Never again

[Chicken411]

That was one of the worst days of my life. I will never kill anything ever again unless I absolutely have to. There were plenty of tears dripping with the blood. If I raise another batch of chickens I will pay someone to butcher them. I think I am going to have PTSD from that. Do not know how you all do it, but am glad there are some people who can. I can't stop thinking about it. Really awful. I think I'm in shock.

 

[rancher hicks]

At a loss for words.

 

[Buster52]

I'm sorry it was so difficult. I grew really attached to my first batch of turkeys, especially the hen who liked shiny stuff, and it was really tough to do the deed, especially when a couple of them didn't go as planned.

Hang in there, and don't feel badly about having someone else process them. At least you are giving them good lives. Not everyone is built for the whole deal.

 

[al6517]

I have found that many in your position fail to prepare themselfs mentally for that task, and I can see you had a tough time. I don't know if I can offer any words of encouragement, except that you must be in the right frame of mind well before you purchase your first bird. Many are not and think it will be an easy thing to do, knowing they have never cleaned anything more than a store bought already prepared bird. Perhaps with time you can come to grips with the idea.

AL

 

[Buster52]

Quote:
It helped me that I had helped butcher chickens as a kid, and had a pro assist me the first time out as an adult (thanks for that, Al). I think that made a huge difference.

 

[TipsyDog]

Quote:

 

[al6517]

My pleasure Jim, wish I coulda helped with the hog dilema last night.

OP : it really does help to have someone that is seasoned in the way's of processing to teach and mentor during the process so you can better understand what your feeling and why, then doing the job right is also a big portion of how you percieve the event. If the whole deal was messy and awkward and not well planned or the method wasn't the best, then I could see where anybody would struggle with the task and have second thoughts.

AL

 

[dichotomymom]

I've always thought that if people are going to eat meat, they should have to take part in processing and/or cleaning them afterwards. Sounds like you're a cleaning kind of person and that's ok.

 

[uhuh555]

I remembered back to 1957 with our first batch of cornish x, there was one particular roo that I thought was dead. He was lying with his feet up in the air, I said to myself, "Oh my god one died." I reached down to pick him up to dispose of the carcass and to my surprise it let out a squawk jumping to his feet acting all discussed that I had disturbed his sleep. I ended up calling him Jack. He always slept with his feet up in the air. I was quit upset when it came time to butcher Jack but pushed through it knowing it was his purpose in this life. It never is easy but it is a fact of life that nothing lives without the death of other living things.

 

[twentynine]

Not ever once have I enjoyed killing the animals that I raised. Bunnies, chickens, calves.

One thing always stands out in my mind. The day I would butcher rabbits, no way could I eat a rabbit for the next few days, just couldn't do it. Same way with chickens. The calves I never done myself always brought them to the slaughter house, but still looking at that big box of meat I'd get the same feeling.