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

[Mtnboomer]

Butchering a deer is not that hard, but it does take time. It helps to have a gambril and a hoist. You can get simple ones on Amazon cheap. I use a trailer winch and double pulleys from my kayak hoist.

My daughter loved watching this video to learn how to break a deer down. We break it down, wash it in the garage and throw into meat tubs for trimming, sealing and grinding in the next several day. I age in the fridge more than hanging.

I post this picture of my daughter cutting out round roasts everytime guys say its hard to butcher a deer. View attachment 2060870

Frostburg State?! Are yall from MD? 1/2 my high school graduating class went there!

 

[Mvan42]

Frostburg State?! Are yall from MD? 1/2 my high school graduating class went there!

Yes I am in Garrett County MD. Born and raised in Preston County WV.

 

[Mtnboomer]

Yes I am in Garrett County MD. Born and raised in Preston County WV.

I grew up in Frederick County. I played baseball in my youth and the state tournament took us to Oakland a few times.

 

[Mvan42]

I grew up in Frederick County. I played baseball in my youth and the state tournament took us to Oakland a few times.

It is a small world for sure.

 

[archeryrob]

Washington County here

 

[Kusanar]

I butchered a deer myself that had been hit by a car right in front of my house in the night. Fortunately it was hit in the head or I may not have tried it. Didn’t get much sleep cuz it took me all night into the next day. It was quite an experience. My biggest problem was bits of hair sticking to the meat. That took hours to clear.

My dad was going to work years ago at somewhere around 4am and came across a monster doe that someone had hit in the head and killed, she was still steaming... He tossed her in the back of the truck and brought her home, called in and told them he would be a little late, gutted and hung her in the garage. When he got off work I helped him butcher her and get her in the house for finishing up the cuts.

I've been helping break down deer since I was tiny. I remember one time a fried of dads had shot a deer (rack hunter) and taken the head off but he didn't want the rest, so we went and got it. That deer has bled out all over himself and was just caked and sticky. It grossed my mom out, so she insisted that we put socks on the front legs as my job was the hold the deer by the fronts to keep it from swinging and spinning as it was worked on.

 

[Lamontelle4]

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

I used to raise meat birds. It still haunts me to this day. They each had there own personalities, and they had feelings. Now I’m vegan, and occasionally eat eggs from my pet chickens and turkeys. I even helped raise awareness about the animal abuse in factory farms. The truth of the matter is that animals are sentient beings, and when we are killing them and we feel remorse, it’s because we know it’s wrong to kill something we love. Just a little something I’ve learned over the years.

 

[Rosie65]

Oooo, talk to me about over mating please. I’ve got 4 cocks and 24 hens. Every time i‘m out there one of them is jumping on top. I’ve been thinking about getting rid of 2 of them and have got as far as buying a cone.

 

[BreezyBre]

I feel ya I raise heritage meat chickens for food and even as much as I try not to socialize too much with them and keep the cuddles to my laying flock I feel attached to all of them . Being a chicken farmer is a very mixed bag of emotions , I've learned to process and I've only done twice so far so I'm hoping it gets easier and fast ...I have seven roos to process this weekend :S

 

[harice4806]

I just recently butchered one 7 mo old cockerel I had raised from a chick. Got a straight run bantam batch. All boys but one. Rehomed most. Had 2 (in addition to my lead roo) and was trying to see how it would go. It was just too much. Stressed roos and hens. So I opted to keep the most chill one and butcher the other one. I felt bad but after failed rehoming attempts I'd rather he go at my hand I guess. Doesn't make it suck any less but I knew he was a he at 3 weeks old and really wanted to keep him. But his personality got to be too big and I just couldn't. It's hard no matter the reason. I feel the guilt with you.