For the first time in our lives, we began raising chickens about four months ago; we are both in our 50's. In light of current economic condtions, we felt it might be wise to become a bit more self sufficient. We have had pets our entire lives, but have never raised animals as livestock, and have only killed/cleaned fish which we've caught. Our "pets", until now, been part of our family. Today we culled nine roosters out of our flock of 18.
I hatched these chicks from eggs. I was thrilled when they hatched and have loved raising them; they have a wonderful coop and yard and were fed yummy treats each and every day. Knowing we would not be keeping all those which grew into roosters, I set out to not name any of the birds until I knew which were pullets or roos. I did pretty good, however one was named "Honeybun" before I realzied it was a roo, and another was named "pecker head" because he simply was an irritable, mean little guy. He "volunteered" early on to be high on the list of those to be culled, but in no way did I relish the thought of dispatching even this little ankle biter.
Instead of telling myself which birds were to be culled, I selected the two roosters which were to remain. It is a thin line, but in my mind made it a bit easier to gently pick up the bird to be dispatched. It they weren't one of the two to remain, they were to be culled. This worked fairly well with the exception of two guys I really liked, even though I knew I could not keep. When it was their turn, I had to really talk myself through the process. With one of them, I actually turned around and started walking back toward the chicken yard, thinking I just could not do this, but at the gate, calmed myself down, said a little prayer of thanks for his life and turned back around. I only cried at this guy's death and the death of the first bird we culled. NONE of it was easy, but I really tried to take the advice given on this site in regard to thinking of these animals as livestock, not pets.
We used the video by the Custer Family on Youtube. It was a tremendous help and made the entire process a lot easier. I was able to assit with the entire proces with the exception of cutting the jugular vein. Perhaps next time; maybe not.
If we were to do anything differently, it would be to have not fed the birds 24 hours before slaughter. My husband didn't think it would be that big of a deal, and we didn't have a convenient way of secluding the birds to be culled from the whole flock. After today's experience, he sees how doing so might have made things a bit easier today, so we will either come up with a way to segregate the birds next time or keep food away from the entire flock for the 24 hours prior.
I would have changed the birds to a finishing feed a few weeks ago ; they were still on starter feed. This may have bulked them up a bit more???
Our emotions have been mixed all day long. Both my husband and I are proud that we were able to follow through and do what we set out to do. He has been especially understanding (and probably a bit surprised) at my ability to assist in the process. We found the physical process a bit easier than anticipated (due to the good video). We both however, have felt "whipped" all day; it was emotional for us both. My husband had deliberately not "befriended" our chickens because he knew this day was coming, but even so, it was a "somber" day for him as well.
Pulling up to a drive through or picking up a package from the chiller at the grocery store will never be the same. I really appreciate my birds, more so than ever.
I hatched these chicks from eggs. I was thrilled when they hatched and have loved raising them; they have a wonderful coop and yard and were fed yummy treats each and every day. Knowing we would not be keeping all those which grew into roosters, I set out to not name any of the birds until I knew which were pullets or roos. I did pretty good, however one was named "Honeybun" before I realzied it was a roo, and another was named "pecker head" because he simply was an irritable, mean little guy. He "volunteered" early on to be high on the list of those to be culled, but in no way did I relish the thought of dispatching even this little ankle biter.
Instead of telling myself which birds were to be culled, I selected the two roosters which were to remain. It is a thin line, but in my mind made it a bit easier to gently pick up the bird to be dispatched. It they weren't one of the two to remain, they were to be culled. This worked fairly well with the exception of two guys I really liked, even though I knew I could not keep. When it was their turn, I had to really talk myself through the process. With one of them, I actually turned around and started walking back toward the chicken yard, thinking I just could not do this, but at the gate, calmed myself down, said a little prayer of thanks for his life and turned back around. I only cried at this guy's death and the death of the first bird we culled. NONE of it was easy, but I really tried to take the advice given on this site in regard to thinking of these animals as livestock, not pets.
We used the video by the Custer Family on Youtube. It was a tremendous help and made the entire process a lot easier. I was able to assit with the entire proces with the exception of cutting the jugular vein. Perhaps next time; maybe not.
If we were to do anything differently, it would be to have not fed the birds 24 hours before slaughter. My husband didn't think it would be that big of a deal, and we didn't have a convenient way of secluding the birds to be culled from the whole flock. After today's experience, he sees how doing so might have made things a bit easier today, so we will either come up with a way to segregate the birds next time or keep food away from the entire flock for the 24 hours prior.
I would have changed the birds to a finishing feed a few weeks ago ; they were still on starter feed. This may have bulked them up a bit more???
Our emotions have been mixed all day long. Both my husband and I are proud that we were able to follow through and do what we set out to do. He has been especially understanding (and probably a bit surprised) at my ability to assist in the process. We found the physical process a bit easier than anticipated (due to the good video). We both however, have felt "whipped" all day; it was emotional for us both. My husband had deliberately not "befriended" our chickens because he knew this day was coming, but even so, it was a "somber" day for him as well.
Pulling up to a drive through or picking up a package from the chiller at the grocery store will never be the same. I really appreciate my birds, more so than ever.
