Suggestions, Help or Insight??

[Jacky'sMamma]

We just got our first layers 7 weeks ago and I have not purchased the meat birds yet and have no experience with them but I am learning so much:

~Have a butcher that will dress, bag and ice them in my cooler for $2.50/bird

~Feed store has Cornish X right now for 1.30/chick

~Learning alot from the forum here


::en the REAL lesson came:::

The kids have informed me that if I get meat birds, they will not eat them!?!?!

They have become so attached to the layers in 7 short weeks that they can't imagine eating chickies. I asked "what about the chickens in the store!?!" My 16 year old told me that he had not been personally introduced to them!
I grew up in Missouri and watched Dad and Uncles slaughter pigs, deer and all other kinds of things that are tasty. But my kids have grown up in the suburbs of California!

Do any of you have experiences to share along these lines??

Heather

 

[mom wewantchicks!]

we accidently(as new to chicks!) bought 2 cornish x's well after lots of advice and consideration we decided we would butcher them. i thought i would be fine, hubby hunts all the time. i thought the kids would freak out. we explained it to them, telling them it was what the chicks where made for, and they wouldnt have a healthy or very good life. well to keep the kidos from getting to attached i feed and carred for the 2 chicks thier whole 9 week on earth. we butchered them and all was fine. but when we went to eat them it was me, not the kids that couldnt do it! i almost gagged! i will blame it on the fact i had 2 not 20. if id had to take care of 20 of those dirty little things im sure it would have been different!

 

[SueNH]

I have a teenage daughter who won't eat them either. I've even tried slipping it in unannounced. She can immediately pick it out in the plate. It's simple... she eats what I cook or not. She won't starve.

She says she won't eat anybody she knew. I counter with how can you eat somebody you didn't know. I suppose I could sit her down and force her to watch one of those videos with the poor battery hens or KFC but figured she will eventually come around on her own. No need to traumatize the kid and filling up on broccoli isn't a bad thing.

 

[hensdeliverthegoods]

Quote:
You are a very sensible Mom...

I agree, no need to force the kids, and they just may come around if you don't let them spend time with the meat birds.

 

[greyfields]

Homegrown meat is "icky" to them, accept it. At their age, they are more interested in McDonald's, fast food and junk food. I think it takes young adults awhile to develop a palate and discerning taste... usually after going to college and getting to try different ethnic foods. So, I would say, someday the chickens will come home to roost. But for now, I wouldn't push the issues.

A lot of chicken raisers have similar issues with their kids going vegetarian after owning chickens as 'pets'.

 

[Peruvian]

mom,wewantchicks! :

but when we went to eat them it was me, not the kids that couldnt do it! i almost gagged! i will blame it on the fact i had 2 not 20. if id had to take care of 20 of those dirty little things im sure it would have been different!

I agree completely with this. Our young girls thought they would have a problem, but with 2 dozen stinky birds, they can't get too attached to any one of them. The only names we've given were as jokes - Cacciatore, Pot Pie, Dumpling, etc. Of course since you can't tell one from the other they all get renamed the next day!!​

 

[silkiechicken]

Just do it for yourself then and on the nights you cook them, they get to eat veggies and rice without their meat. If they want meat, they'll have to eat the birds

 

[chiknwhisperer]

I have 19 Cornish Xs and my four boys haven't said if they will or won't eat them. I'm waiting to get a flat out no from at least one of them. I guess he will be eating veggies for awhile lol. We have some store bought chicken in the frezzer since our birds our just over a week old. So I could let them think that the chicken is from the store for awhile.

 

[Sonia]

we have 19 red bros. Amazingly the kids play with them and help me care for them.....but my 10 yo wants to help me butcher them! My 11 yo volunteered to pluck.....I'm amazed. I asked them if they might have a hard time eating them after all this and they said' No Mom....we know that we gave them good lives while they are here.'

OMG! Can it be that they finally listened to me about something?? Time will tell I guess.

 

[SueNH]

I came pretty darn close to veggie when I was a kid. I was in first grade, maybe second grade and in a summer rec. program done by the school. They took us on a field trip to the LI duckling processing plant. Went right through from start to finish. I won't eat duck to this day. Most of the kids won't still. Lot of them quit on meat altogether. More of a high school trip in my mind. Nothing wrong at all with knowing where your food comes from but 6 and 7 year olds aren't ready to see the still fuzzy yellow ducks meet their maker.

Could be the reason I won't go the video route with my kid. Unnecessary violence. Could backfire completely.

A Big Mac works better on my daughters hips than mine anyhow. Once upon a time I could eat tons of junk and not suffer too.

I fully admit still can't kill. My husband does it. Once it's a carcass I can hop in and help. There is no panic with the birds. I actually feel better knowing there was no unkindness.

I think my daughter gave the McNuggets food and water twice the whole summer. She didn't interact much.