Processing Day Support Group ~ HELP us through the Emotions PLEASE!

[199787]

I am not saying your wrong in any way. Just saying I think the convenience of the pistol is nice and that 600fps got the job done. More would obviously do the job too. I wouldn't want to experiment with less to find the minimum... We were going to use a .22 rifle first, and I wanted to get the pellet gun so I wouldn't have to stand a rifle length away and hope they didn't move. It was a rooster I really liked . First chick I ever hatched, but he got a terrible yeast infection in his vent that after all kinds of meds and a month of doctoring couldn't be brought under control He prolapsed and it hurt him to poop. Poor guy. None of his coop mates had any trouble. It was weird.

 

[gypsychicken]

Respectful Chicken harvesting: How do I deal with conflicting emotions?

Tomorrow I take out 2 of the 12 week old roos. Of course, they are the cutest and most personality of the bunch. They are best friends, always hanging out, the first of the bunch to fight and draw blood. This is my third generation and this flock is different. I went to the feedstore where a lovely lady sold me 12 fertilized eggs from her farm for $3.50. 8 out of 12 hatched, one gone, 3 out of 7 roos.

Now I've got 4 old Ladies, one to three eggs a day, and 7 Juveniles eating me out of house and home.

Today the plymouth rock with the pea comb tried to crow, "arooooooooooo" "aroooooo". So darn cute!



I wish we could have a rooster, but my landlord says no.

I'm in hard luck financially right now. I have 4 year old Ladies and 7 juveniles and not enough money to buy feed or organic chicken meat at the store. I've been doing this 3 years and at least I didn't name them, or cuddle them too much, well, a little.

The first batch I killed them one by one: Joselito, Miss Lucille Tucker, La Loca, Cry Baby, and Rojelia. I never cried so hard in my life, I think. It was the hardest thing I ever did. I couldn't eat for 24 hours.

This time its different. I watched them hatched one by one in the little hen house under one of my beautiful broody buff orppingtons. I call her Mamma. She did such a good job, such a good mother until 6 weeks, when she rejected them. It was hard to enjoy their amazing beauty when I knew I was raising them to kill them.

So strange, so hard. I wanted to do this, to know the circle of life, to live off of my land, to understand something lost in our world that needed to be rediscovered. I didnt know what beautiful, gentle souls chickens had, what affectionate, loving creatures they were. I turned them every day under Mama, 'cause I didn't see her doing that. I protected them and ensured their safety and comfort. I laughed and cried when they were born. Now, I have the power to take their life. And eat them. I swear I could become a vegetarian except for the fact that I love my fried chicken! I've done the whole thing with the old gals: chicken pot pies, poullete au vin, stock, stews, soups.

The two boys are in a kennel tonite with only water and straw. I'll take them out tomorrow morning. I'll hold them between on my lap, cut the jugular and bleed them out while I feel the life leave their little bodies. DON'T LOOK THEM IN THE EYE, actually, DON'T LOOK AT ALL!!! Let them rest a few days and have either fried chicken or marinate them in a garlic, soy sauce, lemon for a few days, broil and serve with mashed potatoes on the side.

How do I deal with my conflicting emotions?

This video helped me ALOT! She is so wonderful:

I'll repost this.Anyone have a few kind words? I know it's practical, it's logical, it's natural, its the way things have been since 5,000 AD, but, why is it so hard!?

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
Things like this video, as sweet as this lady is, are the reason it is SO HARD for all the other people out there humanizing these animals. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but you create your own misery by deliberately identifying with the chickens but without the necessary detachment that needs to be instilled in order to raise your own food. For some reason people have got it into their minds that one has to be hard-hearted and callous in order to be able to do this when nothing could be further from the truth. It has nothing to do with the heart, tenderness or femininity at all...it has to do with problem solving skills. You have a problem and there is only one way to solve it.

It doesn't even have anything to do with not naming the food animals or not looking in their eyes or all the other tactics one seems to use to get through the process of processing. It all comes down to solving the problem of how to raise an animal, still be able to enjoy it,name it, identify with all their quirky personalities...and then also keep fast in your mind that this animal has a purpose here on Earth, as do you and I and every living creature. Helping that chicken live a good life and also helping them fulfill their singular purpose is the goal and developing the strength of will to see that through is the key. There is the problem you have to solve and it requires training yourself to see the animal as it really is and not how you imagine it to be.

For instance...this woman is doing all sorts of things to this chicken that it would prefer she not do. The prolonged restraining, the tapping forever on its neck~it's like getting pecked over and over and it cannot get away...talk about stressful for the bird!~the whole idea that the bird actually prefers this drawn out process because that is what us humans would want is fostering the idea that this is a desirable thing to do to a chicken....hug it, hold it, tap on it forever and then cut its throat.

