New Bee

[ocpoolguy]

I would do a meat bird or two but the wife thinks it would not be good for the kids or her Girl 4 Boy5 she says the chickens will be like pets. Your take on this please

 

[teach1rusl]

Well, depending on your space - you could always do a few "pet" chickens for eggs and a few meat birds for meat

For most kids (certainly not all), unless they've been raisted on a farm or are hunters, it would be difficult to give little chicks names, only to have them processed a month or two later. So explain from the get-go that these aren't pets - they are food, And don't name them. Of course if your wife isn't on board, it's certainly not worth arguing over (imo), especially with kids involved.

 

[lotzahenz]

I have not had good luck with that process in the past. I bought 25 nameless, all looked alike meaties. Spent a ton on feeding them, they were a mess. Took two whole Saturdays to process them and we still had one left. The first bird we roasted, not one of my kids would eat the thing. My son age 8 or so ran off crying and wouldn't come to the table. We still laugh at this now, 10 years later. So, every time I cooked chicken, I got the 'look' and was asked was this OUR chicken or from the store. I always tried to lie, but they would look for the package. So, a waste of time and money for us. NOW, I am again determined to raise my own chicken, so I am going to raise them in a chicken tractor and send them off to be process, not telling anyone and into the deep freeze they go. I have one daughter left at home and she has no problems eating home-raised birds, maybe because we have had them for her whole life and 'That is just how it is' and she prefers our own, good food to the store kind. You can always try, and NOT eat them in the end. No much lost on just two birds. I seen an 18 month old Cornish Cross hen on here. Good luck with your decision.

 

[booker81]

Have to keep the peace in the house!

However, here, we hunt and process a lot of critters - DD is three now, and has been around most of it. Of course, she's not old enough to understand naming a chicken and then eating it, but she also isn't showing tendencies to be whacked out from my processing chickens in the garage. She's not going to grow up thinking meat is made in a factory

I'd present it as it would be YOUR project - you have to take care of the chickens yourself - no making the kids or wife caring for them. YOU take care of the processing (not hard), and then, when it's time for the dinner bell, you can offer the chicken to them for dinner, nicely roasted, or you can have some buddies over and make it on the grill and share with them. Offer the option to share, but don't force it.

Keep the opportunity open for them to participate if they want, but only with the understanding that YOUR chickens will be freezer chickens. If they don't want to participate, that is fine, don't make them, and keep everything discreet for them. Learning where your food comes from is an interesting process, so don't be surprised if your kids do show some interest.