Medicated/unmedicated growers pellets

[Polly Fouracre]

All of the chickens etc. that I raise are tame and friendly. This,take it as you will, makes it easier for me to kill and eat them.
When gathered up for the chop they are not stressed or afraid.They have a little black sock put over their heads,which, in itself, renders them calm and the deed is done.
I could not eat an animal that has been terrified before slaughter.
You may not believe me but you will feel so much better about eating your own-grown meat. It is the actual deed that is so stressful but if done humanely i.e at home you won't feel badly about it afterwards.

[RichmondHens]

I'm with you there Polly. Ours also get pretty tame, and get used to being handled regularly for louse powdering etc, so when the time comes, they don't really think anything of it when I pick them up and take them off for the deed to be done (OH does the deed though as I'm not confident of being strong enough to tackle the cocks).

[di]

Out of interest,can you remember the first time?Also,how are your kiddies about it?Daisy has come to terms with the fact they will be dinner...although she says she doesn't want to eat them,which I won't force her to,but Ash is really quite head in the sand about it...apparently "just because they crow & have huge combs & look just like boys,they might turn into girls!"He's a really sensitive little lad,I didn't think they could get any more so than Daisy and any tips on how to bring him round would be greatly appreciated.)
When I was little a chap who had an orchard behind our house used to keep lambs,each day after school I'd go & help feed them,I was never told why they'd suddenly be gone...by the age of eleven I found out & was vegetarian for the next ten years.

[di]

I'm really keen on the idea of them learning the true facts about meat but am also worried that it might have the opposite effect that we hope for.

[Polly Fouracre]

I don't think children should learn the facts of meat at a very young age. The age of ten or so is fine, about the time they stop believing in Father Christmas etc. and then very gradually.

[bluemoon]

Well, I'm the original soft as a brush type, which is why Coco and Elvis are living here, and I'd only seen them in photos! But having kept chickens for 5 or 6 months now I'm coming around to the idea. (We'd never eat Coco and Elvis, I promised Lynda they'd have a home for life, and anyway they are pets and were our 'practice' chickens, we learned a lot from them and are very fond of them both) But come the time when I have raised chicks of my own what would be the point in either selling them to someone else for them to eat and then buying an inhumanely reared one for our own supper, or in keeping them? We might as well eat our own and know that they had a good life until the last minute and that our food has been reared in the way that we would want it to be. I think that for some of us (me!) you have to actually live with chickens for a time before this becomes obvious. Six months ago it was unthinkable, but now it just seems logical, and I don't think I've become any less caring.

[RichmondHens]

Well I grew up on a farm, so it was a matter of course that chickens (and other animals) were killed. We only had egg layers though, not meat birds, when I was a child, so any culled birds were just burnt.
Since having my own birds though, and being someone who hates waste, we always eat the unwanted birds, and the children have been brought up knowing where their chicken comes from. They are fine with it. They are 5 and 8. We even have freezer bags with the bird's name on, as they actually like to know which one they are eating!

[frias]

Before every clutch of eggs you set, you have to have a think about what you will do with the cocks. Bear in mind at least 50% (more in my experience) will be boys so before getting seduced by the thought of fluffy little cheepers, remember you will have to deal with the cocks either by re-homing or eating. I almost never bother trying to re-home, unless someone particularly asks for one, and we eat all the surplus males (well, there are one or two "pets" around the place). I have at least 20 cocks still to "deal with", possibly more as my last (definitely last for this year) hatch is due this week, although they won't have grown on enough to eat until early Spring.

I know, I know. I said I would never let the broody sit but since we had her she had spent more time broody than not and she was being truly evil to the new ex-batts that had just arrived. I thought motherhood might change her. I only asked for 4 eggs and as they had been in a fridge mixed with unfertile eggs I thought the most I would get would be a couple of chicks. Bloke gave me 5 eggs though and 4 turned out to be fertile. Just my luck that 3 were boys. I did so want to keep some hens that would be healthier than the ex-batts.I even asked the vet if he could take out the crow as I would happily keep them all as pets but he said I haven't got enough hens for them.
I have managed to order Smallholders without medication so soon they can all mix with the older girls. Let them mingle for an hour this evening and went well.

