They Don't Want to Be Eaten!

[nok13]

Both ideas sound great. They just don't work: cassie, i live on kibbutz. trust me, the idea is still alive, and works mostly, apart from natural human glitches/human nature. we get money according to lenght of time we have been members, how many children we have, what ages they are, special needs, elderly, health needs, marriage status, and every case that is different then the regulations gets a hearing/meeting and a decision is made for the specific case. so it mostly does work. though there are some parasite types, and some 'users' and some that are 'givers' and make do...

i understand completely about eating them. i have had four chickens that i have been calling them shnitzels for obvious reasons. i have raised goats and eaten the male kids. however, i didnt do the slaughtering. and we had a rule, never name the food. or name them food names. t-bone, steak, makluba. no petting and playing with food. (female kids are pets. males are food); same for the shnitzels. except that this time round, hubby is refusing to do the slaughtering. (he is thai, son of hunters, all thais eat meat regardless of their animistic/buddhist religious backgrounds. but not all will slaughter.) so i said i will. but, they run to me when i come to feed them. they LOOK at me. so i wont be able to do the deed. i may have to give them to someone to do it for me, or they will have to start laying eggs.

a 6 year old might also say yes, but when the time comes, might have a change of heart. i agree that children should absolutely know where there meat and eggs and milk come from (i am a minority in this thought here in israel, people get upset with me about that, my own kids have for various reasons become mostly vegetarian (two will eat maet if it doesnt 'look at them, or seem ot be a body part, which is whay shnitzel is a fvorite meat cut here.)
you might want to consider what my finnish ex sister in law says they used to do with the family pig for chirstmas: exchange with an other family. each one would trade so that u didnt have to eat your own home grown animal/ the other possibility is to right away (if u sexed the chicks) give him the hens as pets and the males as pure: feed them and leave them projects.

 

[swift4me]

I'm amazed at the need to jump through hoops about an issue like this.

I'm not saying you should drag your child and his favorite hen out to the shed and have at it, but you can talk to your child on a serious basis about eating and things living or dying. If you can't talk about something as simple as that to a child, how can you really talk to them about serious issues like sex, drugs, drinking, debt, personal responsibility when they are older.

If you teach them when they are young, they will be miles ahead of the rest of the mindless "anything goes" kids they grow up around these days who do little but look at their smartphones waiting for the next redeeming text from a "friend".

When I trap here, and I get a fox that had been killing chickens at a local farm, the kids come out and clap and yell. When a pig or a lamb gets slaughtered, they aren't forced to be there, but they hang out for a while to watch... no big deal. They know where their food comes from.

Dare to be different.

Pete

 

[MeatKing]

I think it's a normal reaction for kids not to want to eat, their animals. Every child is different.. and I think that changes the approach..

dd 7, not a problem and animal for consuption is ok. She likes to eat..

dd 4, any animal, that is killed, Ei, even the raccon, that killed al our, turkery, and a bunch of baby chicks. She wanted to know, is it a mommy, a daddy or a baby.. trick question...
I suspect, she will end up a vegatiran later on in life. I't mu job as her Mother, to explain, the circle of life.
At some point, were all another animal food

Best of luck, a very tricky subject with young ones,

 

[Kevin565]

I'm a vegetarian so I don't personally choose to eat meat but I've had my fair share of having to euthanize animals. Does your child eat meat now? I think if your child was informed more on the subject they might be more willing to allow the birds to be eaten.

 

[ellie32526]

So, I am introducing my six year old to the chicks, and explaining that some will be for laying eggs and some will be for meat.

"So, are you going to be OK with eating these chickens when they grow up?" (just testing the waters here)
"Ummmm... I don't think so..."
"OK. Why not?"
"Well, I don't think they want to be eaten." (he looks at me like I am stupid)

Blink blink....

