***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[ashtree]

Quote: What about when you have kids and you explicitly explain to them "do not get attached"? Ive tried everything; we dont name them, I am the only one to take care of them (Im talking about new chicks that are too young to sex), I remind him we are only keeping girls, but its all to no avail. I dont buy chicks thinking Im keeping them all, I buy them knowing the fate of boys. Not saying I dont get attached, once I really did, but living in the city I never thought he would have any other fate. When Arlo was younger we raised straight run chicks and ate the boys. This was not hard for my husband and me, but now its not so simple for obvious reasons. Economically its always made sense for us to eat the boys. Im having to rethink all this now, but I just want to add my 2 cents that this is not easy for us. And I try to be really conscious of my sweet boy, who seems to be a kindred spirit to you both

 

[Kassaundra]

And you find time to do this.....WHEN....with 4 kids???? The wire bottom will keep them nice and cool in the summer, too. Great job ))
I tired several bucket and board tricks and they didn't work. I'll swear by the poison inside those little boxes though. The majority of the mice crawl back into their holes underground and die. The ones that die above ground can be picked up and tossed every morning. I didn't have a problem with my chickens eating them. And I read an article about someone being concerned the hawks would eat the dead mice. The response from the spokesperson was that the hawk would have to ingest the same amount of poison per pound of body weight as the mouse did for *his body weight. The mouse just eat a single feeding and it kills them. The size of a mouse's stomach is probably the size of a jelly bean at best. We used to have mice walking right through the pens in the dark and eating the chicken feed. Not anymore

A hawk isn't going to eat a dead mouse anyway, oh unless they are talking about the hawk getting the mouse before they have a chance to die.

 

[Kassaundra]

What about when you have kids and you explicitly explain to them "do not get attached"? Ive tried everything; we dont name them, I am the only one to take care of them (Im talking about new chicks that are too young to sex), I remind him we are only keeping girls, but its all to no avail. I dont buy chicks thinking Im keeping them all, I buy them knowing the fate of boys. Not saying I dont get attached, once I really did, but living in the city I never thought he would have any other fate. When Arlo was younger we raised straight run chicks and ate the boys. This was not hard for my husband and me, but now its not so simple for obvious reasons. We eat a paleo diet here, and I myself eat soooo much meat. Economically its always made sense for us to eat the boys. Im having to rethink all this now, but I just want to add my 2 cents that this is not easy for us. And I try to be really conscious of my sweet boy, who seems to be a kindred spirit to you both

I think each of us has to decide what is best for ourselves and our family. I had a hard time coming to the point of killing my chickens for food, but I eat meat, and if I eat it I think I should be able to make sure the meat I eat is treated humanely and since I can't afford to buy meat that I know is raised and killed humanely the best I can do is do it myself. I still buy meat from the store and buy what I can afford, I can't raise larger animals for food in town. I think forcing anyone to participate in the killing process is cruel no matter their age.

 

[Kyzmette]

Quote:
You can't dictate whether or not somebody gets attached to another being. The only thing you can really do is limit his interaction with them. Maybe you could build a pen where he can have his pet chickens, then tell him he needs to stay out of the other pen where all the potential dinners are, so that he never gets to know any of them. I built the separate pen for the boys I get rid of so I won't get attached to them, but I'm old enough to distance myself emotionally (most of the time), and he's not. You might also consider accommodating him for a different kind of diet that doesn't include meat.

 

[Ksane]

What about when you have kids and you explicitly explain to them "do not get attached"?  Ive tried everything; we dont name them, I am the only one to take care of them (Im talking about new chicks that are too young to sex), I remind him we are only keeping girls, but its all to no avail. I dont buy chicks thinking Im keeping them all, I buy them knowing the fate of boys. Not saying I dont get attached, once I really did, but living in the city I never thought he would have any other fate. When Arlo was younger we raised straight run chicks and ate the boys. This was not hard for my husband and me, but now its not so simple for obvious reasons. We eat a paleo diet here, and I myself eat soooo much meat. Economically its always made sense for us to eat the boys. Im having to rethink all this now, but I just want to add my 2 cents that this is not easy for us. And I try to be really conscious of my sweet boy, who seems to be a kindred spirit to you both 

