Official BYC Poll: What Is Your Perspective On Chickens For Meat

[chickengr]

I eat my chicken's eggs with no problem as I don't need to kill a hen in order to get the eggs.

I used to be a vegetarian for 11 years but I do eat some meat now.

for the first 3 years of keeping chickens I did not eat my chickens. then I started to choose chickens that would be to eat (those that are not good for breeding or that don't lay well as well as extra roos). some of them are pets and they die naturally - I cannot do anything about that.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I eat both my own birds and those purchased from the store. Whilst I would prefer to switch entirely to my own birds, unfortunately I do not currently have the infrastructure that would be required to raise and process as many birds as I and my family consume.

Eggs, I have never had a problem with. I did engage in some reflection on the morals involved before I first started butchering my own birds, but I came to the conclusion that it was not mutually exclusive to care for my birds and eat them too. I think that recognizing that link between the neat packages at the store and the living, breathing creatures I care for daily is important; it keeps me from regarding the lives of those birds flippantly, as I may otherwise unconsciously do. Hopefully that's not too specific for this thread! If it is, I'm happy to take it down.

THIS. I wish we could eat only birds we raise ourselves, now that I have a better understanding of how commercial birds are bred and raised. Unfortunately, since we eat very little beef and can only raise a dozen or so chickens for the freezer each year, we do still buy some commercial chicken. But to the primary question of this poll, no, it does not bother us to eat chicken we have raised, nor their eggs. On the contrary, since we are going to eat chicken and eggs, we want them to be as healthy and happy and natural as possible, and that means having the management of them ourselves, in our own back yard.

 

[2hotchicks]

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IMPORTANT NOTE: We know this can be a sensitive topic, and we'd like all our members (those that do and don't eat chicken), so let's keep the discussion very specific to the poll questions. Any meat specific discussions can go in the section: Meat Birds ETC

In the 16 years I've had chickens, this has been the MOST frequent and diverse question I've received, and I'm curious where our members and visitors stand on this topic.

When answering the poll question, select your current status as it relates to your thoughts on chickens used as meat.

BONUS QUESTION: While eating chicken (or even eggs) do you ever feel weird thinking about what your eating in relation to your own chickens?

Please also reply to this thread with your experiences around any changes you've experienced in your perspective, people asking you this question, etc!

(Check out more Official BYC Polls HERE!)

I am 56 years old & got my 2 lovely ladies a little over a year ago.
As a child I remember grandma going to the meat bird barn and "doing her thing," following which we all enjoyed fried chicken dinner.
I knew I could never eat MY chickens but I had no plans to stop eating chicken. But as I fell in love with Mildred & Louise I began feeling differently. The little girl who understood where her fried chicken dinner came from is now an old woman who cannot eat chicken.

 

[3KillerBs]

I will continue to feed them even on their dying day as I feel it is more humane, I don't want them worrying about why they've not been fed. I've not pierced the crop or bowel, perhaps because of the way that I process my birds. When I butcher my birds, I remove the skin, feathers and all, remove the wings, drums and thighs and finally with the tiniest of cuts at the pointy end of the breast and only deep enough to make pulling the entire breast up and away from the body cavity easier I remove the breast and set it aside with all of the other meat. Once that is complete, it's a simple process to harvest the heart, liver and gizzard without risk of puncturing anything that will taint the meat.

I suppose that works if you never roast whole birds.

I have bad experience of gut contamination ruining an entire deer carcass and won't be taking the risk; I believe that if I'm going to kill an animal I owe it to that animal to make the fullest possible use of it.

 

[SulkyBantam]

I was pretty vegetarian before we got poultry, but now I couldn't even dream about eating them!

However, If you're going to eat chicken I would never eat KFC or such, I'd get it from a sustainable, local source.
It seems so awful that people know how terrible the lives of these living, intelligent creatures are, but just don't care and eat them anyway!
Same with battery eggs.

But the biggest problem is with those who barely know what they are eating. We need to make it our mission to battle this ignorance!
At least if people know how awfully our most important bird is treated, they can make their own choices based on conscience. I am sure that knowledge would be the beginning of the end of chicken maltreatment.

Who's with me?

 

[21hens-incharge]

The agreement here with my family was that occasionally the flock would need refreshing with new layers. The ones no longer laying would need removed to make room since we do not have unlimited housing options.
After the first time taking hens for processing my husband and son decided they would rather not partake.
While I was raised that a good life followed by a humane end was fine they had grown far to attached to accept that.

We do eat meat including chicken. We have also become something of a retirement home for the elderly in my flock.

I sold 16 hens in July as downsizing needed to happen. No I have not heard the end of it.

Making the distinction between pets and livestock is certainly difficult at times.

We eat a lot of eggs. Keeping a REASONABLE number of laying hens means having to make sometimes hard decisions.

I will still have birds processed knowing I will be the only one eating them.

 

[deidreg]

I'm new to keeping chickens and know my thoughts about this topic will evolve. I got them for eggs and for a new hobby to keep me sane during the pandemic. I don't think of them as pets exactly, but also not as little egg factories either. I'm just enjoying getting to know them and how best to take care of them.

I do eat chicken and when I can afford it, I like to support local farms. I'm currently unemployed so I can only afford commercial chicken now. I buy them whole and take them apart as it's more economical. I don't feel weird about eating them, at least so far.

I have been drawn to videos that show the butchering process from start to finish. I don't plan to raise chickens for meat but respect those who do so humanely. I guess I want to understand all aspects of keeping chickens, even those I don't practice.

 

[CHlCKEN]

I had no idea how many people are their own chickens! It’s cliche, I know, but I love my girls to much to put them on a plate. (Even that one Rooster who I had no feelings for.. sorry Bruce)

Joy is my retired hen. She’s only 3 but she fought through EYP this summer, and ever since she arrived home 3 years ago, I’ve been attached! I know a lot of people keep hens for eggs, so when one hen stops laying, she is butchered to make room for another hen who can lay

Lots of people eat their own birds. I think that’s fine. But let’s face it, some of us just can’t do it! I don’t think I’d ever be able to successfully raise a meat bird flock without having to bail

 

[KingD]

I keep chickens solely for the eggs but I wouldn't have any problems with eating them. I fully understand the struggles vegans and such things go through but after all pigs, cows, sheep and chickens were all created purely to supply the human race and the animal kingdom with food.
But personaly I don't mind eating chicken.

 

[FortCluck]

I do not eat meat, but I raise and butcher chickens for my family.

They do not feel weird or anything eating the eggs or meat because I raised it.

Our dogs eat a lot of the eggs and meat as well.