tell me how your kids handle eating chickens that used to be pets.

[Charles07]

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X2

All great advice. I have nothing to add.

 

[booker81]

I grew up on a farm, we had chickens, ducks and geese. Our chicken came from our farm. Our beef came from "Uncle Dick's" farm (family friend). Our pork came from our neighbor's farm. That's where meat came from.

I grew up eating that meat, and when I got older and we started eating store meat, well, it ain't the same. Store meat, to me, isn't the most appetizing thing....I buy it because it's a foodstuff. We are working our way back - buying farm pork, hunting deer and waterfowl for red meat, eating chickens here. My daughter is growing up now knowing that we kill animals and eat them. We better take care of those animals though, because we take care of our food, just like we take care of the garden for our food.

It's a mindset that you either have or don't have - where does your meat come from? The store, or an animal? I do think kids learn it a lot easier - they don't have decades of a mindset notion that meat comes from a store.

 

[Suechick]

Thank you for you stories and advice.
Can anyone tell me where I might find some good articles about factory farming?
I will get a copy of Food Inc. to watch together, isn't there another movie that came out a few years back that exposes some food industry issues?

donrae - I like your idea of having some meaties separate from the layers. I'm not sure about how to do this as our yard is postage stamp sized and I don't know if my hubby will go for it... maybe in the spring.

 

[Olive Hill]

Barbara Kingslover's Animal Vegetable Miracle would be a good book that your family could read together.

Another thing you might consider is going on local harvest and finding a poultry farm in your area that will let you come to the farm and visit. You can take the kids to see the chickens, buy one or two while you're there and then go home and cook them up. Seeing the chickens with their own two eyes and then eating a chicken from that farm will help them make the connection before having to do so with chicken they've raised. And talking to the farmer will give them the opportunity to ask questions of someone other than "mom" since sometimes they listen better to others.

 

[ZuulLanceMaster]

i get why it would be good to eat my chickens, i would be horrified if my dad killed them!!!!!
i don't think that it would be wise to eat the ones that you have (cause of your kids) ..... but you can let them keep a few chickens from the flock as pets, and sell the rest. then, start w/fresh chickens (w/out letting them get attached) and eat THOSE. (assuming that your chickens are past the laying date)

 

[ZuulLanceMaster]

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AWESOME!!!!

 

[ZuulLanceMaster]

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smart!

 

[Suechick]

Olive Hill - That sounds like a perfect introduction for the kids. I'm pretty sure there is a farm about 20 minutes from us. I'll look into it.

Sue

 

[RedfogsFlock]

My DH & I have 6 kids. Our youngest is 8. Last weekend was his first experience with the whole thing. First when we bought the animals we explained to him Chickens A & B are for their eggs so we will name them & they are not food. Chickens B & C are food & therefore we are only here to feed & care for them until they are ready for the freezer.

When it come time to do the turkeys we let our son watch, & answered any questions he had. He did ask believe me. We were honest with him & everything was done in a matter of fact way. We let him help carry the birds, and dunk them, and even pull the innards out. He never cried, nor freaked out. When we were all done, he said hey we worked as a team & did a job well done!

Kids are smarter than some give them credit for. I feel that if you don't make a huge deal out of something neither will they. It's worked for us so far!

Just the other day we discovered that one of our rabbits was a boy & he was supposed to be a she. I was telling my husband this & our son pipes off with "Well since she's a boy we can eat him, & can we eat the white one? I'm kind of liking the tan one!" It's all about the comprimise,

I agree it's all in the mindset.

 

[Ibicella]

Don't feed them the ones that are pets. Let those be pets and don't eat them.

Get new chickens, and be very clear with the kids that they are not to play with them or name them, and what they are going to be used for. The others have hit the nail on the head about mindset.