That's not humane and generations of farmers can tell you why...because to that chicken we are predators and prolonged restraint by a predator, while being tapped on the neck, is just fear producing to that bird. This is why people who do this all the time do it quickly and with the least handling of the bird possible. Despite what all the folks on here think, the majority of chickens would rather not be handled by humans. If one did not train it with treats, a chicken won't voluntarily come and sit on your lap to be coddled, fondled and held. It's not natural that it should do so, but we are trying to turn a chicken into something not natural by trying to make a pet dog out of it.

Name them, enjoy them from a distance, you can even talk to them in a baby voice...but stop making it so hard on yourself by cuddling them like a kitten and thinking of them as anything other than a food animal with a singular purpose on this earth...to produce food every day of its mature life and then to produce a final meal when it is through. That immediately sets the chicken apart from a cat, dog or horse...those animals can be your companion and your source of affection because you will not be eating them as part of their purpose on this Earth.

That, and only that, is why it is so very hard. Get your head on straight and approach it as it truly is instead of how you imagine that it is, then things will get immensely easier. Self-inflicted misery is something I have a very hard time supporting, so I'm sorry if this sounds unkind..it's not meant to be unkind. It's the most truthful answer to your question that I have to offer.

 

[gypsychicken]

How do you kill your chickens?

 

[aoxa]

This video helped me ALOT! She is so wonderful:

I'll repost this.Anyone have a few kind words? I know it's practical, it's logical, it's natural, its the way things have been since 5,000 AD, but, why is it so hard!?

This video is about making the humans feel comfortable, not the chicken.

 

[aoxa]

How do you kill your chickens?

I kill them as quickly as possible, with as little handling as possible - because frankly - that is the very worst part for them.. the handling.

I catch them, put them in a kennel and drive them up to the kill cone with the tractor (too heavy in the kennels - I do four per kennel and do two kennels at a time in our tractor's trailer). I take one out at a time, quickly put them in the cone (this is when they relax - once you aren't touching them any longer). I stretch their neck through the hole, cut the jugular and hold their head back as they bleed out. I don't NEED to hold their head, but I find it keeps the blood flowing smoothly and they die quickly. I do not tap on them. They go to sleep pretty much.. followed by the death throws. Once they have finished their throws, off with the head and on with the processing.

 

[jajeanpierre]

That, and only that, is why it is so very hard. Get your head on straight and approach it as it truly is instead of how you imagine that it is, then things will get immensely easier. Self-inflicted misery is something I have a very hard time supporting, so I'm sorry if this sounds unkind..it's not meant to be unkind. It's the most truthful answer to your question that I have to offer.

That's a great post, Beekissed!

I'm having a lot of trouble with my 21-year old son who just can't get his head around the killing part. Last year he pithed frogs in a zoology course at university and it disturbed him very, very much. He wants to save them all. I think I am making progress towards embracing your philosophy, Beekissed--when I pick up the remaining Silkie cockerel my immediate thoughts are how much meat he is carrying on his breast. When I interact with him, he is seen by me as both a cute little cockerel and dinner all at the same time. I think when I can not feel any guilt when thinking of him as dinner while still enjoying him as a chicken, I will be well on my way to getting my "head on straight" as you so succinctly phrased it.

That video was the first how-to videos I watched, and I was more than a bit upset by it. The sqeaky-voiced little girl ripping off the chicken head with her bare hands at the end was just too much.

You are so correct about them not wanting to be handled and restrained, but I'm not sure restraining them is as stressful as you do. I do 100% agree with you that speed and reduction of stress is the goal.

When restraining parrots, it is normal to "towel" them by wrapping them in a towel (with care not to wrap too tightly as you can stop them being able to breathe). Any medical procedure will be done on a toweled parrot. They will immediately calm down. The hoods put on falcons also immediately calm them down, backed up by measurements in science. You can take a newly-captured falcon, put a hood on them and their blood tests and respiration/heart rates will be of a calm bird. I know that if a racehorse is being extremely difficult loading in the gate, as a last resort they will blind fold them to get them loaded. (For all you anti-racehorse people, horses are trained to load in a starting gate and have to pass a test. They didn't freak out in the morning or they wouldn't be allowed to enter a race.)

I'm not sure wrapping them is very stressful. Temple Grandin designed some of her slaughterhouse equipment based on a "squeeze machine" she developed for herself as a child. She basically added pressure to her whole body as a method of self-calming. Temple Grandin is a diagnosed autistic-spectrum individual and famous for her research and design of animal handling practices and animal handling facilities.

