suburban meat birds

[Dinogrrl]

Man I wish my yard was big enough to do something like that with! Also if there wasn't a slope taking up half the backyard, that'd be helpful.

 

[3KillerBs]

Man I wish my yard was big enough to do something like that with! Also if there wasn't a slope taking up half the backyard, that'd be helpful.

We've got 3 acres on our country property.

My Sister-in-Law has the front portion, we're putting our house in the middle, and the lowest third is woodland.

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

I live in a suburban neighborhood, I've got three chickens right now, a laying hen and two pullets. My county allows backyard poultry with a license, and my HOA's wording on outside pets is vague (they say 'no livestock raised for commercial purposes' well...mine are for personal use ). My surrounding neighbors all find my chickens rather amusing so I don't fear them trying to cause trouble by calling Animal Control or anything.

I am interested in raising some broilers for myself. I am definitely not looking to have a big operation going, more like just a few birds once or twice a year as I'm able. My yard isn't really big enough to support more than that, and I work full-time so that limits my ability to do these things.

The whole process of butchering birds looks like something I can handle. My biggest concern is that as much as my neighbors will leave each other well enough alone, I have a feeling that if they see me slaughtering chickens in my backyard there's going to be trouble. Is there anyone here who has processed broilers in a similar setting? I do have a patio with an awning that I could enclose in a tarp so the neighbors wouldn't have to see, but I'm sure that's just as suspicious. Or do I need to find someone to lend me space for a day where prying eyes are less likely?

all i know, is i would definitely have a problem with my neighbor killing animals so close by

 

[3KillerBs]

all i know, is i would definitely have a problem with my neighbor killing animals so close by

Why?

Do you eat meat?

Anyone who eats meat needs to face the fact that someone somewhere did butcher that animal whether you saw it happen or didn't.

 

[Dinogrrl]

@Duck mommy 2019 I know some people don't want to see or be a part of butchering animals, and that's fine. That's why I'm looking for other people's experiences with doing this in a somewhat confined setting.
If I find a way to do this that keeps it out of sight from my neighbors, then how would they ever know it even happened? Other than the obvious, one day I have a few chickens in the yard and the next they're gone. Then, what's the difference between saying I butchered them myself on my own property, or I took them to another location to do it, or that I shipped them off to a processor to do it for me? Is it secondhand attachment to someone else's animal? (which I do understand, I'm a vet tech and there are lots of animals that aren't mine that I have a great deal of secondhand attachment to!)

I'm not trying to be rude or sarcastic, your post is exactly one of the reasons I started my thread. I don't want to scare or upset my neighbors, especially the little kids, and if there's concerns I can take into consideration before I go further with this idea, better now than after I've ordered chicks!

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

Why?

Do you eat meat?

Anyone who eats meat needs to face the fact that someone somewhere did butcher that animal whether you saw it happen or didn't.

i’m slowly becoming vegan, i would be fully vegan already but i’m still a kid and live with my parents

 

[Duck mommy 2019]

@Duck mommy 2019 I know some people don't want to see or be a part of butchering animals, and that's fine. That's why I'm looking for other people's experiences with doing this in a somewhat confined setting.
If I find a way to do this that keeps it out of sight from my neighbors, then how would they ever know it even happened? Other than the obvious, one day I have a few chickens in the yard and the next they're gone. Then, what's the difference between saying I butchered them myself on my own property, or I took them to another location to do it, or that I shipped them off to a processor to do it for me? Is it secondhand attachment to someone else's animal? (which I do understand, I'm a vet tech and there are lots of animals that aren't mine that I have a great deal of secondhand attachment to!)

I'm not trying to be rude or sarcastic, your post is exactly one of the reasons I started my thread. I don't want to scare or upset my neighbors, especially the little kids, and if there's concerns I can take into consideration before I go further with this idea, better now than after I've ordered chicks!

i definitely wouldn’t let kids play with the chickens if they live near you, my old neighbors have a baby and when we moved she really missed the ducks

 

[3KillerBs]

i’m slowly becoming vegan, i would be fully vegan already but i’m still a kid and live with my parents

The meat bird forum is probably not a good place for you then. It's the place where we talk about chickens as food and how to convert them from live birds to dinner table delicacies.

 

[Molpet]

i’m slowly becoming vegan, i would be fully vegan already but i’m still a kid and live with my parents

Ummm why are you in the meat bird forum?

 

[Dinogrrl]

@Duck mommy 2019 The kids don't play with my chickens. They just watch them through my fence, it's not a privacy fence so they can see the chickens walking around.

But anyway, if the issues you have with chicken processing are a matter of personal ethics or whatever you wish to call it, then that's really not something I can account for other than just doing it in a manner that's as unobtrusive as possible, which was my plan anyway.