should I eat my kids pets?

[gaberdeen]

Well being a bumbling idiot I walked into tsc at Easter and came home with 6 chicks for my daughter. Not knowing jack about chickens then I came home with 5 cornish x and one rir (which was the last one they had). Needless to say after discovering BYC and doing some reading I was none to happy to discover my boneheadedness. Now I just got 4 easter eggers from My Pet Chicken and really for space considerations should get rid of the Cornishes (as well as they dont live that long and have health issues). So originally I was gonna let the raccoons have em but ethically the more I consider it the more I can't do that. So common people and talk me into eating my daughters pets.

Gary:

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

yes you should

one big reason NOT to just let them go to the coons.. they racoons will figure out where the food is and then you are really in for trouble.

or you can just put an ad on craigslist and someone like me will come and get them

;-)

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

Ok here it goes: eat them. LOL Or sell them to someone who will..but letting the predators get them is kinda..well, mean (i know you aren't gonna do this).

They are going to likely die sometime soon after they are over 12-14 weeks old anyway. If i were you after feeding them to plumpness I would not consider anything but butchering and eating them myself. The one question is: Can your kids handle it?

 

[gaberdeen]

I think I will tell my daughter that they are going to live on a friends farm( who really does have some egg chickens). Then I will process them while she is in school or summer camp and yes I know in my heart I couldn't let them just go to the coons.

 

[cackle]

Quote:
my father use to do the same thing with the Easter ducks we would drag in from the 5 and dime even after we were told not to. he would swear he gave them to some farmer and then a few weeks later we had fresh duck for dinner.

 

[austin12895]

Quote:
They die when they are 12-14 weeks old?!?!?!?! HOLY WOW!! i thought the live longer than that!!! lol

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

Quote:
They die when they are 12-14 weeks old?!?!?!?! HOLY WOW!! i thought the live longer than that!!! lol

LOL no, sorry I guess I was not clear. Cornish X don't normally live a healthy life after a few months old due to their high rate of growth and how hard it is on them to maintain their bulk and internal organs are very stressed. It is possible for them to live a lot longer than I said...but not likely. Many die of conjestive heart failure after three to four months old.

 

[Mahonri]

They'll be delicious!

 

[danielbrown]

I'm guessing your meaties are 7-8wks old now?
They get processed at 6-10wks.
It's probably a good idea that your little girl not know that shes eating former pets.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Cornish Xs are 'way too deeeelicious to feed to raccoons! Their whole purpose in life is to be welcome dinner guests. It's like growing a perfect tomato to plump ripeness and then failing to pick & eat it because you're too fond of it as a pet.

Whether or not you tell your daughter the whole truth about their departure, and/or if you bring them back to your own table, is up to you as the parent to decide. There has been discussion on this topic here in the past. How old is your daughter? Is she really attatched to these birds as pets? I thought my Cornish Xs were repulsive & reptilian, is your daughter still fond of these birds now that they're not cute lil' fuzzy chicks? Is she more delighted with your new chickens?

You could process them yourself, take them to a professional processor, or give/sell them to someone who will process them. But NOT to a raccoon!