Why meat birds?

[Compost King]

Just to stick up for commercial farms because not many people will, if it wasn't for them many poorer families would not be able to afford to eat meat. I can't say I like what they do but I can say I am glad the poorest among us have eating options.

 

[Newyorkrita]

Just to stick up for commercial farms because not many people will, if it wasn't for them many poorer families would not be able to afford to eat meat. I can't say I like what they do but I can say I am glad the poorest among us have eating options.

I have to agree. Chicken is fairly cheap at the supermarket. And the big box food chain stores like Costco sell a large rotisserie nice cooked chicken for $5.00. Less than it costs to buy a whole uncooked chicken even.

 

[chkva]

You don't have to rely on others to provide your food and you don't have to worry about all the chemicals that are going into the food. The food industry has become quite a hot topic... When romaine lettuce can make you severely ill... That's when you got to start questioning what is going on. I'd rather raise and grow my own food then have to rely on chemically altered and disease ridden food.

The meat industry has been exposed completely with their inhumane raising of animals and slaughtering of their animals. Have you ever seen a Tyson chicken truck? One of their farms that they use is about a mile from me and it's DISGUSTING! The cages the chickens are in on the trucks, they can't even stand... The chickens butts are caked with poop and red. Half of their feathers are missing and the smell so bad I can't even imagine what the actual facility looks like and honestly I don't want to know.

I'm actually plant based besides eating the eggs my girls lay, but my family eats meat. We buy organic from companies we trust. Companies like Tyson is the reason why I stopped eating meat because I've seen what they do and I'm not okay with it. I told my family if they want to eat meat, they're going to eat meat from local farms or we are raising our own!

Before anyone gives me a hard time... I respect hunters and farmers who hunt/raise their meat the humane way. Putting food on the table for your family is the most incredible accomplishment that most cannot do. I come from a family of farmers and hunters, but all respect my decision and know where I stand. Plus they're doing it the way it was intended...

 

[Newyorkrita]

Not everyone is able to raise their own.

 

[LilyD]

I didn’t realize you were keeping them with the horses. Brilliant. (Well.... for the DPs )

I kept my yearlings around the chickens sharing pasture and it was the BEST desensitization ever. The chickens scratched through the manure immediately which was great for parasites but in my humid area there were still areas flies hatched. I have yet to find a chicken that efficiently goes after flies once they’re buzzing around.

I had more horses in less space though so that was my problem, so I moved them to a bigger field.

To the OP... for me it was my laying hens. I appreciate and respect my chickens and as I did more research on the meat chicken industry, I realized I would personally feel better eating chickens I raised and was in control of the process.

Whether or not it’s healthier for me I cannot tell, but I know mentally I feel enlightened and the mind can do incredible things for the body. I know for sure the chickens are happier and for sure it’s cheaper than purchasing any kind of chicken raised to any sort of standards close to what I can do, while maybe not cheaper than the rotisserie birds at the grocery store that have been dipped in bleach.

We are mainly looking for tick control. My dogs have about an acre that they are allowed on and the chickens and horses get the rest. I have the whole property except directly in front of my house and an area to walk to the driveway fenced with a string of electric about 1/2 way up to keep the horses off the fencing and the Coyotes and Foxes from pushing on it. Had a few that have tried to go over it but my horse has zero tolerance for wild dogs and will chase them back out if they go in her space lol.

 

[LilyD]

good question.

i raised a batch of meat chickens, main reason was to get good quality meat that was humanly raised, not the factory crap you can buy for what a dollar or two a lb. yes its more money but still better then the cheap stuff you can buy.

my main issue was the killing part, turns out am not a big fan of killing a bird i have raised from chick to meat. so if i ever decided to go and raise meat birds again that is something i would have to really think about.

i much rather hunt for my meat.

I hunt as well and would rather fill my freezer with 3-4 deer than eat beef through the winter. We get our beef locally from a person who pasture raises their beef with no grain at all just good pasture and lots of space. She charges us $6.50 a pound for the ground beef which is cheaper than what I would pay for ground beef from a store of worse quality than that lol. We also love goat and lamb too and occasionally will raise those as well.

 

[LilyD]

Not everyone is able to raise their own.

Totally right and should never be a problem. I raise my own as much as I can but we are limited on space and being older with a few health concerns I have to understand my limitations and what I can handle. I do hunt for quite a bit but what I can't grow I look for the humanely raised label and look local. I steer clear of the large commercial companies ie Tyson or Perdue and instead go towards locally produced. Most of these would let me come and see the animals before they are butchered and how they are treated. They sell through the farmers markets and the Co-ops in our area. It took a while for us to find them but asking around we found loads of people that helped us get connections set up so we could stop eating processed, commercially made foods and go with what we could find locally near us.

 

[Shadrach]

I don't buy store chicken. I don't eat much meat. I will kill and eat a chicken here from time to time.
My problem with raising meat birds is they are bred to be meat birds and that has implications for longevity, keeping conditions and genetics.
I would rather eat less meat and when I do eat a chicken it's a 'normal' chicken, not a brred that has been bred for the sole purpose of supplying food.

 

[Willowspirit]

good question.

i raised a batch of meat chickens, main reason was to get good quality meat that was humanly raised, not the factory crap you can buy for what a dollar or two a lb. yes its more money but still better then the cheap stuff you can buy.

my main issue was the killing part, turns out am not a big fan of killing a bird i have raised from chick to meat. so if i ever decided to go and raise meat birds again that is something i would have to really think about.

i much rather hunt for my meat.

My hubby and i are hot on the hunt for local meat birds raised by someone else. We'll see how it goes. I've found beef and rabbit but no chickens yet.

 

[Mosey2003]

I prefer hand-butchered, by me, to mechanically butchered.