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

[199787]

Colt is also a very practical child. He'll be 7 in a couple weeks, and he had no qualms shooting a deer last year, shooting turtles, going fishing, etc. If it were any of the other chickens, I KNOW he would probably care less. He just argues with me on this one old girl because she is HIS favorite chicken... He doesn't really get upset or cry when we talk about it. Rather he tries to negotiate with me about it. That's my son = the negotiator. So, the struggle for me is trying to explain to him the reasonings for why I think we should cull her, even though she is his favorite.

I am really enjoying this discussion. I appreciate everyone's input on this. What I've read on this thread has been from the emotional perspective of the person who is doing the actual culling (which has been good for me personally), but I think this spin on how to deal with the situation when a child's feelings are involved is really important. Thanks again.

I only put the story of my grandma up as a cautionary tale. The war was also hard on them beyond the chicken. It was her only friend, that's why I said it was an extreme case. I do vividly remember bottle feeding a lamb named Brownie at my friends farm, then Brownie wound up in our freezer. I refused to eat Brownie, and I still think it was a jerk move on my parents part. It's ok to get attached to a special one. I also remember bawling and crying all day because the neighbors were slaughtering rabbits. I saved one and it made me feel better when they were throwing the heads to their dogs. This was a sub division, not the country, lol. I hated those neighbors so much as a child. Anyway, I am going to be eating my own chickens this year, but the ones I named are safe for life most likely. Luckily, that's only a few...

 

[BirdbyGavin1103]

Me too! I used every opportunity to teach my kids something they didn't know. My kids are a sponge about things in nature and wanted to know all the "whys and hows".

Even about how to develop coping mechanisms for death of something or someone you really love. I feel it's important to learn good coping skills while young instead of waiting until something very serious happens and then falling apart. Grief is just like any other problem in life...it takes planning and practice to learn to manage it well...grief over losing a game, losing a friend, losing something of value or the family pet. Learning about grief with someone who is willing to teach it in a calm manner before it is ever really needed can be invaluable. It's a tough job but someone's got to do it...might as well be me.

Unfortunately my son had to learn coping with death at a young age, long before we had animals for meat. We've lost 7 family members and multiple family friends (that were closer to family than some of our own blood) since Gavin was born, including two of my siblings. Thankfully he only has memories of my one sister and my Grandmother (he was too young to remember my grandfather or brother and barely met the great-aunts and one cousin). The poor kid's seen more death than many adults I know, but he taken it all in stride and has been stronger than me at times. He's the only thing that has kept me sane (well semi-sane) through all of this.
Maybe that's another reason he can handle the processing so well, he's had to deal with the lose of people close to us, so animals aren't as high on the emotion scale. Now that I'm really thinking about it I'd be willing to bet that's the reason he can handle the animals so well.

 

[sharron]

since we're talking about processing, thought you might get a kick out of this.

 

[BirdbyGavin1103]

since we're talking about processing, thought you might get a kick out of this.

I've seen that one, there was something similar in our local paper a few years ago during deer season. Makes me laugh every time I read it, just goes to show how some people think...or I guess it would be don't think.

 

[sharron]

like ron white says, can't fix stupid

 

[wlhtx]

I only put the story of my grandma up as a cautionary tale. The war was also hard on them beyond the chicken. It was her only friend, that's why I said it was an extreme case. I do vividly remember bottle feeding a lamb named Brownie at my friends farm, then Brownie wound up in our freezer. I refused to eat Brownie, and I still think it was a jerk move on my parents part. It's ok to get attached to a special one. I also remember bawling and crying all day because the neighbors were slaughtering rabbits. I saved one and it made me feel better when they were throwing the heads to their dogs. This was a sub division, not the country, lol. I hated those neighbors so much as a child. Anyway, I am going to be eating my own chickens this year, but the ones I named are safe for life most likely. Luckily, that's only a few...

Please don't misunderstand. I appreciated you sharing your grandmother's story. When I said "gut punch," I meant it! That story literally gave me that OH CRAP feeling, thinking about our pet chicken problem from another perspective.

Growing up, my grandfather raised meat rabbits. As a kid I distinctly remember playing with bunnies - a lot. Every time I was at their house (which was pretty frequently), I wanted to play with my babies. Would you believe that I was in COLLEGE before I stopped to realize that the babies I played with all those times were not always the same ones? I was very sheltered as a child, but I understand that - from my grandfather's perspective - he was trying to shield me from pain (and himself from hysterical fits) - but I can't help but feel so silly to this day that I was so naive. I WISH those rabbits had been used as a teaching moment.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

It has taken me a better part of this week to catch up to current events on this thread. I have gleaned information from this and a few other threads and websites (and the bad descriptions from my husband and friends) and finally given a go at my first process....

I did not take pictures as I was far to concentrated on the completion of the job. My morning had also been full of cleaning and repairing from a bear attack on some of our pullets.

Now that I think back on it we should have recorded it. We must have looked hilarious!!!! BUT there was a rhyme and reason for all of our decisions.

