I had in interesting conversation on this topic the other day, actually.
Just to let you all know before I launch into the story, I've just turned 16 and I raise chickens myself to sell the eggs and for meat. My family's kept chickens for eggs for basically as long as I remember but I've just started keeping them for myself recently. We grow a lot of our own fruit and veggies but we haven't done much in the way of our own meat yet.
So, a couple of weeks ago, I was volunteering as a 'bunkhouse leader' (maybe you call them dormitory counsellors or something?) at a youth camp. I had 8 girls in my bunkhouse - one I already knew from my homeschooling group, she lives on a farm, keeps chooks and other animals, and is generally pretty sensible. I had a couple of quasi-country kids (all about horse-riding) and quite a few city kids in the bunkhouse.
Anyway, the girls found out pretty early in the week that I kept chickens. 2 of the girls also kept chickens, one the homeschooling girl, another one who has Silkies and Cochins as pets. So towards the end of the week we were talking about my chickens and somehow got onto the topic of what I did with all the ones I hatched. Naturally enough, I think, I said that I kept the girls for laying eggs and I raised the boys for meat.
The girls, needless to say, were horrified at the idea that I might kill chickens that I'd hatched and raised myself. How horrible it would be! One of the staff members was there and I asked what she thought of it, and she seemed to think that it was a pretty odd concept, to eat the surplus roosters. I don't mean to offend anyone who raises chickens as pets, but to me it seems just logical.
I asked the girls why they thought it was so bad to eat a chicken from the backyard, when they were quite happy eating chicken from the shop (we'd had apricot chicken the night before). They said it was because they'd never seen the chicken alive, and wouldn't it be cruel to kill a live chicken anyway? (I'm not seeing the logic here). I asked them, so it's all right to eat a chicken who's spent their whole life in a little metal cage, just eating and eating and getting too fat to walk or move, not that they'd be able to in the little cage, who were probably quite sick because they were so fat and never went outside in their lives, but it's not all right to eat a chicken who's lived a good life, outside and free range, in the sun with friends and scratching around in the dirt?
I don't want to sound hypocritical because I still eat shop-bought chickens quite a bit, but that's just my take on it.
By the way, I'm 'sensitive' to lactose/dairy - I have to be very careful about the amount of milk/cheese/cream/whatever I have because I can get quite ill, so I don't usually have milk at all.
Just to let you all know before I launch into the story, I've just turned 16 and I raise chickens myself to sell the eggs and for meat. My family's kept chickens for eggs for basically as long as I remember but I've just started keeping them for myself recently. We grow a lot of our own fruit and veggies but we haven't done much in the way of our own meat yet.
So, a couple of weeks ago, I was volunteering as a 'bunkhouse leader' (maybe you call them dormitory counsellors or something?) at a youth camp. I had 8 girls in my bunkhouse - one I already knew from my homeschooling group, she lives on a farm, keeps chooks and other animals, and is generally pretty sensible. I had a couple of quasi-country kids (all about horse-riding) and quite a few city kids in the bunkhouse.
Anyway, the girls found out pretty early in the week that I kept chickens. 2 of the girls also kept chickens, one the homeschooling girl, another one who has Silkies and Cochins as pets. So towards the end of the week we were talking about my chickens and somehow got onto the topic of what I did with all the ones I hatched. Naturally enough, I think, I said that I kept the girls for laying eggs and I raised the boys for meat.
The girls, needless to say, were horrified at the idea that I might kill chickens that I'd hatched and raised myself. How horrible it would be! One of the staff members was there and I asked what she thought of it, and she seemed to think that it was a pretty odd concept, to eat the surplus roosters. I don't mean to offend anyone who raises chickens as pets, but to me it seems just logical.
I asked the girls why they thought it was so bad to eat a chicken from the backyard, when they were quite happy eating chicken from the shop (we'd had apricot chicken the night before). They said it was because they'd never seen the chicken alive, and wouldn't it be cruel to kill a live chicken anyway? (I'm not seeing the logic here). I asked them, so it's all right to eat a chicken who's spent their whole life in a little metal cage, just eating and eating and getting too fat to walk or move, not that they'd be able to in the little cage, who were probably quite sick because they were so fat and never went outside in their lives, but it's not all right to eat a chicken who's lived a good life, outside and free range, in the sun with friends and scratching around in the dirt?
I don't want to sound hypocritical because I still eat shop-bought chickens quite a bit, but that's just my take on it.
By the way, I'm 'sensitive' to lactose/dairy - I have to be very careful about the amount of milk/cheese/cream/whatever I have because I can get quite ill, so I don't usually have milk at all.
