What do you do with a hen who is done laying?

[bragabit]

Mrs. K :

Also, once you have done the deed, and gotten the head, feet, and feathers removed, it is much easier. If you still think you have trouble eating it, buy some store chicken, and rewrapp it in the same kind of plastic bag as what you are putting up your own chickens in, and mix it up in the freezer. Then you can always say, "I think that this is the store bought chicken."

Sometimes fooling ourselves is easier than we think! mk

Thank you so much for this post. I help my DH butcher the deer and when its done....I can't eat the venison. I never thought to possibley package it like my beef. Same goes for the chicken...I've yet to butcher any of my own. But maybe with this little trick of yours I could.​

 

[bad_coffee]

"The older the bird, the richer the sauce."

Coq au vin is in my birds' future. I'll have no problem with it, but she might. . .


Quote:
Thanks for the sig line.

 

[arch_cpj]

We run a farm and short of the dumb horse who is on social security but about to be taken off it to haul wood for me all animals on the farm must work or make us a profit... I rotate my flock 1/3 as well I run the 2 year olds down to the lady up the rd and she processess them for 1 buck a birs I use em for soup and sell them for such... If the bird is your pet then dont eat it out here they need to work and as far as chicks looking cute well there will always be chicks and as far as Im concerned I give them free room and board they get to roam free range and they are protected... I lose no sleep in eating them... I also dont name them and I dont let the wife...

 

[NonnasBabies]

What a great read this was!! Beekissed, I really like the way you put things!!

Missi

 

[sourland]

Beelicked is the source of logical common sense. Pets go to the retirement coop. All others become soup without a qualm on my part.

 

[Beekissed]

Quote:
Hmmm.. I live in the woods and do not wear a watch or really use clocks very much.. When daylight comes I get up when it is dark I go to sleep. I know by the suns position in the sky in a given time of year when I should get the kids from the bus. Matter of fact I strongly prefer trying to live by the natural rhythms of my body and mother earth...

Yikes.... Beekissed is going to butcher mee cause I am a lesser creature....

Maybe humans are the lesser creatures... Since we lack this gift?
If this is the case chickens are no better than humans...Given the chance they would eat us....

ON

Nah....would be FAR too much work to remove all that fecal material from the carcass!

Besides, I never could stomach a bleeding heart....the texture is too mushy....

ON, you seem to be following me around for a reason...did I accidentally step on your toes? Three different threads to chastise me....am I your reformation project this week?

If so, thank you so much for caring!

Sorry if I have in some way hurt your toes....want a foot rub??

******************

Thanks, Missi!

 

[Organics North]

Quote:

Witty indeed!!

Nope did not step on my toes, would be impossible, remember I am one of those mushy bleeding heart types... We never have our feet on the ground, as our heads are always in the clouds..

No my type does not attempt reformation. No way to reform those that have already been reformed.

I am sorry if you feel you have been chastised because some of us do not agree with your viewpoint. I am simply acting as cannon fotter so others with a "mushy" viewpoint may express their opinion without being chastised. (You know how us spineless bleeding hearts are, any sign of trouble and we go hide under a rock....)

I would take you up on that hug as I am all for peace and love...But we better not... I would be embarrassed if you squeezed too hard and got some of that fecal matter I am so full of on you..

Be well
ON

 

[ladybuglives]

Does anyone else see that it's not a black and white issue. Some people just can't bring themselves to kill their own chickens but hold no judgment for people who do. I believe eating humanely raised animals -- if you are going to eat animals at all -- is the way to go -- not to mention the "healthy" way to go. I mean, factory farming is proving to be harmful to more lifeforms than the livestock -- millions of eggs recalled, etc. I am a softy for sure!!! I have named my girls and have a house rabbit who is litterbox trained and is currently lounging at my feet. Animals make me laugh and enjoy my life more. I enjoy giving them a good life and do not look at them as "lesser creatures". That being said, I do feel that eating them is part of a natural cycle. I can respect something and still eat it -- I am very in tune with plants as well and devour them regularly. I have little need to say I KNOW much of anything because science and religion frequently present things as FACT and are frequently WRONG. I am more interested in exploring possibilities and following what feels respectful and right in the moment. I am interested in the part of this discussion that involves the compassion of NOT letting the chickens grow old and suffer -- eating them before that end -- however, I will have to take each chicken on a case by case basis. I REFUSE to be dogmatically attached...