Why can't I process my chickens?

[donrae]

Have a rooster go after one of your kids....makes it easy to do them in lol.

Seriously, give yourself a break. This is a big thing and not everyone can do it right off. Will your honey or one of the boys (not sure how old they are) do the deed for you? My Honey is willing to dispatch birds all day long but hates the gutting part, so we divide labor that way. Maybe at some point in the future you'll be able to do the slaughtering, or maybe not. Thankfully, neither you or your kids will starve either way, so ease up on yourself.

 

[TXchickenchick]

Thank you, donrae! Sometimes I expect myself to be some sort of super woman and if I run into something I just can't do I feel so inadequate. Unfortunately, my husband is a much bigger wuss than me. Lol I do have kids old enough and to be honest it never even occurred to me to enlist their help with something I find so hard. Honestly, they may not have as much trouble as I do. I will just continue forward and hope I can get past this huge hurdle.

 

[donrae]

I'm looking at my oldest son in a whole new light lol. He's turning 16 this summer. He enjoys hunting and just got his first turkey. I figure if you can shoot and butcher a turkey, you can help Momma process some meaties. I have several projects I'm wanting done this summer and my Honey is working and going to school both, so his time home is limited. My boys ( younger one is coming 14) get to step up! A drum plucker and a tractor from pallets are first on the list......

 

[TXchickenchick]

My oldest is 17 so I may have to give this some thought. I am a housewife so I am used to thinking I am the one responsible for every single thing at home. I may re think some things! Lol

 

[donrae]

I'd sure be talking to him about it. He's probably not attached to the birds at all. And you know he doesn't want to see his Momma cry.....

 

[TedSheckler]

Although I don't have that much problem dispatching I have found through the happenstance of the division of labor in my own situation being simply the executioner and butcher when the time comes makes it a lot easier (I don't know if this would apply well with the broom stick method)...But not having to grab the bird and calm it down/put it into position and only focusing on the killing and processing end of it works well for me not thinking to much about it.

So perhaps if you could get one of you family members who is familiar with the birds to bring them to you it might help keep you focused?

 

[TXchickenchick]

Hmmmmm....that is an extremely interesting thought. I am almost positive the parts leading up to the actual killing were much more difficult than that few brief seconds it took to actually do it. I never really mentally separated it out before but if I coukd figure out something I felt was as quick and perfect as the broomstick method that might help a lot! Thank you!

 

[lazy gardener]

My oldest is 17 so I may have to give this some thought.

I am a housewife so I am used to thinking I am the one responsible for every single thing at home. I may re think some things! Lol

I'm reading your thread with interest. I find that once the bird is dead, it becomes meat. I have issues with the killing also, and am not sure where the dividing line is between the anxiety over the act of taking a life, and the fear of not being able to complete it in a quick/clean manner. I find my processing equipment to be woefully inadequate, and even when hubby sharpens a knife for me, it's too dull to do the job well. Hubby wields the axe, and helps with the scalding water, and I do all the rest. But, I want to get to the point where I can do the entire process, start to finish. Right now, it takes me 45 minutes to process a bird. For me, key is going to be to have a GOOD sharp knife. I've even been thinking that a razor utility knife and killing cone might be the easiest for me to use.

But, your above statement, I'd like to take a moment to comment on. And I may be stepping over a line here... but, here goes: I do hope that you are delegating work to your children. It's just as important for your son to know how to do laundry, cook a meal, and do all of the other tasks that you consider to be your responsibility. Being a stay at home mom, doesn't mean that you have to own all of the chores in and around the home. I struggle with my 13 y.o. grand son, and believe me, it's easier for me to do a task than it is to stand over him, and see to it that he does it right. But, even when he's griping about being "forced" to participate in home upkeep, his affect brightens when he's doing it.

 

[TXchickenchick]

Hi, lazygardener. No, not stepping over a line at all. It did take me quite a few years to force myself to realize I didn't have to basically punish myself for being home and that was what I was doing. My husband honestly does nothing (as in not one tiny thing) at home and I realized my boys will not grow up doing the same if I can help it. So yes, I have become better at that and they are seriously great boys and do like helping me out. They are 17, 15, 14, and 4, btw. So lots of big hands to help until ypu get to the wee one.

I agree that processing equipment seems horribly inadequate. That was one reason I ended up using the broomstick. I trusted myself to be quick and accurate far more than any knife I found. I was terrified of causing a painful injury and slow death. Thst is my biggest fear, causing them pain and causing them fear. I don't want them to know they are dying. I just wish there was a really easy way to get them dead.

 

[wyoDreamer]

The broomstick method is quick and efficient, and I hear that if you get them hung by their feet right away, the bird will bleed out fairly well into the neck area. If that is how you can get it done, do it that way for a while and see if you can relax a little bit later on when it comes to the killing part.
I hope that I am able to do the deed when it is time. I think so, but then once in a while I get squeamish about killing a gopher in a trap, or a baby mouse stuck in a bucket and I am no longer so sure about myself...