another byc'er was there getting her birds done and by then, buster told me he wanted to see it again. he explained to me that the part that scared him was the gutting. so we watched again and when they started gutting, we headed home.

later that night, he asked me what was all that stuff they were pulling out of the chicken. i explained to him and he went into his room to get a book, which had an anotomy of a snake. he pointed out the heart, etc. etc. to me and asked if those were the parts. i said yes.

all in all, it was an enlightening experience. i asked him if he would help me process chickens one day and he said no. LOL but wouldn't mind going to the processor again.

 

[JennsPeeps]

Two things to add:

re: FCR of children: I have "A Modest Proposal" for you...
http://books.google.com/books?id=WC...a=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA1,M1

re: "fruitarianism"
Ever heard of the people in India who are "Jains"?

Jainism's stance on nonviolence goes far beyond vegetarianism. Jains refuse food obtained with unnecessary cruelty. Many practice a lifestyle similar to veganism, due to the violence of modern dairy farms, and others exclude root vegetables from their diets to preserve the lives of these plants. Potatoes, garlic and onions in particular are avoided by Jains.

Basically they don't eat any foods that are removed from the plant or kill the plant by being harvested. "Fruits and vegetables that become ripe on the plants or branches of trees or those that fall on their own after becoming ripe, are used for food."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jain​

 

[UncleHoot]

Quote:
I work with a woman who is a practicing Jain. I've had a couple interesting discussions with her on this matter. Having grown-up in a religious atmosphere, I'm always respectful and sometimes fascinated by religious belief-systems. But having said that, I'm not sure to what extent she still follows the Jain doctrine. I've seen her at Pizza Hut, but she's very adamant about not eating meat.