I'm in my 50's and even as recent as 3 months ago when I allowed a hen to hatch out all the Bantam Ameraucanas I swore in good conscience, honestly believing it myself, that I was going to just have to risk the boys and caponize them. I honestly believed I'd be able to risk them since common sense told me before-hand that there was no other way. But when those boys were 8 wks old and I'd raised them myself and loved them because they're out of my favorite rooster....I couldn't for the life of me make that 1st cut. My odds are only up to 75% living through surgery, I was *going to kill 1-2 of my boys just by law of averages. So there I was begging another caponizer (with a way better track record) to do my boys for me. Telling a gentle boy like Arlo not to get attached ahead of time is like telling a pregnant mother not to get attached before her baby's born. Feelings have nothing to do with common sense or forethought, they just ARE.

A hawk isn't going to eat a dead mouse anyway, oh unless they are talking about the hawk getting the mouse before they have a chance to die.

That's a good point, ya know? Especially when it takes just a few hours for poison to kill the mice and they feed at night, not during the day when hawks are out. My chickens didn't bother the dead mice either. I guess if it doesn't move it's no fun to play keep-a-way with.

 

[Kassaundra]

I'm in my 50's and even as recent as 3 months ago when I allowed a hen to hatch out all the Bantam Ameraucanas I swore in good conscience, honestly believing it myself, that I was going to just have to risk the boys and caponize them. I honestly believed I'd be able to risk them since common sense told me before-hand that there was no other way. But when those boys were 8 wks old and I'd raised them myself and loved them because they're out of my favorite rooster....I couldn't for the life of me make that 1st cut. My odds are only up to 75% living through surgery, I was *going to kill 1-2 of my boys just by law of averages. So there I was begging another caponizer (with a way better track record) to do my boys for me. Telling a gentle boy like Arlo not to get attached ahead of time is like telling a pregnant mother not to get attached before her baby's born. Feelings have nothing to do with common sense or forethought, they just ARE.
That's a good point, ya know? Especially when it takes just a few hours for poison to kill the mice and they feed at night, not during the day when hawks are out. My chickens didn't bother the dead mice either. I guess if it doesn't move it's no fun to play keep-a-way with.

Same w/ my chickens, they will eat a live mouse but dead has no interest.

 

[ashtree]

@Kyzmette he has never expressed interest in being a vegetarian. Never even asked about it. I was a vegan for many years, I'm not opposed to letting him or any of the other kids follow different diets as long as they know why and are healthy about it. And I said that wrong in my last statement, (or simplified it) It just naturally evolved that way as we discovered Arlo has a gluten intolerance.

@Kassaundra I don't understand what you mean by involving them in the killing process. Are you saying the actual killing? I would never do that to anyone that is against it. Or are you saying mentioning it is a type of involvement?

I realize we won't all agree on this or everything else for the matter. I try my hardest to accommodate all the different personalities in my family, it's not easy.

 

[Kyzmette]

Well, forcing them to eat something they'd been attached to would be involving them in the killing processing to some degree.

If he doesn't want to be a vegetarian then it's just an issue of separating pets from edibles. He needs to never have contact with the edibles.

 

[Ksane]

Well, forcing them to eat something they'd been attached to would be involving them in the killing processing to some degree.

If he doesn't want to be a vegetarian then it's just an issue of separating pets from edibles. He needs to never have contact with the edibles.

I can pretty safely say she'd never in a million years make him eat a chicken he hadn't wanted to kill My bet is she'd cut off her own hand before she did that lol

 

[lonnyandrinda]

And you find time to do this.....WHEN....with 4 kids???? The wire bottom will keep them nice and cool in the summer, too. Great job ))

LOL! SCHOOL STARTED TODAY! I love having my kids home in the summer, and I also love having my ME time when they are back in school. It is a little sad when summer ends but I do a lot of my projects while the kids are at school. When they aren't in school they usually play on the monster playground we bought off craigslist. They love it!

It's finished!!!!






Yay! I was going to use the milk crates as nest boxes but they are just way too big. I will throw something together that fits the space better.