should i let my chickens die naturally?

[Tilhana]

I did a pescatarian diet for about 20 years while I was practicing Buddhism. But my son is a hunter and it forced me to think a lot about my reasons for that. Growing up on a small farm, I had to help butcher cows and I always felt like they at least got a good life before they became meat. Same for squirrels or deer that are hunted for their meat. I realized my issues had more to do with my dismay about commercial farming practices and the horror of the lives of cows on CAFOs and de-beaked chickens in tiny cages. I am now etchially comfortable with eating meat from humanely raised animals and buy from local farms. A farmer recently commented to me that the cows only had one bad day in their life. I told that to my son and he said that for cows on CAFOs, that day was probably the best day of their lives. That’s what I can’t live with - knowingly participating in commercial farming that keeps animals in abject misery. So when we get the house built andI can start raising chickens, I am comfortable with the idea of treating them well and then killing them for their meat.

I totally agree, I had a similar journey. My vegetarianism was mostly a reaction to learning about industrial farming practices. Once I started homesteading and learning more about the movement and having to seek out ethical sources of meat for my family, I started having to reevaluate my reasons for abstaining and realized I didnt' really have a problem eating meat that's ethically sourced. I've also heard that saying about farm animals having just "one bad day", although some have amended it to two for some of the males that get castrated :-/, but that's still a lot better than the life of the average CAFO resident.

 

[Tilhana]

how did you euthanize it? we have to use the axe due to no vets see birds here.

When I've butchered, I hang them upside down by their feet from a tree branch (or you can spring for or make a killing cone which is a little neater), which calms them down because the blood rushes to their head. Then I use a sharp knife to cut the jugular vein on either side, and they pass out within a few seconds and bleed out in a matter of minutes. Might be a little less traumatic than trying to hold them down for an axe, but some people say it doesn't make much difference. I would never take a bird to a vet. Vets are way expensive and my hens are livestock, not pets.

 

[Aapomp831]

Euthanizing to the back of the head can sometimes be a mistake.. I've done it. Dog to chicken.. What if...? Had I known what I do now, I may have been able to save them.. or maybe just a little too trigger happy. Sometimes patience is the best medicine, just wait it

Ok, this is a bit of crazy talk. The rabbits in my backyard have no ethical problem with stealing the vegetables in my garden or just tearing it apart for sport. The cabbage cutworms don’t care either. We all have to eat something or we will die. Whatever you choose to consume, being thankful is the first step. Food decisions are a luxury for those who have enough to eat.

No but the point is that everything living has value and should be respected, but we all have to eat things that are alive, so we should not act as if animals have some exhalted position that makes them exempt from being eaten just because they are more like us than plants are.

This is ridiculous. The point is ridiculous. This whole thread is becoming ridiculous.

 

[Tilhana]

As Humans we Must raise food to live , So rising an animal to Senior Citizenship is not Natural it is Selfish to do and must be avoided , to euthanize an Animal that could have feed a Human or even another Animal is not "The Way".

I don't see how it's selfish to not cull an aging animal. Chickens are still useful after they've stopped producing eggs, for example; you can use them for prepping garden beds or for pest control or for their social role as seniors in the flock. Or they can just be pets. If someone wants to keep an animal despite it not being "useful" what harm does that do? Is it wrong to keep dogs and cats as pets?

And if euthanizing an animal that "could have fed a human or another animal" is wrong, then isn't it just as bad to embalm human corpses and bury them in wooden boxes or cremate them, when they could have been left in the woods to be eaten by animals? Or do humans have a privileged status? And if you believe the latter, then what about euthanizing pets? Should a sick cat be culled and thrown in the woods for the wild animals to eat? Just wondering where the line is.

 

[writerskramp]

This is ridiculous. The point is ridiculous. This whole thread is becoming ridiculous.

My friend.. No it is not.. Every life is worth respect.. Just because you have to eat and God set it up this way.. Doesn't mean we have to disrespect life.. As a combatant, I've never enjoyed dispatching and enemy.. Though will admit, sometimes there was a certain amount of satisfaction. Though that has faded.. Night screams and punching out your significant other in your sleep, nor throttling your young son, because he woke you from a sound sleep is no excuse.. Life such's and then you end up on somebodies dinner table. Respect the life you take to feed your family.. Please

 

[Tilhana]

You have proved my point.. you just don't know it.. and likely never will in this life.

But you could argue either way. Is it worse to kill a suffering animal that might want to fight on to the bitter end, or to let a suffering animal die slowly, against its wishes, because you're afraid they might not want you to? You're right, you can't know. But I think it has to be a judgement call, because either way there's a 50/50 chance of being wrong, and either way you're causing more suffering if you're wrong. So you have to go with your instincts or your intuition or whatever you're comfortable with. But I don't think you can condemn someone for making a different choice than you would in a similar situation.

 

[writerskramp]

But you could argue either way. Is it worse to kill a suffering animal that might want to fight on to the bitter end, or to let a suffering animal die slowly, against its wishes, because you're afraid they might not want you to? You're right, you can't know. But I think it has to be a judgement call, because either way there's a 50/50 chance of being wrong, and either way you're causing more suffering if you're wrong. So you have to go with your instincts or your intuition or whatever you're comfortable with. But I don't think you can condemn someone for making a different choice than you would in a similar situation.

I condemn none.. That is not my job. I have made mistakes in my past.. I could have tried.. Instead I put them down out of my ignorance.. of which I have regrets.. "Dying in your bed many years from now.."

 

[Tilhana]

I condemn none.. That is not my job. I have made mistakes in my past.. I could have tried.. Instead I put them down out of my ignorance.. of which I have regrets.. "Dying in your bed many years from now.."

Condemn, judge, whatever verb you want to ascribe to asserting that it's wrong to euthanize a suffering animal. Of course, it's hypocritical of me to say that it's a personal decision and thus either answer is valid, yet also assert that it's wrong to condemn someone for disagreeing with you. I suppose it's equally valid to say that euthanizing is never ok if that's your opinion. I guess I just feel that if your argument is that you can never know what the suffering animal really wants, then you can't also assert that it's always wrong to end their life, because, as you already pointed out, you could be wrong in assuming their preference.

 

[Aapomp831]

My friend.. No it is not.. Every life is worth respect.. Just because you have to eat and God set it up this way.. Doesn't mean we have to disrespect life.. As a combatant, I've never enjoyed dispatching and enemy.. Though will admit, sometimes there was a certain amount of satisfaction. Though that has faded.. Night screams and punching out your significant other in your sleep, nor throttling your young son, because he woke you from a sound sleep is no excuse.. Life such's and then you end up on somebodies dinner table. Respect the life you take to feed your family.. Please

God??? Lol, sorry. That’s where you lose me.

 

[Aapomp831]

God??? Lol, sorry. That’s where you lose me.

By the way, when did I ever say I didn’t respect life? I respect it more that your so called god.... seriously. I take very good care of my animals and I eat food. I respect farmers and ecological, sustainable farming practices but I’m not going to respect my produce food as if it has feelings. That’s ridiculous - end of story.