OK, this is going to take some time, I can tell

WOW, bet you didn't expect this response! Kids really do say some funny things. I was remembering something today that my son said when he was about six (he is 27 now and has a baby of his own) Anyway he did something, can't remember what but it was something I had told him not to do and he made a mess. I discovered him in the middle of the mess and I stood there looking at him shaking my head for a second. I said to him, Michael, what am I going to do with you? Not expecting him to answer me. But he looked up at me with a sad little face and said Love me I guess. Sorry Mom. My heart melted and I couldn't be mad at him after that.

 

[jnntefend]

We are, I fear, irredeemable meat eaters. And my son isn't going to want to stop eating chickens. We'll work on a solution, but meanwhile, it's just fun to watch him making connections and logical arguments. Once we know that he understands all of the ramifications, we'll let him make his own decisions about meat eating. Until then, we'll give him age-appropriate info and spring it on him slowly. Thank you to everyone for yall's great suggestions. I hope yall enjoyed a cute little moment in our chicken-raising family.

 

[silkiemomma9]

My children have known since they could reason, where their food comes from. They've been to rescues & sanctuaries. We have chickens & other rescues.
I guess it's a little difficult for a child to have and watch a typical 'pet' grow up & be treated with love and the other animals equally deserving of that same love be killed.
I will agree every child should know where their food comes from. Most children are born with empathy and compassion for all life. They see no difference in a dog, pig, cat or chicken. If given a choice I'm sure most children would ask to not be given animals as food. The problem lies in parents saying 'we have to eat meat to live' or 'these kinda of animals are for food'. We don't need meat and every animal is someone's food if they chose to eat it (dogs/cats/rats), so both would be UNtruthful.
I hope your son holds on to his love for lives other than his own.

 

[TXchickmum]

Kids are fabulous! -say the best stuff! -definitely enjoyed the "cute little moment in [your] chicken-raising family". -reminded me of when my daughter was a wee one. She found some toads at the local park and pleaded to bring them home. I obliged, and we placed them in a nice habitat. I explained that they needed to eat and it required bugs - tiny ones (since they were very small at the time). We traversed to the local pet store for pinhead crickets. She thought the itty-bitty crickets were "so cute". After a few days of feeding her toads she said, "look at this little cricket....I don't think it wants to be eaten. I'll keep it for a pet." I cracked up. (When the food o' the pets becomes pets, ya have an issue) Needless to say, and after an explanation of the food chain and how "life is" (age appropriate to her), she was fine with caring for her toads and feeding them a proper diet.

p.s. seems like you are teaching well! (We, too, have sensitive children that love animals and respect nature and life....but choose to consume meat. It's all good.)

.

 

[jnntefend]

Kids are fabulous! -say the best stuff! -definitely enjoyed the "cute little moment in [your] chicken-raising family". -reminded me of when my daughter was a wee one. She found some toads at the local park and pleaded to bring them home. I obliged, and we placed them in a nice habitat. I explained that they needed to eat and it required bugs - tiny ones (since they were very small at the time). We traversed to the local pet store for pinhead crickets. She thought the itty-bitty crickets were "so cute". After a few days of feeding her toads she said, "look at this little cricket....I don't think it wants to be eaten. I'll keep it for a pet." I cracked up. (When the food o' the pets becomes pets, ya have an issue) Needless to say, and after an explanation of the food chain and how "life is" (age appropriate to her), she was fine with caring for her toads and feeding them a proper diet.

p.s. seems like you are teaching well! (We, too, have sensitive children that love animals and respect nature and life....but choose to consume meat. It's all good.)

.

Thank ya thank ya, and good to hear. The cricket story was a blast.

Does anyone else have cute stories about their kids interacting with chickens, or the food chain? I think that might make a fun thread.

 

[Going Bhonkers]

What a cute kid!!! It may help if you name some of the chickens, "Dinner"

At least he's learning where his food comes from.

(whereas my food comes from the grocery store

I wish I had the ability (courage!) to process my own meat. Kudos to those of you who can!)