Never again

[BigSkyChickens]

What a great thread. Thanks everyone for sharing your insights on this complex topic.

I was looking at my little suspected Roo this morning wondering if I have it in me to do the deed....

 

[cracked_egg]

I have great respect for you, woman to woman, that you even tried!!! What an amazingly strong female you are.... So many times women say "I just have my husband do it" without even trying. While that's fine, I just really respect women who will go out and at least try.
That said... I cry anytime anything dies. I have had to shoot raccoons, put down animals such as dogs and horses, and every time, no matter how tough I think I'll be, how little or how much I care for the animal (the raccoon for example) I still cry and feel so badly that they're losing their life. However reading some of these posts about thanking the birds, and reading what you have gone through inspires me to try meat chickens. I've helped with them in the past as a kid but it was not a consistent thing, but I think I'd love the feeling of knowing I'm self sufficient and can take care of myself!

You're an inspiration that you did something that wasn't easy and now appreciate your meals even more!

 

[muell112]

Very sorry. I couldn't be present last year when my boyfriend killed ours because I took care of them and they were really sweet birds and they trusted me...I deer hunt and the whole thought of raising and killing something is a lot tougher for me. We did talk through a lot of different ways to dispatch our meat birds...came up with a good one I think. He let them out in the yard, and put a light weight rag over their head. They would just stand perfectly still, and didn't know anything was about to happen. He used a .22 to the head and it was extremely effective and hands-off.

 

[Chicken411]

Had a hard time sleeping last night, but finally fell asleep. Today there is some hope that these feelings will pass and I will feel "normal" again eventually. This experience has changed me for the rest of my life. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I know for some reason it was an important event. I already had a great respect for animals and their sacrifices. I think this has somehow increased it. In some way it has also increased my revulsion toward those who hurt or kill people or animals and enjoy it.

The one thought that kept me going was how these were cornish cross and they would not be able to live much longer anyway. They were already having great difficulty panting and walking and today with the 90 degree weather, I am sure we would have lost some. So in my case, I am VERY glad there is a "frankenchicken." I am grateful to them and I found it did help to speak to them, telling them to relax, they were going to a better place. I told them I appreciated their sacrifice and apologized for taking their life. I think one of the reasons it was so hard was because they did trust me. It amazes me how many of you were exposed at such a young age to all of this. Maybe it is better that way, but I can't imagine how I would have reacted then. My heart is tender now, but when I was younger it was so much more so. I can remember throwing the fish out of my father's boat back into the water when he wasn't looking and telling him they jumped out. Whew, he was mad!

They do look beautiful. There was hardly any fat on them and the meat looks nice. They are resting in the fridge in my garage. I plan on cutting them up and bagging them to freeze in a few days. I saved the necks and feet for stock. We'll see when I'll be able to eat them. Right now the thought is pretty awful. It is so good to hear that my feelings are normal. Thanks again everyone. I have told my friend who helped what you all have said and it has helped her as well.

 

[booker81]

It's been a long time since I've been around taking care business with chickens, but I am a hunter, and I've killed more animals that I can count. The feeling of taking another life for your own use is a heavy one to bear, but it is an honorable one. I always thank every animal I kill for the food it gives me, for it's ultimate sacrifice at my hand.

It's ok to cry, to feel heavy, to be sad, and to wonder how you could do it. It is a death at your hand. However, I look at it a being more honorable, more humane, and more upstanding to have those feelings, than to not have them because you hand a dollar to a grocery clerk in exchange for cellophane packed "meat" that was a living being that never even had a person that even acknowledged it was a life.

Caring isn't bad thing. You did very well

 

[cluckcluck42]

We just butchered our two 17 week old roos. One of them was our favourite since he was a chick. It was definitely far from easy, definitely gruesome but we are so proud of ourselves for doing it and it feels good to know the chickens had a good life and quick demise and their meat is going to be much appreciated by those that loved them.

I thought I was going to cry or puke or a horrible combination of both but I only cried after the first one. It wasn't that I wasn't sad- it was a sad experience. But there was also a sense of peace and respect... I raised these animals well, and cared for them while they were here. I am so glad to have been strong enough to take a life- or at least be present while it was done- Imagine all the animals we have eaten and never appreciated their sacrifice. I felt almost good about doing it the 'right way'. I am so proud of my BF for being able to swing that axe... he said that was the hardest part.

We have 60 meat chickens that are due for slaughter in 3 weeks... we are paying someone to do it. Not nearly ready to do more than a couple at a time.

ETA: I don't know if I would have been able to do it on my own- you are very brave. I think I'd only be able to kill a chicken to put it out of it';s misery. I hope your bad feelings pass soon and you realize that those chickens were lucky and they have you to thank for it.

 

[bobbi-j]

It does help if you can go into it with the mindset that eventually you will be butchering them. You don't get quite as attached that way. It also helps if you don't name them.

 

[smartlittleroo]

Quote:
That was beautiful.

I had to kill a rooster this weekend. I raised that roo from a hatch last year. He was beautiful. But he attacked me for the second time. I vowed after the first incident that I wasn't going to keep a mean roo. It took everything I had to do it and I cried afterward and felt terrible all day. I couldn't sleep either.

As a kid my dad taught me how to kill, pluck and clean a chicken. It has been more than 30 years since I've done it, but I plucked and cleaned him. I did it. But it wasn't easy.

In some way it has also increased my revulsion toward those who hurt or kill people or animals and enjoy it.

I know EXACTLY how you feel Chicken 411. Hugs to you.​

 

[Mrs. Feathers]

I am reading these posts in appreciation of the honest and open way so many of you have shared your experiences and feelings.

We are raising meat birds for the first time. When we decided to do this as a family project I was completley against it knowing I would struggle with the killing part. I still do. Our chicks are 7 and 4 weeks olds and every time I am out there with them I am preparing myself mentally for the day. My intention was to avoid it completely. I told hubby I would go out that day and wanted to come home to zero evidence and the birds in the fridge like they came from the grocery store. As I am reading through your posts I realized that, hard as it is, this is a piece that I need to experience in respect to my birds. 411...like you I have watched slaughtering clips and view some of the great links and threads on this site. I still feel ill looking at these. I don`t humanize my animals....the chickens are còllecitively called chickens or baby chicks but I just can`t bear the thought of taking a life. Fortuately my son-in-law has loads of experience hunting and dressing game birds and he and my hubby were going to do the slaughtering. I just hope I can be as courageous as you 411 and bring myself to be part of it too.

 

[jaj121159]

I just got my first Cornish X's yesterday. I don't visualize them as chickens, but as a boneless, skinless chicken breast in development. Hunted my entire life and cleaned a lot of birds, but never got to know them before I shot them. I am figuring to do the same thing with these birds and always approach them as a meal in waiting. Now I am planning to get some layers, the hens I will treat differently and try to somewhat befriend them, the extra roosters are chicken burgers in my mind.