Newbie needs help

[Stacey]

I guess im screwed. I dont have any chickens yet,or ducks, I will get them both.I already have names for them.And they will be instantly loved! My toddler will love them to bits 2,she seems to have a huge fascination with all types of birds. She knows what she wants that girl and shes gonna be dragging me off with some binoculors to go bird watching I know it!

[Birdie Wife]

Hi Paulottie,
You might want to get another couple of hens - the recommended minimum is three (so if one dies, you don't have one very lonely chicken - they like to flock and hate being on their own) but if you have two already and you introduce one more it's likely to get picked on. I'm not vastly sentimental about animals in general but I did find it quite difficult to cull one of my roosters at the weekend - it was the first chicken I'd ever killed, and there were good reasons why it had to be done, but still the hardest part was thinking about it beforehand. The rest of my family won't eat meat that looks like it's been part of an animal, I just don't understand it. I make a personal choice that if I want to eat meat, I want to be able to give it a good life, kill it and cook it myself (the rooster made a fine stew with red cabbage and bacon, mmm). Obviously that doesn't extend to cows and pigs etc, I eat beef but I don't want to work in an abbatoir! But I'm doing what I can in a small way. Sorry, hope no-one feels preached at reading this, I don't mean to try and make anyone feel bad for being sentimental about animals, and yes they do give me pleasure running around, all the different personalities, but at the end of the day they are there to do a job for me.

[TPeers]

Don't apologise for being honest - I can understand a child being upset at being presented with a 'pet' for supper if you have not explained why the animal was being raised, but an honest omnivore who will treat 'prey' with respect and make sure it had a good life and a kind death should be praised.

It is only in the wealthy West that this sentimental attitude exists.

My hens are pets, these birds will never end up on my table but that doesn't mean that at some future date I will not start to raise my own table birds.

I fish as well (flyfishing) and keep my catch when local rules allow. A really fresh trout is a stunningly tasty dish - the supermarket fish are awful and the fishmonger (I'm lucky, I have one only 5 mile away) is quite good but not a patch on caught in the morning, served in the evening!

Terry

[kirsty b]

Hi all
We got our hens for meat and eggs. I won't lie and say that I'm not attached to my girls, and I do worry that I'm doing things right when it comes to caring for them, but when the time comes for one to go in the pot I am capable of doing the deed.
As for the kids, they have known from the beginning that we will have the occasional home grown hen for dinner and they were surprisingly unfussed about it, the youngest (6) volunteering to help.
We've found that being upfront with the kids is the best thing, and they sometimes surprise you with how unsentimental they can be!

[Birdie Wife]

Ooooh fresh fish is lovely. We fish for wild brown trout, sea trout and bass, and really the thing that upsets me most is having to kill an undersized fish because it's been hooked too badly, and not being able to eat it! I hate killing things for no good reason, if it's for dinner that's different!