Why do I beat myself up about butchering a few cockerels.

[archeryrob]

It is the cycle of life. I watch non-hunters complain about hunting as cruel, but eat cage raised chickens and cattle that live in confinement. I have a cattle fattening pen up the hill from my house and my wife was appalled how crowded and dirty the steers are while kept there. The mistreated life is what I find cruel for animals. Wild animals and your chickens lived a good life in comparison to that, so don't feel bad in that.

The same goes for people unaware of wildlife how nature treats them. They see a rabbit as a cute cuddle animal. I tell them the reality is every one of them you see will die violently. Hit by a car, in a foxes jaws and at worst case a hawk. I think besides burning alive the next worst death is being eaten while still alive by a hawk as it holds you down. I have seen little hawks do it to birds and cooper and redtails to other things. Most are lucky killed on being grabbed, some aren't so lucky. We seem to be disconnected from the reality of that is our societal bubbles for most people.

Remember how nature treats things and remember you have done a lot better for those animals than she would have given them.

 

[aart]

but I don't watch them, talk to them extra.

I sing to them...all the young dudes, soon to be stew, noodle soup toooo.

 

[Mtnboomer]

I immediately name all of my critters so they will be considered pets, not food. But I still buy a lot of chicken at the grocery store. Guess you're not the only weird-o.

Did you name them "breakfast" "lunch" "dinner" "fryer" "drumstick" etc? sorry, couldn't help myself.

Names didn't save you when i was growing up. My Grandparents kept hogs and chickens. Us kids gave them names like "Frank" or "Porky" while the adults named them "bacon" and "sausage."

Everything on a farm has a job to do. Cats eat mice, dogs protect, and stock provides food. I love the chickens we have now and hope to have goats, hogs, and horses in the near future, but they are food (except for the horses) even though my wife says otherwise. She may change her mind shen she sees the feed bill.

 

[FortCluck]

Ok so we butchered three 5 month old cockerel this morning. I feel bad. I hatched them and raised them. But with the virus I didn’t want to take them to the animal auction because of the risk although it hasn’t been reported in the area yet.. they were over breeding the hens, and fighting a little..


So please no harshness on this. I understand some are for food. I was raised on a farm and raising cattle for butchering is often what we did. I have a hard time with it when I get attached, this happened one year I refused to eat any beef for a long time. A calf had a hard birth and I took to spoil it. I begged dad not to butcher it.. he said suck it up.. lol. I just feel bad that animal trusted me and I go and kill it. Lol. Mind you that I am a hunter and go kill deer every year.
If it’s mine I have these crazy I feel bad feelings. If it’s not mine it doesn’t bother me..

I guess it’s different for me when raised.. its mixed feelings..

I know I am a weird-o

The first time is always hardest.

I try to not get attached. I don't name them at all. The first butcher I did was a few weeks ago. I raised the chicks from the egg, it was unsettling a bit. As you know I don't eat meat or any animal products so butchering 3 chickens was odd to do.

The moment I saw my family eating and enjoying the chicken was when it all paid off for me. I felt like I accomplished something that most people wouldn't even dare to do. Most people get meat at the grocery store, but this month we didn't need chicken for the first time!

 

[FortCluck]

It is the cycle of life. I watch non-hunters complain about hunting as cruel, but eat cage raised chickens and cattle that live in confinement. I have a cattle fattening pen up the hill from my house and my wife was appalled how crowded and dirty the steers are while kept there. The mistreated life is what I find cruel for animals. Wild animals and your chickens lived a good life in comparison to that, so don't feel bad in that.

The same goes for people unaware of wildlife how nature treats them. They see a rabbit as a cute cuddle animal. I tell them the reality is every one of them you see will die violently. Hit by a car, in a foxes jaws and at worst case a hawk. I think besides burning alive the next worst death is being eaten while still alive by a hawk as it holds you down. I have seen little hawks do it to birds and cooper and redtails to other things. Most are lucky killed on being grabbed, some aren't so lucky. We seem to be disconnected from the reality of that is our societal bubbles for most people.

Remember how nature treats things and remember you have done a lot better for those animals than she would have given them.

To tell you the honest truth... Seeing a chicken hauler was the reason I became plant based those poor chickens. Their bums were bloody and gross. They were caked with poop. Their feathers were missing. Their beaks were clipped to the point they almost had no beak... THESE are the chickens people are buying in the store!

I told myself that I would get chickens and raise them properly for my family so we would never have to buy store chicken again. I don't care that I'm plant based butchering my own chickens and what others will think... At least my family isn't buying nasty store bought chicken and supporting the mistreatment of those poor chickens.

My chickens are healthy, happy, and spoiled until the day I butcher them.

 

[Mtnboomer]

It is the cycle of life. I watch non-hunters complain about hunting as cruel, but eat cage raised chickens and cattle that live in confinement. I have a cattle fattening pen up the hill from my house and my wife was appalled how crowded and dirty the steers are while kept there. The mistreated life is what I find cruel for animals. Wild animals and your chickens lived a good life in comparison to that, so don't feel bad in that.