There is a reaction to stress in all animals where they just give up. Examples in science are of electrified plates in a rat cage where the rat just lies down, doesn't try to get away from the pain and takes the constant electrical shock. There are also shock syndromes caused by restraint, where a perfectly healthy animal will drop and lose unconsciousness when restrained (capture myopia), which is kind of handy if you are a deer caught by a mountain lion. Who wants to be conscious when you are being disemboweled? The extreme apathy of the rat is not the same physiological response as the deer dropping unconscious when you drape a towel over its head, even though they might look the same to an observer.

 

[katbriar]

I think the true point is- restraint is necessary, but why would you make it longer and with more stimulation (tapping, handling, whatever) than it needs to be. It's not better for the chicken, only makes (some) humans feel better in a misplaced way, and doesn't change the end result. It is not disrespectful to see the killing of a chicken as a necessary chore and to do it without wallowing in the task.

It seems like people who really are uncomfortable with it and want to get past it are the very folks who spend the most time hand wringing.

I know that sounds like I just expect people to "get over it" which isn't really true. I know it is a struggle and I respect that. I just don't like to see people stay on the same mental state that gives them so much grief and doesn't help the chicken.

Don't be hard hearted, just be deliberate and realize that each time you are practicing where your mind should be.

 

[ronott1]

Respectful Chicken harvesting: How do I deal with conflicting emotions?

Tomorrow I take out 2 of the 12 week old roos. Of course, they are the cutest and most personality of the bunch. They are best friends, always hanging out, the first of the bunch to fight and draw blood. This is my third generation and this flock is different. I went to the feedstore where a lovely lady sold me 12 fertilized eggs from her farm for $3.50. 8 out of 12 hatched, one gone, 3 out of 7 roos.

Now I've got 4 old Ladies, one to three eggs a day, and 7 Juveniles eating me out of house and home.

Today the plymouth rock with the pea comb tried to crow, "arooooooooooo" "aroooooo". So darn cute!



I wish we could have a rooster, but my landlord says no.

I'm in hard luck financially right now. I have 4 year old Ladies and 7 juveniles and not enough money to buy feed or organic chicken meat at the store. I've been doing this 3 years and at least I didn't name them, or cuddle them too much, well, a little.

The first batch I killed them one by one: Joselito, Miss Lucille Tucker, La Loca, Cry Baby, and Rojelia. I never cried so hard in my life, I think. It was the hardest thing I ever did. I couldn't eat for 24 hours.

This time its different. I watched them hatched one by one in the little hen house under one of my beautiful broody buff orppingtons. I call her Mamma. She did such a good job, such a good mother until 6 weeks, when she rejected them. It was hard to enjoy their amazing beauty when I knew I was raising them to kill them.

So strange, so hard. I wanted to do this, to know the circle of life, to live off of my land, to understand something lost in our world that needed to be rediscovered. I didnt know what beautiful, gentle souls chickens had, what affectionate, loving creatures they were. I turned them every day under Mama, 'cause I didn't see her doing that. I protected them and ensured their safety and comfort. I laughed and cried when they were born. Now, I have the power to take their life. And eat them. I swear I could become a vegetarian except for the fact that I love my fried chicken! I've done the whole thing with the old gals: chicken pot pies, poullete au vin, stock, stews, soups.

The two boys are in a kennel tonite with only water and straw. I'll take them out tomorrow morning. I'll hold them between on my lap, cut the jugular and bleed them out while I feel the life leave their little bodies. DON'T LOOK THEM IN THE EYE, actually, DON'T LOOK AT ALL!!! Let them rest a few days and have either fried chicken or marinate them in a garlic, soy sauce, lemon for a few days, broil and serve with mashed potatoes on the side.

How do I deal with my conflicting emotions?

This video helped me ALOT! She is so wonderful:

I'll repost this.Anyone have a few kind words? I know it's practical, it's logical, it's natural, its the way things have been since 5,000 AD, but, why is it so hard!?

Petrock lives close to you and is organizing a processing day at her partners ranch:

Let me check with her on the turkeys. I'm not sure if she is parting with them or not. I sure hope so because I would love to have one for Thanksgiving! We will be doing chickens the same day. What she is offering this time is $15 for the workshop and you can bring one of your own birds to process or $25 and you go home with one chicken processed & vacuum sealed. I would guess the November one would be the same but it might be a little bit more if it involves one of her turkeys. I'm headed out there this morning to decide which roos/cockerels are on death row for tomorrow. I'll check with her.

Send her a pm if interested. We are all on the California, Northern thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/25/california-northern/31510

It is one of the best threads on BYC!

 

[gypsychicken]

AWESOME! 2 roo's chillin' in cold water. All of your advices helped immensely. I will respond to each one tonite with my thoughts. I appreciate this Forum to gather and share our stories.