Meat Birds and small children??

[luvmychicknkids]

removed by luvmychicknkids

 

[Mahonri]

You can name the birds.

Dinner #1
Dinner #2
Dinner #3... etc...

or
Shake and Bake
Fried
Roasted
BBQ'd

in honor of how they can be prepared

or you could name them

Deep Freeze
Whirlpool
Fridgidair
Maytag
LG

Since that's where most of them will end up.

I've always felt that kids need to appreciate a little more what God has given us

As a child when I was taught how to harvest a bird, I was also taught that I should give thanks to God for the life the bird has given so that we might live. It made a great impact upon me and I harvested the birds with Thanksgiving and it was extended to hunting pheasants and deer that we kept in our deepfreeze and used for food throughout the year.

 

[freerange freaks]

I do not expect all people to be able to actaully slit an animal's throat. But laoding your animals up and shipping them is the same thing to me. And I think that purchasing properly raised meat is something I over looked. I think that is a great alternative. But what I want from my daughter, is that she understands that meat was once a living being and to respect that. By giving her the opportunity to raise her own supper I am trying to give her, myself an my husband an understanding that food is more than just tastey and to not take it for granted.

I think CritterHill made a very good point. The temperment of the individual makes a huge difference.

Why can't we have an adult discussion on the different parenting styles with resect to our lifestyle choices? I don't understand why we have to get upset over differing opinions. I don't think anyone is out to try and change ones view. It is simply idea sharing. I am interested in how everyone else deals with this issue. I am especially interested in how those deal when their children have learning and behavioual challenges. I think this is a wonderful topic as many of us are sharing the same experience.

 

[luvmychicknkids]

removed by luvmychicknkids

There......all gone. I will not ask questions or state any more of my feelings on this thread.

 

[blue90292]

back to the topic please. i don't want this thread closed.

 

[willheveland]

I have 2 girls age 5 and 11.Both of them know where their food comes from.I can name any type of meat and they can tell me if it came from a pig,cow, or chicken.
When ever I get a batch of meat bird chicks I always make sure I get some layers as well(for fun),they know the the meatbirds are made to live quick lives.They play with them as chicks but as they grow bigger they tend to get less attracted to them.The meat birds never really have the personalities the layers have(because of their breeding for growth instead) and their desire to only eat.We don't name meatbirds(helps if they all look the same)
We don't process here but they help me load up and take them there(processor) and pick-up with me the next day frozen and bagged.
They get mostly upset when a neighbors dog or wild animal that harms a chicken.
I think it all depends on each child and the way it is introduced to them. I think if it done right it can be good for them.And if you do it each season they will see that as the old ones pass new ones are born to replace,just like us.

good luck Will

 

[spook]

As children, we learned where our food comes from, how it gets there and what it takes to supply a family of meat. Personally, all us kids had a job, the meat birds began on a "Clothes line" (not used for clothes), someone killed them, one of the bigger kids hung them, the next one took them down and dipped them, we younger ones plucked them, then they went into a wheel barrow and quickly taken into the house where our mothers would clean and package.
You have milk cows, that can be friends with, steers, you eat, leave them alone. Layer hens, you can be friends with, meaties, you cannot.
People need to teach their kids the value of life, that we all have a purpose and we thank them for giving us nutrition and handle them as humanely and respectfully as possible.
Unfortunately this is part of the process, perhaps not allowing them to see the head lopped off quite yet for the younger ones, but 8-12 they need to know that not everything lives happily ever after.
(My opinion only)

 

[CritterHill]

Just to set the record straight (because I wasn't clear in my last post). My kids do know where their food comes from. For whatever reason, the sensitive 5 year old asks at _every_ meal what type of animal or plant each of the foods comes from.

So they aren't sheltered from that aspect of the food chain.

But I do not think with her temperament that she could handle the up close emotional aspect of us raising animals for food... Yet.

As the months go by, I see her maturing and changing and as I mentioned before, she does seem to have a gruesome side that is surfacing and I predict that will turn into a full blown goth phase as she nears teen-hood. So she will be able to handle the personal issues of animals as meat at some point, but I think it would be cruel to do that to her at the stage of development she is at now.

Having said that, I wonder if things wouldn't have been different if she grew up seeing meat birds being processed since babyhood. Because despite her sensitivity, she rarely cries anymore at the daily offerings the cats leave on the back porch (mice, moles, birds, squirrels, chipmunks).

But I do not feel comfortable pushing her at this stage in her development. I think her little sister is already at a point where she could handle it.

But they do know where their food comes from and they are aware that there is a risk of our layers being eaten by predators (_everyone_ likes a chicken dinner) so I don't feel they are sheltered from any of that.

 

[deb1]

I think that how each parent decides to handle this situation depends on the personality of their kids. I was lucky, my daughters-despite being animal lovers fanatics-were oddly unphased by killing our chickens. In fact, they asked their dad to kill one of the meaner roosters.

I have spent a lot of time fighting against the disneyfication of nature.

 

[chiknlittle]

NealB. :

I have all boys 5,8 and 11, they want to do the killing themselves but I won't let them for the chickens sake.

What are you afraid of, that the chickens are going to die? I can't tell you what to do with your kids, but I can tell you this:

When I was a child my father raised chickens and rabbits for meat. I always felt that he did me the biggest disservice by not having me there on butchering day so that I could learn to do things the right way and that he could be there to guide me. Now I'm 28 and raising my first batch of meat birds and I'm panicking. I cannot find a processor in my area, and all I have to guide me on doing it myself is the Story book. All I wish is that I had a knowledgable person to show me what I need to do to process these 26 birds.

Oh, and we're naming these: Stew, Barbeque, Sweet, Sour, Tandoori, Baked, Dumplings, Cassarole, Salad, etc.​