omg..

[hipeatall]

Quote:
very nicely put!

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i'm sorry, i know how you feel. i just don't have it in me to raise meat birds, or any animal that might end up as dinner. Even when i've raised really mean roos, i will adopt them out, knowing they will probably end up as dinner - i just can't do it myself.

If your parents do get meat birds, just pretend they aren't there, and focus on your pet chickens (you do have your own pet chickens, right?).

 

[CTChickenMom]

Quote:
my mom (gonzo&hispeeps) is a do it any way

i just hate thinking about it...and i know it would be crule to keep one alive...if it wasnt, i would swip one out and put it in with the other egg layers...

I wouldn't swip one to put with your layers. Cornish crosses don't do well in a layer flock because they are so slow and have no real interest other than eating. Not only can they get picked on by your layer flock but their lives are short. They have many health issues if allowed to live beyond the recommend butchering age. I don't think you'll have them long enough to get attached. By 2 months they are at their peak. House them where you can't see them directly, don't visit them. You'll be eating a much healthier meal than the one bought at the supermarket.

They are raised for meat, that's their purpose in life. They will live a much better life than the broilers in the grocery store did. Take comfort in that.

 

[vkp23]

As others have said first thing is to separate in your mind pet from food. I can tell you as an animal lover that the thought for me was hard as well. Plus not to mention dead things creep me out. I once left a dwarf hamster in his cage (dead) for several hours til my DH got home from work and could dispose of it. I wouldn't even go in the room where the cage was kept. It's a state of mind. I looked at it this way, #1 if something bad where to happen in this country and my flock was all I had for food to feed my little girls I would do it in a heart beat. I would butcher my dog to feed my family if I had to. Feeding my kids is more important than the animal. #2 as was stated before look up how the commercial chicken "farmers" treat and butcher the chickens in the store. I feel much better knowing that my birds had a good happy free ranging life, and were butchered quickly and as painlessly as possible. Not scalded alive and only half killed while going through the process. Our birds are treated well and with respect. And since we are grateful to the bird for giving their life to feed ours we give them the treatment they deserve. But it's a state of mind all in all. And even though dead things creep me out, I still roll up my sleeves and jump in with both feet, and became really proud of myself that I could do the cleaning better them my husband.

 

[RAWR]

Quote:
my mom (gonzo&hispeeps) is a do it any way

i just hate thinking about it...and i know it would be crule to keep one alive...if it wasnt, i would swip one out and put it in with the other egg layers...

I wouldn't swip one to put with your layers. Cornish crosses don't do well in a layer flock because they are so slow and have no real interest other than eating. Not only can they get picked on by your layer flock but their lives are short. They have many health issues if allowed to live beyond the recommend butchering age. I don't think you'll have them long enough to get attached. By 2 months they are at their peak. House them where you can't see them directly, don't visit them. You'll be eating a much healthier meal than the one bought at the supermarket.

They are raised for meat, that's their purpose in life. They will live a much better life than the broilers in the grocery store did. Take comfort in that.

i know..its kinda upsetting to me..i think i get the softness from my dads side...lol
ANYWHO
im trying the heck to get my mom to get the dark cornish

 

[RAWR]

Quote:
oh yeah, i have PLENTLY of pet chickens lol

 

[CTChickenMom]

Quote:
I wouldn't swip one to put with your layers. Cornish crosses don't do well in a layer flock because they are so slow and have no real interest other than eating. Not only can they get picked on by your layer flock but their lives are short. They have many health issues if allowed to live beyond the recommend butchering age. I don't think you'll have them long enough to get attached. By 2 months they are at their peak. House them where you can't see them directly, don't visit them. You'll be eating a much healthier meal than the one bought at the supermarket.

They are raised for meat, that's their purpose in life. They will live a much better life than the broilers in the grocery store did. Take comfort in that.

i know..its kinda upsetting to me..i think i get the softness from my dads side...lol
ANYWHO
im trying the heck to get my mom to get the dark cornish

Good choice....I don't think cornish are as pretty to look at as some of the fancy layers. Maybe that will help to take the edge off.

 

[RAWR]

Quote:
i know..its kinda upsetting to me..i think i get the softness from my dads side...lol
ANYWHO
im trying the heck to get my mom to get the dark cornish

Good choice....I don't think cornish are as pretty to look at as some of the fancy layers. Maybe that will help to take the edge off.

it might...im probly just going to stay as far away from the Conish X chicks

 

[greenpeeps]

You sound like my daughter. She's a vegaterian and is upset that we just orderd 13 broilers. I keep telling her to keep in mind that the chickens that we are going to raise to eat will have happy lives. These chickens are not being kept in a tiny area with so many chickens that they can't even move. They will enjoy a pampered life with tons of sun and treats.

You should have some egg layers as well. Those are the ones that you name and become attached to. Hope all goes well

 

[ChicksNPigs]

Last year I wanted chicks, and hadn't yet been here. I bought Cornish X's from a chain feed store, and had no idea that they weren't going to live to become egg layers. When they were a couple of weeks old, they were out of the feed I bought, so I went to a local, non-chain feed store, and was enlightened there.
My family has often raised animals for food, but because I had got these with the intention of keeping them as pets and possibly having eggs, I had a hard time doing the dirty work myself. To that end, I gave the chicks to my brother at about 5 weeks old, and he did the dirty work and then offered me some of the cleaned freezer-ready chicken back.
I am now raising pigs, and though I'm friendly enough and pet them when I feed them, I know they're dinner, and won't have the same problem I did with the chicks.
Hopefully if you go into it knowing they're for meat, it'll be easier to seperate them in your mind from your pets.