Would/do you kill a chicken to eat?

[Rhett&SarahsMom]

I am looking at the possibility of raising some meat birds, dependiong on where the economy heads ie further down the drain.
I will have to have someone else process them though. I just cant. Even if they are raised with being a meal intended.

 

[kodiakchicken]

We just went through processing some birds for the first time. Well, I shouldn't say "we" - more like "he". I hatched a bunch of beatiful little chicks but ended up with a pretty heavy ratio of roosters. I had no intention of breeding for more chicks and I didn't want to feel another non-productive mouth (besides the fact they were getting mean) so we decided to butcher the roos. I knew I couldn't do the killing but was more than prepared to do the rest. DH took it upon himself to spare me and did it all while I was at work the other day. What a great guy! I got a little teary-eyed when I came home, even though I knew he was doing it, but didn't have a problem at all eating two of them in a big pot of noodles last night.

I don't think we could ever butcher our laying hens though. We'll either decide to let them live our their lives or give them to someone who wants to butcher them. How long do chickens live, anyway?

 

[lisahaschickens]

I am dead set on learning to kill and process chickens for meat. I firmly believe that if a person is going to eat chicken meat, then he/she should be able to kill one. So many people I know say things like "I won't any meat with bones in it because it's too much like a dead animal." Well, guess what? It IS a dead animal. Anyway, I really do want to. Plus I love the idea of knowing that I gave them the best (albeit short) life possible and they were killed quickly and humanely. That is so important to me. Also, this way, I will know exactly where my food came from and what went into it. No mystery meat, no bad chemicals, no tortured animal. Just wonderful homegrown meat.

All that said, I am new to chickens and my babies are now almost 5 weeks old. This flock I got for laying hens, but I want to try meat birds soon. I just need someone to teach me, hands-on, about the killing process, because I REALLY don't want to screw it up!

p.s. I do think I would have a heck of a time eating my laying hens when they got older. I am making friends with them. That would be hard for me. I would view meat birds differently and purposefully not hang out with them and make friends. That's the golden rule - don't name or make friends with the ones you're gonna eat.

 

[stormylady]

luvmychicknkids
Yes I do think of deer and other animals as wild game, even squirrels and oppossums I don't eat them but whatever I would if i had to though. However I just have never thought of Dogs or cats as food, chickens I was raised eating, they are food to me. It would be a last resort, killing the hens , but I would do it if I had too. Sandy

I do understand that your point was that you would do whatever you could to not starve. But for me (and this is just for me) if i had to choose between a chicken i raised for food either eggs or meat, and one of my animals Dogs for protection and companionship or my cat for killing mice and keeping the rodents out of stuff.
Im afraid the chickens would have to be it.

NO offense meant, we just were raised differently i guess. Sandy

 

[luvmychicknkids]

Quote:
Oh, I wasn't offended and didn't mean to sound like I was, and you just made a very important point.

I consider my chickens a pet just like my cat or dog. In fact, my chickens ACT like my cats and dogs!!! LOL Meat birds would be totallly different. It is the oens I have babied and actually made family members I could NEVER eat.

 

[AngieChick]

We are veggie, so no. But I think I could raise some specifically for that purpose if we weren't. No way could I eat my sweet girls. I'm a visual person and the entire time I would have a movie of them playing in my head. DH is a total softie (one of the things I love most about him, his kind heart) and couldn't kill them or eat them. Neither could my sons My reason for being a vegetarian is my abhorrance of the meat industry, so I don't see anything wrong with eating meat that has been humanely and sustainably raised. So, I don't think I would have a problem doing it. But, I may just think I'm tougher than I really am

 

[stormylady]

Quote:
Oh, I wasn't offended and didn't mean to sound like I was, and you just made a very important point.

I consider my chickens a pet just like my cat or dog. In fact, my chickens ACT like my cats and dogs!!! LOL Meat birds would be totallly different. It is the oens I have babied and actually made family members I could NEVER eat.

Good so glad to hear that!
Im really new to chickens my oldest are just going on to 6 weeks and out of the 19 oldest ones ( cause i have 10- 2 or 3 week olds,) I have favorites that want to be held and cuddled all the time including one little roo, that is just the sweetest. So I can understand how they could be your babies and I respect that. Sandy

 

[patandchickens]

Would/do you kill a chicken to eat?

Absolutely, I'm certainly not going to eat a chicken *before* killing it

I've done a batch of CornishX, all of which I processed myself, and also killed and et a spare chantecler last summer. I would be extra reluctant and extra sad to eat an older layer with a name and personality and history, but I'd certainly do it if necessary (if food was extremely tight, or there was no way to continue feeding the older hens and no non-soup home could be found for them).

I'm maybe a little 'different' in that the thing I have a hard time bringing myself to do is taking them to a processor rather than killing them myself. I think about how scary it would be to be crowded into a box and taken on a bumpy car ride and then have scary things happen til it is your turn... it may be harder on *me* but I'd rather process them one by one myself at home, so there is minimal worry involved for them. I probably will send this spring's red broiler batch to a processor though because I don't want to be processing a dozen of them, solo (i.e. slowly) and outdoors, during the height of fly season.

It does bother me to kill the chicken, but I think it is *supposed* to -- food or not, it's still taking a life. The actual processing doesn't bother me at all, it is really kind of interesting, like a repetitive biology lesson

Assuming I manage to hatch some eggs from our sussexes this spring, the cockerels will all (or maybe all but 1) go into the freezer.

Pat​

 

[HarlansHollowFarms]

Quote:
Absolutely, I'm certainly not going to eat a chicken *before* killing it

I'm maybe a little 'different' in that the thing I have a hard time bringing myself to do is taking them to a processor rather than killing them myself. I think about how scary it would be to be crowded into a box and taken on a bumpy car ride and then have scary things happen til it is your turn... it may be harder on *me* but I'd rather process them one by one myself at home, so there is minimal worry involved for them. I probably will send this spring's red broiler batch to a processor though because I don't want to be processing a dozen of them, solo (i.e. slowly) and outdoors, during the height of fly season.

Pat

I agree, I have a problem taking them out of thier comfort zone. I would be scared if all of a sudden I was shoved into a cage and taken on a ride somewhere....ie. the dog to the vet, they know! So, processing at home for me is the way to go!
I also believe that if you eat meat, you should know where it comes from. Not just the grocery, but the conditions before they arrived.
My backyard is a much better place to live and die then the horrid conditions at the poultry farm and the stiffling, sometimes deadly ride to the processing facility. One of my first jobs was working at a chicken processing plant, and it was sad to see the chickens stuffed into crates waiting to be slaughtered. In the summertime, they had to use sprinklers on the semis so the chickens would not overheat and die before they were hung to go through the process. Yes, doing it myself is not fun, but it is better then what happened to the ones in your groceres freezer.

 

[WalkingWolf]

I plan on eating some of my flock, excess roos, meat birds, and packing peanuts. And I do name my birds hold them and they follow me and jump up to be picked up. I want the birds that go to my table to have the best quality of life possible. Personally I would think it would make for healthier birds and then healthier food. BTW all packing peanuts and meat birds are named "Stew".

Now my DW does not feel the same way as me, she can't understand how I can love a animal and then eat it. But to me it is much better then the if not sometimes cruel life that commercial birds live. I spent my summers on the family farm as a youth I guess I am used to it.

Chickens were bred for food, now I do not see how making their life enjoyable while they are alive wrong. Many farmers raise cows for milk and meat. And a lot of those small farmers name their cows. Prize cows that are raised lovingly are auctioned off for slaughter at most fairs.