reflection of first time chx kill

[Dinogrrl]

Yeah the first time is always the hardest. I'm definitely an 'animal person', and my day job is a veterinary nurse. I'm kinda in the business of helping things NOT die! So yeah...even though I've processed over a dozen chickens within the past year, there's always that moment of heaviness when I go to end a life. It's not something I do lightly, and if it's not a quick death that makes it a lot harder to deal with. Like @Sussex19 said, it doesn't necessarily get easier the more you do it, but your hand gets steadier, you figure out the things that make the process go more to your ideal, you learn and move on to the next one.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

No, your post was definitely appreciated! And do you mean ordering both male and female meat birds? I ordered 6 straight run so I should be good I think!

I meant if you were to keep hens for eggs they do better with company.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

The cockerels do seem to size up a bit faster than the pullets but not to the point that I'd care much. If you were looking for size, order males. I just find it cheaper to haunt the TSC and Orscheln's near me for their castoff Cornish Xs, I got 24 last year for $12.

Around early August the TSC near me gets Cornish X. Stalk the stock frequently, allowing TSC to feed them, then swoop in at 1-2 wks old and purchase. Of course the drive and price if gas (90 miles round trip) outweighs the feed savings, but last year and certainly before that it seemed like a good idea.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

Yeah the first time is always the hardest. I'm definitely an 'animal person', and my day job is a veterinary nurse. I'm kinda in the business of helping things NOT die! So yeah...even though I've processed over a dozen chickens within the past year, there's always that moment of heaviness when I go to end a life. It's not something I do lightly, and if it's not a quick death that makes it a lot harder to deal with. Like @Sussex19 said, it doesn't necessarily get easier the more you do it, but your hand gets steadier, you figure out the things that make the process go more to your ideal, you learn and move on to the next one.

much appreciated.

 

[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

 

[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.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I've never seen CX sold as anything other than straight run

Some Hatcheries do because people either want giant birds (easier with males) or game hens (easier with females). Or rhey don't Gare and get st run/whichever is cheaper

 

[3KillerBs]

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.

As I've told my husband, you don't eat the antlers.

DH has never gotten a deer (possibly this fall we'll get some revenge for our devastated orchard), but I've often been given deer. Those trophy bucks are like venison-flavored chewing gum. Really suited for nothing but jerky or sausage.

 

[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.

 

[3KillerBs]

You can't manage a deer population by just taking bucks.

Amen.

Back in college ecology class my professor proved that, in the absence of other mortality factors, killing every adult, antlered buck in the herd every fall would result in the deer herd doubling in only a handful of years (I no longer remember the exact number), because without competition for food all winter the mature does would bear twins every year.