Not sure we can do this.

[BBQ2U]

We originally purchased dual purpose birds simply for eggs from which we could hatch birds for meat.
With the help of Fabio the roo, and our Nuture Right incubator we hatched 14 peeps. They are melting our hearts with their cuteness. How do others steal themselves against emotions to where they are not only able to cull them, but enjoy them?
Next year we'll probably purchase Cornish Crosses. One can justify culling them because they would die shortly afterward.
These all hatched on Mothers Day.

 

[Isabella6Storm4]

My job is the egg chickens and someone else in my family does the meat. I'd say a couple things are, dont name them, remember that they're animals and spend the minimal time possible with them. We're also hiring someone to butcher so i dont have to see it happen Thats how i do it.
The egg chickens on the other hand....They are part of the family

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

I really rather know how my birds were raised, they were cared for, had plenty of room to move around...lived a natural (as natural as I can provide them) life....

And in the end...they had it much better than the bird who is at the grocery store.


They are food...
Whether for you, a preditor, or someone else.

It's no different buying birds at the grocery or raising them aside from how they are treated (and likely flavor and other things if you dive down) this is the circle of life...
How you circle it is up to you....(if that even makes sense...basically how you go abt surviving)

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

My first thought is, what if you allow yourself to have a small "pet" flock? Then you can put all your emotions toward them, name them, treat them as pets, etc. The dual purpose ones you can be a little more standoffish toward, emotionally. I don't have a dual purpose flock, but I do raise Cornish X meat birds and I think having my laying hen flock to treat as pets certainly helps with not getting emotionally tied to the ones I'm going to eat. My layers have names and get treated like pets. My meat birds get excellent treatment, but I refrain from naming them or getting too attached.

Buttttttt, with this current batch of CX, I will say I am breaking my own rule of not naming them. I do have a "name" for one of them. The one male was such an early bloomer and looked like a straight up cock with a full red comb and wattles at 3 weeks old lol. He became "Earl" in my head (EARLy bloomer), but it's honestly less of a pet thing and more of just a name for the one that's biggest when we do weights lol. Tomorrow is processing day so we shall see if my little nickname causes any issue when it's time to do the deed.

 

[BBQ2U]

My job is the egg chickens and someone else in my family does the meat. I'd say a couple things are, dont name them, remember that they're animals and spend the minimal time possible with them. We're also hiring someone to butcher so i dont have to see it happen Thats how i do it.
The egg chickens on the other hand....They are part of the family

Wherr do I go to find someone who will. ull them?

 

[BBQ2U]

My first thought is, what if you allow yourself to have a small "pet" flock? Then you can put all your emotions toward them, name them, treat them as pets, etc. The dual purpose ones you can be a little more standoffish toward, emotionally. I don't have a dual purpose flock, but I do raise Cornish X meat birds and I think having my laying hen flock to treat as pets certainly helps with not getting emotionally tied to the ones I'm going to eat. My layers have names and get treated like pets. My meat birds get excellent treatment, but I refrain from naming them or getting too attached.

Buttttttt, with this current batch of CX, I will say I am breaking my own rule of not naming them. I do have a "name" for one of them. The one male was such an early bloomer and looked like a straight up cock with a full red comb and wattles at 3 weeks old lol. He became "Earl" in my head (EARLy bloomer), but it's honestly less of a pet thing and more of just a name for the one that's biggest when we do weights lol. Tomorrow is processing day so we shall see if my little nickname causes any issue when it's time to do the deed.

 

[BBQ2U]

At least with the CX you know that they will die as a matter of coarse within a short time due to their genetics. This, in my mind, makes culling this breed almost a necessary evil.

We do have a flock that are our pets, including the gentlemanly roo from which we bred this brood for meat. We call them "lap chickens". Some run across the yard when we sit down and hop on our laps to be petted. One actually lifts her wing for us to rub under it. They all eat out of our hands including the roo who hovers next to us if we are seated. We don't try to pick him up least he loose his dominance in the eyes of his ladies.

I am hoping when they loose their fluff and start looking more like vultures at the time we put them in the tractor this tig on our emotions will subside. I just had to clean a couple pasty butts which didn't help.

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

At least with the CX you know that they will die as a matter of coarse within a short time due to their genetics. This, in my mind, makes culling this breed almost a necessary evil.

We do have a flock that are our pets, including the gentlemanly roo from which we bred this brood for meat. We call them "lap chickens". Some run across the yard when we sit down and hop on our laps to be petted. One actually lifts her wing for us to rub under it. They all eat out of our hands including the roo who hovers next to us if we are seated. We don't try to pick him up least he loose his dominance in the eyes of his ladies.

I am hoping when they loose their fluff and start looking more like vultures at the time we put them in the tractor this tig on our emotions will subside. I just had to clean a couple pasty butts which didn't help.

I think you just have to set the mindset that they are food. Some places have butchers that'll process for you...but thats an added cost

 

[Ridgeback825]

Hatching your own is very rewarding but you will also get half males. The males at hatcheries usually get dropped in a meat grinder alive on the day they are born. Our male's get passes until they start to crow, then go to the freezer. Here are 3 boys from this week and we still have 4 more growing up. It's just how things work when you grow your own food.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I just think about all the love, care, & a healthy diet they received, & the fact they'll be putting food on the table. Almost all my birds have names, regardless if they're going to be eaten.