[di]

But is taking their crow away from them any less cruel than eating them?
Believe me,I'm not judging you,the thought did enter my head for a little while,but when I'd gone through it in my mind a few times I thought I didn't agree to taking away their voice just so I could feel better in myself for letting them live.
Emotionally,I'm still struggling to change my way of thinking...especially as I've got Boo sleeping(in the cage)next to me being all cute & floppy,but mentally I know that really no matter how much I wish for a happy ending,there's just not the space/requirement for all hatched boys.(whether that's with us or other chook keepers)

I know where you're coming from Frias,really I do and nobody but you can make the decision as to what you'll do with your boys,but my one bit of advice would be to try & distance yourself from them.You might strike lucky & find homes for them all,but then again you might not & to carry on seeing them as pets is only going to make the possible future harder for yourself.xxx

[MaureenHall]

I'm trying to think of my 2 big boys as "breeding machines" (it's not working that well at the moment!!) and once they're big enough and have fertilised enough eggs for me, then they've got to be dinner. Oh I'm such a wuss!!!!!

[RichmondHens]

It's not just the crow you have to deal with with cocks, it's the territorial behaviour as well. Each cock needs several hens to keep him satisfied, and if they are all running together then the top cock will fight with the others. It is possible to run several cocks together within a flock, but it is largely dependent on a) the breed and b) the amount of space they have. They will be happier in a large area where they can escape from attack. Also, the hens will get considerable wear and tear from the constant attention so it's not good to run too many cocks with them. My big Welsummer cock has looked after 11 girls this year, on his own, and they were all displaying the classic feather loss on their backs pre-moult.

Maureen, you are not a wuss, just being practical and sensible.

[Hilary B]

If children grow up around animals that are going to be meat, it never bothers them. Children are quite capable of being unsentimental about food (indeed they are usually only otherwise through the example of the adults around them) and able to distinguish between 'pets' and 'dinner' with a lot less bother than their parents. If a child actually LIKES meat, it is better that they ALWAYS know where it comes from. In fact leaving the news until later is liable to make the reaction worse!
For those who 'can't eat something I knew', I would recommend getting to know another with the same problem and SWAP!
That way you will know the chook was well treated, know your own ones aren't going to get ill-treated for their last days, but you won't be eating the ones you reared yourself.
If a third party 'does the deed' as well, so much the easier to cope with.
I would guesss that after a few such exchanges, you would start thingking 'this is daft' and keep your own home-grown dinners.
BTW, I didn't grow up on a farm, and only got chooks (and a goat, but we had to sell her again, because the garden really wasn't big enough) when I was expecting my daughter. It was 2 homes (and 4 years) later that I first got meat chooks (a neighbour had hatched a load of 'warren type' sex-linked cross chicks, and gave me the cockerel chicks as soon as they were 'off heat'. I learned what to do, and never looked back.

[di]

Thanks all for advice about preparing the kiddies,Sometimes I wonder if we're expecting too much of them & if we'd been better off telling a few white lies,but actually that's what happened to me as a kid(the lambs)& I was distraught & as mentioned previously,became veggie as soon as I was told.Perhaps if my parents had been honest to me about it from the start I'd have been more able to sort it through in my head & appreciate the fact that I'd helped to make the lambs lives happy?Or maybe I'd have been even more traumatised???
I've also heard stories...some on here I think?...of people who can still remember being traumatised by seeing their "pet" chook/rabbit/pig already to be carved,but actually,if my memory serves me correctly,I think seeing the prepared meat was the first time they had knowledge that the "pet"was destined for the pot.
I think the key for us is,if we carry on hatching,to move the boys into their own "meat run" as soon as we know they're boys.Also I think hatching at home possibly makes it a little harder,although I'm already aware that subconsiously I'm paying far less attention to Boo since the emergence of a very prominant comb!
The kiddies won't be pressured into eating the meat,I'll see how that goes,but I actually feel reassured that keeping them in the know about what's happening is the right way to go.(& it goes without saying that they won't witness the deed at this age,keeping them away will be the perfect excuse for me to not be present!)