The same goes for people unaware of wildlife how nature treats them. They see a rabbit as a cute cuddle animal. I tell them the reality is every one of them you see will die violently. Hit by a car, in a foxes jaws and at worst case a hawk. I think besides burning alive the next worst death is being eaten while still alive by a hawk as it holds you down. I have seen little hawks do it to birds and cooper and redtails to other things. Most are lucky killed on being grabbed, some aren't so lucky. We seem to be disconnected from the reality of that is our societal bubbles for most people.

Remember how nature treats things and remember you have done a lot better for those animals than she would have given them.

I ran a hunting website for years (stopped only because we now live so far out that our internet is to slow to upload anything) trying to reach out and encourage people to give it a try, educate those who didn't know how or why we do it, and entertain other hunters.
One of the messages I tried very hard to relay to other hunters was that we are all ambassadors of the sport. Each of our actions can either reinforce the anti-hunters stereotype of us as being rednecks with guns roaming the countryside shooting whatever poor defenseless animal we see. Or it can tear them down by showing the world that hunters do more to preserve and protect wildlife, not just game animals, than any other organization in the world.

When you care about something and are passionate about something, you treat it with respect and honor.

A hunter's celebration after a kill is not about joy in taking a life. Its about accomplishing a goal, completing the challenge (those animal's are not defenseless by the way), feeding your family, and sustaining/managing the population for the future.

A farmer's celebration at harvest time is not joy in the slaughter, but rejoicing in the bounty that a season of hardwork has provided.
Death is a part of life. Only when life is taken without purpose or the body is left to waste is it dishonorable.

 

[FortCluck]

I ran a hunting website for years (stopped only because we now live so far out that our internet is to slow to upload anything) trying to reach out and encourage people to give it a try, educate those who didn't know how or why we do it, and entertain other hunters.
One of the messages I tried very hard to relay to other hunters was that we are all ambassadors of the sport. Each of our actions can either reinforce the anti-hunters stereotype of us as being rednecks with guns roaming the countryside shooting whatever poor defenseless animal we see. Or it can tear them down by showing the world that hunters do more to preserve and protect wildlife, not just game animals, than any other organization in the world.

When you care about something and are passionate about something, you treat it with respect and honor.

A hunter's celebration after a kill is not about joy in taking a life. Its about accomplishing a goal, completing the challenge (those animal's are not defenseless by the way), feeding your family, and sustaining/managing the population for the future.

A farmer's celebration at harvest time is not joy in the slaughter, but rejoicing in the bounty that a season of hardwork has provided.
Death is a part of life. Only when life is taken without purpose or the body is left to waste is it dishonorable.

I felt accomplished after I butchered the last chicken because we had 3 whole chickens n the freezer. We didn't have to buy them at the store either. I did them from the egg to butchering age... That to me is a huge accomplishment. My family thought I'd never do it. My husband bragged to his friends for days about it.

 

[Mtnboomer]

A

To tell you the honest truth... Seeing a chicken hauler was the reason I became plant based those poor chickens. Their bums were bloody and gross. They were caked with poop. Their feathers were missing. Their beaks were clipped to the point they almost had no beak... THESE are the chickens people are buying in the store!

I told myself that I would get chickens and raise them properly for my family so we would never have to buy store chicken again. I don't care that I'm plant based butchering my own chickens and what others will think... At least my family isn't buying nasty store bought chicken and supporting the mistreatment of those poor chickens.

My chickens are healthy, happy, and spoiled until the day I butcher them.

A friend of ours only eats "happy animals" meaning those that lived happy lives. She loves my venison, wild turkey, wild rabbit, squirrel, and of course chicken meals when she visits. She sources all her meats from local farmers she knows. I think she said she hasn't bought grocery store meat in like 10yrs or something.

 

[FortCluck]

A

A friend of ours only eats "happy animals" meaning those that lived happy lives. She loves my venison, wild turkey, wild rabbit, squirrel, and of course chicken meals when she visits. She sources all her meats from local farmers she knows. I think she said she hasn't bought grocery store meat in like 10yrs or something.

After seeing a chicken truck, I'll never look at store bought chicken the same.

I had friends tell me they can't believe I killed my chickens and so on. I don't even care because I know exactly everything about that chicken down to the last meal it had.

 

[Mtnboomer]

After seeing a chicken truck, I'll never look at store bought chicken the same.

I had friends tell me they can't believe I killed my chickens and so on. I don't even care because I know exactly everything about that chicken down to the last meal it had.

Nothing against your friends, but I find it disturbing (assuming they eat store bought chicken) that they would give you grief for taking the responsibility, time, and putting in the work to raise your own food, ensuring its quality, while they just pick theirs up off the shelf after letting other people do the work for them.

Sounds to me like they need to educate themselves to chicken keeping. Invite them to join BYC and talk them into getting a few birds and giving it a try.

Ok, im climbing down off my high horse now.