The executioner cometh!

[Smoggy67]

Just sat waiting for my friend to arrive with he's boiler..

We after much love & care now have four cockerels among our brood.

It takes so long to identify them, but that 5am wake up call helps to establish they are defo boys...

So in approx 20 mins 2 light sussex and 2 feather footed hybrids are for the pot.... R.I.P

Bit sad really, but as my mate said - "you fed them, now they will feed you"
Bit blunt but very honest...

[Flummery]

Rather you than me! That's why I can't face hatching chicks.

[Smoggy67]

Rather you than me! That's why I can't face hatching chicks.

I cant say im looking forward to it - but it'll make room for more girls I suppose...

[RichmondHens]

I don't think taking a life could ever be pleasurable (unless you are a sicko) but if it's necessary and done correctly then you should not feel guilty about it, and just enjoy eating the end result. I have to admit to crying recently when we "retired" a stud cock to the freezer as he was a lovely boy, and had done his job well, but now unfortunately surplus to requirements. I don't normally get emotional about the young ones as haven't got to know them and they are just a job that needs doing.

Hope it all goes well for you anyway Smoggy.

[MaureenHall]

Good luck Smoggy, hope it's not too traumatic for you. I love all my lot equally (but in different ways) but I know that the boys are destined to be dinner one day. We respect our lot too, that's why it's always a bit emotional, but taking into account the lives we've given them, we should never feel guilty

[Snadger]

LS are big birds so will have a good bit of meat on them! How old are they btw?

On another note, I've often wondered about the chicken meat you buy in the shops. They are such big breeds, reared for the pot and killed young................I wonder what percentage are cocks and hens?

I didn't enjoy killing mine but new it had to be done and I made it as dignifyed as I possibly could!

[walldanzig]

I would say I didnt enjoy it but took a very clinical view of it. I am very much of the school if you eat it you should know how its killed. I have done it and did feel a twinge of guilt but knew thats what they had been raised for and better this than what the supermarket sells.

[Hilary B]

I've killed a fair few. There is a satisfaction, even pride, in doing it RIGHT, to set against the feeling that it would be nice if it didn't need doing.
Supermarket 'chicken' I don't think they care about gender, the normal age for slaughter is before it really makes much difference.
My feeling on the whole meat issue is that if no-one was going to eat these animals, they wouldn't have been born in the first place, so making life as good as possible, and the end of it as nastiness-free as possible, is what must be aimed for.
When it comes to cockerels hatched when hoping for hens, better a good life and a quick end than being expected to survive 'feral', or gassed at hatching for snake food.

[Flummery]

True Hilary. I think it all comes down to respect. Factory farmed animals aren't shown any.

[Smoggy67]

Job done..

Thanks for your support all..

Job done, four birds killed quickly andhumanely, plucked - cooked and on the plate.

Not much meat on 2 but as Snadge said the LS were quite meaty.

Smell different, taste diferent and look all together more appetising than shop bought... And you dont get fresher than these..

As for the killing, i agree that i feel i did all i could to make their lives happy, free range, well fed and well housed.. So im glad I managed it without much upset...

RIP to four of them - but onward and upward.

[petal]

What have you been fattening them up on, may I ask? I have 4 light sussex boys who just seem a bit lean at the moment....

[jayjay giant]

I would say I didnt enjoy it but took a very clinical view of it. I am very much of the school if you eat it you should know how its killed. I have done it and did feel a twinge of guilt but knew thats what they had been raised for and better this than what the supermarket sells.

I agree with you 100% If i couldn't do it then I would have to be vegetarian. We live in a very cruel world but we have to take the stance that we produce our food in the best and most humane manner.
I don't think I will ever by meat from a shop again !

JJ

[kirsty b]

I currently have 6 eggs in an incubator, but any boys that hatch are destined to be dinner. If I ask nicely, the man up the road who sold me the eggs will cull them for me, and hopefully show me how to do it myself for next time.

Any girls will be kept as layers.

[mr darcy]

that's why i'm veggie!! (too sentimentale)but good on you all who care for your chaps so well and have the courage to kill humanely and dignifiedly (oops spellings!) agree with everything written here!!