Not sure we can do this.

[Red Mangrove]

Right now I see a feral chicken before me that was raised by a hen in the forest, and I remember holding her great-great grandmother in my hands as a chick

By God's grace I am the progenitor of countless generations of chickens on this land, and I guide them all through life with love and compassion:

And yet I understand that if our sizes reversed she would eat me without a second's hesitation

Occasionally I do eat them, but with a quick death and a happy life until that very moment. It's infinitely more merciful than they'd find with racoons or factory farming

 

[agarnp]

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.

Thanks for input. I am having emotional issues even tho I didnt get emotionally attached to these birds, we are new at this and-I am feeling a bit rough. I do have a whole flock of females for eggs that i can put my attention on but it still bothers me--hopefully this is temporary. How many do you usually cull at once and how long does process take you? Appreciate advice from the experienced. Thank you.

 

[FunClucks]

Thanks for input. I am having emotional issues even tho I didnt get emotionally attached to these birds, we are new at this and-I am feeling a bit rough. I do have a whole flock of females for eggs that i can put my attention on but it still bothers me--hopefully this is temporary. How many do you usually cull at once and how long does process take you? Appreciate advice from the experienced. Thank you.

It can be hard to transition from pets to livestock, and there is definitely a different mindset to having livestock that people who haven't had any before may never have experienced. I was taught growing up that all life should be cherished, and nothing should ever die, while at the same time regularly eating meat we bought from the grocery store. There's some cognitive dissonance there. Never had anything but pets. Don't live near or know any farmers in real life other than the ones who sell stuff at the farmers' market. Then one day I realized, if I'm willing/wanting to eat meat, shouldn't I be willing to grow and process it myself? Not everyone can manage it, but I wanted to try.

The chickens I raise and consume have a much better life than most animals raised in large volume, processed in a factory, and sold in the grocery store. I am trying to do my part to make sure the animals I consume are well cared for throughout their lives. I have a much higher appreciation for their lives and the effort that goes into growing the animals I eat, and I'm much more conscious of avoiding food waste now.

I have livestock chickens and pet chickens, and sometimes they switch from one to the other based on how they behave.

Takes me 1.5-2 hours from chicken in the run to chicken in the cooler with ice. I process no more than two each evening after work, and on weekends managed to do 4-6 a day. I don't have an automatic plucker or anyone to help me, but I do have a headlamp, and would spend at least an hour after sunset finishing up. This past batch of 25 CX I did back in March. I processed them from 5 wks to 9 wks old, just as many as I could most every day until they were done. Lost a few and ended up with 21 in my freezer. We've been enjoying it greatly. A sharp knife, a sprayer hose, a good sturdy easy-to-clean folding table, a folding chair, dish soap, 5 gallon buckets, a few large bowls, ice chest with ice, gallon ziplock bags, cutting board, and a designated tree is all I needed to process, skin, and part out the birds. The turkey fryer and pot for scalding was optional for if I wanted to keep the skin.

There's a lot of great resources on this Forum, and also check out the Sticky thread. Good luck!

 

[Paz]

Thanks for input. I am having emotional issues even tho I didnt get emotionally attached to these birds, we are new at this and-I am feeling a bit rough. I do have a whole flock of females for eggs that i can put my attention on but it still bothers me--hopefully this is temporary. How many do you usually cull at once and how long does process take you? Appreciate advice from the experienced. Thank you.

Since I don’t raise meat birds, but dual purpose birds, I’m not in a hurry to butcher them. Whenever someone gets on my nerves, or looks very tasty, I take it and break its neck. So I’d say: I kill only one at a time. Killing it takes 10 seconds if I’m manage to break its neck or a few minutes if I have to remove the head with an axe, and hang it.
I then put it in a bucket of warm water and shake it inside for a minute. Plucking is a few minutes job afterwards. Then removing its intestines is a couple more minutes. Washing with a hose is a couple minutes. I then place it in a bucket with salt water for an hour-full day (depending on bird size).
I would say 30-45 minutes overall.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Thanks for input. I am having emotional issues even tho I didnt get emotionally attached to these birds, we are new at this and-I am feeling a bit rough. I do have a whole flock of females for eggs that i can put my attention on but it still bothers me--hopefully this is temporary. How many do you usually cull at once and how long does process take you? Appreciate advice from the experienced. Thank you.

