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

[undine]

Ooops.. Wrong quote LOL it was meant for the video

 

[Beekissed]

Omg.. i have two roosters that were supposed to be pullets.. and all my chickens are raised as pets so thers a lot of emotional attachment. Roosters arent allowed in the city so SOMEHOW i have to do something. I CANT dare to even think of doing that to my chicken...that "yelp" from one of the first chicken that got its neck slashed.. omg T_T Also for SURE id rather do it myself than give them away and have others do it BUT i still cant even think thati can do that to them LOL.. Sigh.. the contradictions

For the record, Salatin's birds show a lot more stress at processing time because they are really slinging some meat...speed is the issue when you have an assembly line and tons of birds to kill. In a home processing situation things slow way down, my birds don't yelp when they are cut and they don't take near as long as Salatin's to bleed out and stop moving. It's all very calm, quiet and business-like...but without the need for speed and slinging birds into cones. I don't get in a hurry and the birds don't get tossed around or jerked quickly in one direction and then another. They wait quietly, they might get a little excited when picked up and hung upside down...for a few seconds... then they hang still and are placed in the cone. They can't move much there and so they hang quiet and are cut quickly...there is no sound except the dribble of blood on the ground. Then some movement as the heart stops, then nothing.

You can make the experience calm and peaceful, or you can put as much stress or drama into as you wish...but there is a definite choice and only you can make it.

 

[Elke Beck]

Omg.. i have two roosters that were supposed to be pullets.. and all my chickens are raised as pets so thers a lot of emotional attachment. Roosters arent allowed in the city so SOMEHOW i have to do something. I CANT dare to even think of doing that to my chicken...that "yelp" from one of the first chicken that got its neck slashed.. omg T_T Also for SURE id rather do it myself than give them away and have others do it BUT i still cant even think thati can do that to them LOL.. Sigh.. the contradictions

undine, I am in the LA area, and I am going to be processing a rooster soon. If you want to bring your roosters over to my place the day I am processing, I can help you.

 

[undine]

undine, I am in the LA area, and I am going to be processing a rooster soon. If you want to bring your roosters over to my place the day I am processing, I can help you.

Awww, thanks =), but my silkie rooster is still only just 6 weeks old. Although my easter egger is 10 weeks and i still wanna hold onto him for as long as i can even though its probably not going to help me...itll acutally make the whole emotional attachment even worse. Itd be helpful if someone did show me how its done though =\ AND wouldnt mind me bawling all over the place haha

 

[aoxa]

WOW! Mega great pics!!! I always love your photography and this series is great...especially the one with the dog!

Good processing! The birds look excellent with just the right amount of fat under the skin. Great job, Aoxa!

Nice work. You always were the best at good research, documentation and advice~

Thanks guys My friend Camille took the pictures with my camera, as I was very hands on here.

Did I mention the weights? The largest was 6 pounds processed, and the smallest around 4.5 pounds. All were girls but three. I kept two girls alive.

I took a video of the birds right before processing with Henry. I need to load it to Youtube so I can share here, but it is on my farm page on facebook. You can see how they were active and healthy right until the end.

 

[3 NH reds]

undine, I am in the LA area, and I am going to be processing a rooster soon. If you want to bring your roosters over to my place the day I am processing, I can help you.

Good of you to offer this. First time is hard and someone with experience is a plus

Awww, thanks =), but my silkie rooster is still only just 6 weeks old. Although my easter egger is 10 weeks and i still wanna hold onto him for as long as i can even though its probably not going to help me...itll acutally make the whole emotional attachment even worse. Itd be helpful if someone did show me how its done though =\ AND wouldnt mind me bawling all over the place haha

Let Elkie help you, it may be tough but you can do this. Once you get the first time over it gets better.

 

[aoxa]

Let Elkie help you, it may be tough but you can do this. Once you get the first time over it gets better.

For sure!

 

[jajeanpierre]

undine, I am in the LA area, and I am going to be processing a rooster soon. If you want to bring your roosters over to my place the day I am processing, I can help you.

Undine, I wish someone had made that offer to me! I would have been there in a heart beat. I suggest you go and watch, just make sure it is safe. You can't be too careful meeting strangers on the internet. (Elke, please don't take it personally--there are wackos out there and they do trick people.)

 

[jajeanpierre]

Awww, thanks =), but my silkie rooster is still only just 6 weeks old. Although my easter egger is 10 weeks and i still wanna hold onto him for as long as i can even though its probably not going to help me...itll acutally make the whole emotional attachment even worse. Itd be helpful if someone did show me how its done though =\ AND wouldnt mind me bawling all over the place haha

Undine, one thing I did when it became obvious which were cockerels was to distance myself emotionally from them. They were in a pen away from the other chickens (simply because that's where the pen was) and I didn't see them much. I cared for them, I let them free range in the yard but I didn't treat them like pets or think about their personalities. And, yes, it broke my heart when they all scampered up the way only a Silkie can scamper, when I went in the back yard. I saved the "pet" mentality for the chickens I knew were going to stay with me or be rehomed into another home that wanted pet pullets. If you live in an area that does not allow roosters, they will have to be slaughtered. Finding a home for a rooster is really rare. They can't be surgically altered to remove their crow believe me, I asked an avian vet about it. They are destined to not live very long.

You have lots of time to find peace with that, but if roosters are not allowed,you basically have until their first crow.

I really don't like the idea of taking a life, but I have chosen to eat some meat, so some animals die for me whether I participate directly in that death or not. I just believe that if I am a true animal lover, that I will give the meat I eat a good life and at most a minute of not-so-good a life. BeeKissed is right--it doesn't have to be stressful.

Didn't your family slaughter some meat chickens? Did you send them away to be processed?

 

[Kassaundra]

Undine, one thing I did when it became obvious which were cockerels was to distance myself emotionally from them. They were in a pen away from the other chickens (simply because that's where the pen was) and I didn't see them much. I cared for them, I let them free range in the yard but I didn't treat them like pets or think about their personalities. And, yes, it broke my heart when they all scampered up the way only a Silkie can scamper, when I went in the back yard. I saved the "pet" mentality for the chickens I knew were going to stay with me or be rehomed into another home that wanted pet pullets. If you live in an area that does not allow roosters, they will have to be slaughtered. Finding a home for a rooster is really rare. They can't be surgically altered to remove their crow believe me, I asked an avian vet about it. They are destined to not live very long.

You have lots of time to find peace with that, but if roosters are not allowed,you basically have until their first crow.

I really don't like the idea of taking a life, but I have chosen to eat some meat, so some animals die for me whether I participate directly in that death or not. I just believe that if I am a true animal lover, that I will give the meat I eat a good life and at most a minute of not-so-good a life. BeeKissed is right--it doesn't have to be stressful.

Didn't your family slaughter some meat chickens? Did you send them away to be processed?

Yes they can be surgically altered in two ways, there is a procedure a Vet here in Oklahoma does to "decrow" a rooster, and he learned it from a vet in Arizona. The OK vet has invented better tools and has had much success, even success in shipping around the country peoples pet roos to him, he does the procedure and then ships them back. The ones who have done it report awesome results.

The other way is through caponizing, or "neutering" once a roo that has never crowed is caponized he does not start crowing, if he already crows he may stop entirely, and if he does not it is not as vocal or often, not w/ any "gusto" at all. He will continue to grow the rooster feathers and look, but will not be interested in mating and will be sterile.

Both procedures are very safe when done by someone who knows what they are doing. My caponizing mentor has done several hundred ranging from 4 weeks to 1 year old w/ only 1 loss. I have done around 20 w/ no losses.