reflection of first time chx kill

[NorthwoodsChick]

When I made the decision to raise chickens my intent has always been to rotate hens every few years when egg production decreased and to allow then to brood chicks. The males would be processed.
The first batch of 11 chicks contained two cockerels, one intended, one not. The odd man out was a light brahma named Stewie. At 14 weeks he began challenging my bielefelder cockerel, Spatch and was becoming aggressive toward several pullets, caused an eye injury to one. I made the decision to cull him early. I have hunted and field dressed small and big game over many decades, but killing an animal I raised from infancy is quite different. I carried him to ‘the cone tree’ while telling him what a good little rooster he was, thanking him for his sacrifice and that I understood his behavior, his hormones, his role in life. He was indeed a great guardian of the flock but in the grand scheme of things he was meant for the table. The knife found it’s mark. I’d like to say it was a clean one cut kill; it was not. After 15 or so seconds I realized he was opening his eyes, looked at me. So sorry, Stewie. I immediately severed the head and it was done. One shudder and then he was still.
I thanked God for providing me opportunity to give Stewie a good, albeit short, life, and for the opportunity to learn the practice of processing food for my family. I am a better person today than I was yesterday because of this.
Thanks for reading.

 

[3KillerBs]

telling him what a good little rooster he was, thanking him for his sacrifice and that I understood his behavior, his hormones, his role in life. He was indeed a great guardian of the flock but in the grand scheme of things he was meant for the table.

*nods*

I talk to my culls that way too. It just seems appropriate to acknowledge that killing a chicken isn't the same thing as picking a tomato.

A good life and as quick and painless an end as I can manage. Then the respect of using every bit of the bird that I can manage.

 

[Coops Dad]

I can't count the number of chickens and turkeys I've processed and I'll tell you one thing- the act gets easier (or at least more familiar) but the acknowledgement of the sacrifice remains as deep as it was the first time - maybe deeper, in some ways. You can never look at leftovers the same way once you've killed an animal to become your nourishment. Every morsel represents the life force that you ended and, to waste even a bit seems sacrilegious.

Unless someone has drawn the knife for their sustenance, you can't explain the bond you form with the animal when the blade finds its home. The act requires reflection and prayers of thanksgiving.

I don't know how others feel about it but I have a special affection for my meat birds and turkeys because I know why they're here and where they're going.

 

[Molpet]

Yeah I thought since I hunt it would be similar to dispatch a chicken...... It's not

The first one every year seems to be difficult still.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

I can't count the number of chickens and turkeys I've processed and I'll tell you one thing- the act gets easier (or at least more familiar) but the acknowledgement of the sacrifice remains as deep as it was the first time - maybe deeper, in some ways. You can never look at leftovers the same way once you've killed an animal to become your nourishment. Every morsel represents the life force that you ended and, to waste even a bit seems sacrilegious.

Unless someone has drawn the knife for their sustenance, you can't explain the bond you form with the animal when the blade finds its home. The act requires reflection and prayers of thanksgiving.

I don't know how others feel about it but I have a special affection for my meat birds and turkeys because I know why they're here and where they're going.

well said and very much appreciated. WhennI hunt for big game I only release an arrow for a certain kill..no maybes. I have watched huge bucks walk past quartering away, I’m not in the sport of wounding or causing suffering. The Lord lets me know when to fire..and I have not found Him to be wrong yet

 

[Ridgerunner]

I like deer hunters that harvest does. If a deer herd gets overpopulated you can have a lot of problems: disease, overgrazing, more road kill, and such. Harvesting a buck removes one deer. Harvesting a does removes her and the two fawn she will probably raise the next year. You can't manage a deer population by just taking bucks.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

Thanks for sharing your experience! I will be raising meat birds for the first time later this year, and I anticipate having similar emotions to yours when it comes time for the kill. Although unlike you, I do not hunt and this will be my first actual kill. This will also be my first time raising baby chicks, so it will be hard not to get attached. I may get a layer chick or two when I get the meat birds just so I have someone to get attached to and channel my motherly instinct toward lol.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

If you do, get at least 2 to raise together and introduce to the flock together. A single bird would be lonely growing up.

Thanks! I will get 2 then. Now that I think of it, I did order the "meal maker" free chick from Meyer with my order and they told me it would be a layer. Then I'll just grab a bin chick while I'm there. They will be in the brooder with the Cornish X until the Cornish go outside at 3 weeks. So you're right, it would be better to have 2 layers for when the others move outdoors.

 

[Coops Dad]

well said and very much appreciated. WhennI hunt for big game I only release an arrow for a certain kill..no maybes. I have watched huge bucks walk past quartering away, I’m not in the sport of wounding or causing suffering. The Lord lets me know when to fire..and I have not found Him to be wrong yet

That's how I hunt, too, except I'll let the big boys walk past in the hopes that a fat two year old will be tagging along behind. Or a fat doe, if it's the season.

On pig hunts, I always ignore the big tuskers and go for fat young sows... and, if there's a way I can put a couple of weanlings in the cooler, I count the day as particularly blessed.

So far, I've never lost an animal except for one coyote who was on a dead sprint toward a hole in the fence and I took a 50-yard shot with a Commander 1911. I found a healthy blood trail but not the coyote. I don't take less than sure shots at game animals but vermin go by different rules.

 

[Morrigan]

It's not only hard to kill a chicken you have cared for, but for me.......it's also hard to eat it. Because as I sit down at the table, the face and body of that bird appear before me.

The first few times processing chickens, we put them in the freezer for several weeks, maybe even a few months, before eating them. The passage of time helped, as well as the intermingling of the chickens in the freezer, so I didn't know who was who when I pulled one out.

Now, I'm fine with eating a butchered chicken after the standard 2-3 day rest period in the fridge. I just got more comfortable with the entire process as well as knowing that, if I'm to eat meat, this was a preferable way of going about it. At this point, I find supermarket chickens hard to eat -- less tasty and I know their lives weren't the best.