It's normal to feel that way. It's a tough thing to do,but if you remember your why for doing it, it helps. In my case, the why is to know that I'm eating meat that was humanely raised. The animal knew less suffering in its short lifetime that pretty much any other animal or human does. The death is quick, and none of the meat is wasted. We show the animal care and respect, which you certainly can't say about meat from a grocery store.

We cull 6-7 at a time. The first time we did 6 and it nearly took all day. The second time we did 7 in 4 hours. We're still pretty slow, but improving. I will also say that emotionally, it was easier the second time. It's still hard to take a life, but we were a little more at peace with why we have to do it.

 

[agarnp]

It's normal to feel that way. It's a tough thing to do,but if you remember your why for doing it, it helps. In my case, the why is to know that I'm eating meat that was humanely raised. The animal knew less suffering in its short lifetime that pretty much any other animal or human does. The death is quick, and none of the meat is wasted. We show the animal care and respect, which you certainly can't say about meat from a grocery store.

We cull 6-7 at a time. The first time we did 6 and it nearly took all day. The second time we did 7 in 4 hours. We're still pretty slow, but improving. I will also say that emotionally, it was easier the second time. It's still hard to take a life, but we were a little more at peace with why we have to do it.

Thank you- your info puts things into perspective. We want to do it right and we are grateful for the gift of their lives. Not too many people understand the importance of how our food is grown and processed and the energy that goes it. ..as a matter of fact a few people I know are horrified that we could do such a thing so I try to not talk about it. Its good to have people like you give encouragement. If nothing else we will have had the experience and do things a bit different next time. Thank you again!

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Thank you- your info puts things into perspective. We want to do it right and we are grateful for the gift of their lives. Not too many people understand the importance of how our food is grown and processed and the energy that goes it. ..as a matter of fact a few people I know are horrified that we could do such a thing so I try to not talk about it. Its good to have people like you give encouragement. If nothing else we will have had the experience and do things a bit different next time. Thank you again!

You're welcome. And yes, most people in my life are pretty horrified that we do this too, and no amount of explaining why we do it can make them not judge me. So, like you, I sometimes just don't say something. But if it comes up, I do, and I have a very simple explanation for why if they ask. If it's not good enough, I no longer worry about the judgement. We know we're doing what's right.

A lot of other people on here have that experience of others giving them trouble about raising meat chickens, so you're in the right place if you even just need to vent about it. We're here for ya! I'm pretty new to raising meat birds but the vets on BYC have really helped show me the ropes and help me feel comfortable with the different parts of the process, physical and emotional. I'm really glad I found this community.

 

[agarnp]

You're welcome. And yes, most people in my life are pretty horrified that we do this too, and no amount of explaining why we do it can make them not judge me. So, like you, I sometimes just don't say something. But if it comes up, I do, and I have a very simple explanation for why if they ask. If it's not good enough, I no longer worry about the judgement. We know we're doing what's right.

A lot of other people on here have that experience of others giving them trouble about raising meat chickens, so you're in the right place if you even just need to vent about it. We're here for ya! I'm pretty new to raising meat birds but the vets on BYC have really helped show me the ropes and help me feel comfortable with the different parts of the process, physical and emotional. I'm really glad I found this community.

 

[agarnp]

Since I don’t raise meat birds, but dual purpose birds, I’m not in a hurry to butcher them. Whenever someone gets on my nerves, or looks very tasty, I take it and break its neck. So I’d say: I kill only one at a time. Killing it takes 10 seconds if I’m manage to break its neck or a few minutes if I have to remove the head with an axe, and hang it.
I then put it in a bucket of warm water and shake it inside for a minute. Plucking is a few minutes job afterwards. Then removing its intestines is a couple more minutes. Washing with a hose is a couple minutes. I then place it in a bucket with salt water for an hour-full day (depending on bird size).
I would say 30-45 minutes overall.

Sounds like you are a pro. thanks for your input.

 

[Paz]

Sounds like you are a pro. thanks for your input.

Not a pro, it could actually be that I have fun doing it, and it takes five hours. Hahaha