Would/do you kill a chicken to eat?

[hennypenny9]

It depends. If I was starving, probably, as long has I had enough hens producing eggs. But when I had chickens at home, they're our pets. I know some raise meat birds, and of course that's fine. But we raise ours for eggs and fun. As long as I'm healthy, I see no reason to slaughter perfectly good laying hens. I eat very little meat, and even less chicken, so I don't really see me ever killing a chicken to eat. I've already had this conscientious problem on another thread. How can I eat something that I could not slaughter myself? The answer is that now I barely ever eat meat. I don't miss it.

....except bacon (I would be willing to try to slaughter a pig to get bacon. No, I've never read Charlotte's Web)

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

Yes I do, took me a year to be able to do it all. Kill, the last thing I was able to do and still the hardest, bleed just don't watch, pluck, I dry pluck, can't stand the smell of wet feathers, and gut, wore gloves for the first 6 months, till I ran out of gloves. But there is a rule here if the chicken has a name it will not end up on the table. not many have names.

 

[mahen8622]

my chickens are my babies i love them dearly but ive had DH do the deed for mean roos or roos i couldnt find homes to that were VERy meaty and in the way other wise id never kill my ladies unless they were sick or not laying but even then im so attached i probably couldnt do it. Dh has to kill them i pluck and process that doesnt bother me a bit i just cant look them in the eye id go hungry if i was doing the culling lol
My granny told me when they were little her mother made the girls go kill chickens for dinner ( there were 9 children in the home so had a lot of mouths to feed) she was taught to stand on their heads and jerk their feet to the sky til literally their heads came off. she said the worst part of it was THEY WERE ALL BARE FOOOTT YAAAAAAAAAAK!!!!! ( it was back in the olden days when they only had one pair of shoes for church lol)

 

[agnes_day]

i have 3 times now..i am so grateful for all the information on here that helped me learn now too! my husband changed jobs this week which meant no paycheck, so the 2 birds in the freezer are a real blessing, thats for sure!!!

 

[sewchick]

I am going to do it. I don't think I will have a problem. I have dressed deer before. Chickens are food to me nothing more. Well maybe except for matilda. She is super friendly and I kind of just like having her around. The rest are for the oven when the time comes. I come from a family of hunters. Yes I will kill my chickens in a couple of years to make way for the new layers.

 

[Beekissed]

Yep!

Animals = Food

 

[turney31]

Yes to x-tra roos, not my laying hens. If we were hungry then any would go to the table.

 

[mjdtexan]

Yes I would. Have I? No, I have not. When I was little my dad would do this. I absolutely only have a problem with one part of it. I get sick at the smell of the feather being boiled off or what ever that process is. Man, thats a nasty smell.

 

[Chicken Fruit]

Chickens were made for eating.. Its hard when you're attached to them, but if i had to choose between a pea brained bird to look at, and food in my family's belly which do you think I'd choose?

I've killed and cleaned other things. Although the smell of the insides of chickens grosses me out.

I'd probably ask someone else to dispatch them for me.... I never learned my great gramma's little chicken neck wringing skill....

 

[me&thegals]

Yes, we do. When a roo is getting nasty or a chicken is injured (leg), my husband does the dirty work. I did help butcher about 24 roos this winter. It was the least pleasant thing I have ever done. It does seem more honest as a meat eater to help in the process rather than pretend they show up in my grocery store all nice and packaged.