So to start I needed privacy. That ended us up in the garage. My husband REALLY didn't want "a massacre scene". HELLO either did I. We used a tall laundry basket, bolted a trimmed cone to it, put a huge rock in the bottom (heard they tip sometimes) then put in the contractor bag tucked under the cone. The cone goes 3/4 of the way into the laundry basket which was great because it limited our view of any eye contact! . Now since smell was a big concern we put on dust mask (my 15 year old daughter and I ) scented with a few drops of lemon essential oil. Gently placed him into the cone. DD tipped his neck and used a chefs knife (which is now in my handy dandy process tote) to slice the jugular. I realized at that moment that NONE of our readings had told us how long to let them bleed out....!!!! And after hearing of someone who had poop flying in the air I threw a towel over the basket for good measure. So we let the scalding pot get to temp (on the camping stove on the cement floor) and peeked into the basket and sure enough the blood flow had stopped. into the scalding pot. We were using the tip that when the wing feathers slide out get the bird out. We also had on thin disposable gloves. This really helped to distance myself a bit dulling touch and smell. It was GREAT! My daughter read the tutorial from my phone showing me pictures. I had a small table with a cutting board on it right next to the bleed out laundry basket. I just went from rubbing off the feathers ( i did get a bit frantic when the baby woke up and I heard him crying for me, i accidentally ripped off a wing trying to finish the wing feathers) removing crop head and neck, to legs at joints, to finding the entry of the cavity , cutting around the vent and carefully swiping it all out in one soft pull right into the basket. Then off to the adjoining laundry room to wash the bird. now he is resting in the spare fridge. Hosed the cone off in the side yard and stashed it in the back of the garden shed.

I am wondering how i will wash the cone bolted to the laundry basket in the winter if need be ( we get snow, snow, snow) but ill just have to work it out then. I am so blessed to have been given such encouragement and sound information . I am so relieved . I DID IT!!! my ds wanted to know where 'cockodoodle doo" went. The girls showed him and he wanted to put him in the oven right NOW.

Awesome, and I had to laugh a good one at the masks with ess oils!!! Bawahhhhaahhahhaaaa DH was prol like OMGAWD WOMAN!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

bee and sally good to see you both.

just my 2 cents at every slaughter. i tell each bird thank you for your service and your life will not be in vane.you will feed a person.

Hi Bruce! I agree, I just needed to take that step, I keep eyeing your posts about rangers and thinking about a dozen but it sounds like I need a new area for them to stay,

I have a roof for their heads, and if do it now while its warm, until 6-8 weeks processing do I need enclosed area or just safety fenced? Also do I need a really high fence, will they fly? would a 4 foot temp fence with t posts work until processing?

 

[ronott1]

It has taken me a better part of this week to catch up to current events on this thread. I have gleaned information from this and a few other threads and websites (and the bad descriptions from my husband and friends) and finally given a go at my first process....

I did not take pictures as I was far to concentrated on the completion of the job. My morning had also been full of cleaning and repairing from a bear attack on some of our pullets.

Now that I think back on it we should have recorded it. We must have looked hilarious!!!! BUT there was a rhyme and reason for all of our decisions.

So to start I needed privacy. That ended us up in the garage. My husband REALLY didn't want "a massacre scene". HELLO either did I. We used a tall laundry basket, bolted a trimmed cone to it, put a huge rock in the bottom (heard they tip sometimes) then put in the contractor bag tucked under the cone. The cone goes 3/4 of the way into the laundry basket which was great because it limited our view of any eye contact! . Now since smell was a big concern we put on dust mask (my 15 year old daughter and I ) scented with a few drops of lemon essential oil. Gently placed him into the cone. DD tipped his neck and used a chefs knife (which is now in my handy dandy process tote) to slice the jugular. I realized at that moment that NONE of our readings had told us how long to let them bleed out....!!!! And after hearing of someone who had poop flying in the air I threw a towel over the basket for good measure. So we let the scalding pot get to temp (on the camping stove on the cement floor) and peeked into the basket and sure enough the blood flow had stopped. into the scalding pot. We were using the tip that when the wing feathers slide out get the bird out. We also had on thin disposable gloves. This really helped to distance myself a bit dulling touch and smell. It was GREAT! My daughter read the tutorial from my phone showing me pictures. I had a small table with a cutting board on it right next to the bleed out laundry basket. I just went from rubbing off the feathers ( i did get a bit frantic when the baby woke up and I heard him crying for me, i accidentally ripped off a wing trying to finish the wing feathers) removing crop head and neck, to legs at joints, to finding the entry of the cavity , cutting around the vent and carefully swiping it all out in one soft pull right into the basket. Then off to the adjoining laundry room to wash the bird. now he is resting in the spare fridge. Hosed the cone off in the side yard and stashed it in the back of the garden shed.

I am wondering how i will wash the cone bolted to the laundry basket in the winter if need be ( we get snow, snow, snow) but ill just have to work it out then. I am so blessed to have been given such encouragement and sound information . I am so relieved . I DID IT!!! my ds wanted to know where 'cockodoodle doo" went. The girls showed him and he wanted to put him in the oven right NOW.

Good Job and Congratulations!

Let us know if your

DS liked his chicken dinner.

 

[199787]

Please don't misunderstand. I appreciated you sharing your grandmother's story. When I said "gut punch," I meant it! That story literally gave me that OH CRAP feeling, thinking about our pet chicken problem from another perspective.

Growing up, my grandfather raised meat rabbits. As a kid I distinctly remember playing with bunnies - a lot. Every time I was at their house (which was pretty frequently), I wanted to play with my babies. Would you believe that I was in COLLEGE before I stopped to realize that the babies I played with all those times were not always the same ones? I was very sheltered as a child, but I understand that - from my grandfather's perspective - he was trying to shield me from pain (and himself from hysterical fits) - but I can't help but feel so silly to this day that I was so naive. I WISH those rabbits had been used as a teaching moment.

Now you wish for it, but then it might have caused you those hysterical fits you said your grandfather was worried about. I knew where my food came from and understood that. My dad hunted a lot, and we bought meat from local farms from animals I knew. I helped butcher deer, but I never forgot those dang bunnies. I couldn't raise bunnies for that now because of it I think. Just made me miserable thinking about their cute little cuddly bodies getting chopped up. Ugh! I mentioned to my husband once that raising bunnies is cheap and easy and tasty and he said NO WAY is he doing bunnies, lol. That's what I figured he'd say though. He grew up on a farm.