Should I involve my children in my first slaughter of roosters?

[shellyga]

My mothers philosophy was that you had to at least TRY IT.. if you didn't like, then you didn't have to eat. BUT there were no snacks after dinner if you didn't eat your supper.

I did have a cruel babysitter that made me eat pumpernickel bread..can't stand the smell of it to this day..
Shelly

 

[kla37]

Quote:
Forcing them to eat their veggies is probably child abuse too.

My kids think it's child abuse when the don't get dessert!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

You've already been given a lot of good advice, I bet you know what to do now. It is quite a departure for many folks raised in a modern urban setting to deliberately end the life of an animal they're not afraid of, disgusted or threatened by, one they know & may even be a bit fond of, just to feed themselves & their family. But once you learn how to process, you'll see that it doesn't have to frighten or hurt the animal (well, just a little bit right at the end). You may even get to the place where you can enjoy & handle your meat animals while they're young and still be able to dispatch them efficiently when it's their Time to Go.

And certainly, let them decide just how involved they wish to be with the actual processing, they may become more comfortable or curious as time goes by. Meanwhile, give them other chores to do while you're busy with the processing, either things that help with the processing (fetching tools, water, doing cleanup, etc) or chores around the house that you'll be too busy to do since you're preparing the meat for your table.

 

[speedy2020]

My did not want anything to do with it. My younger daughter wouldn't eat the egg if she know from our hen. She has no problem eating white egg purchased from Costco.

 

[Tiffrz-N-Kidz]

I read a book called "Coop" and the guy said that watching a (in his case, pig) slaughter is a fantastic opportunity for children as young as 6 to learn anatomy first hand. "Look, there's the stomach, and the lungs bring oxygen to the blood..." I could see my kids watching and learning from the eviceration portion, but I would probably have already dispatched the bird.

That said, I am not really set up to process here. There's a place south of town that is USDA inspected that will do it for $2 a bird. I am thinking that will be a fine investment. I do plan to ask if I can watch. I want to make sure they are treated humanely up to the end.