Killing your own animals for meat at home

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Killing your own animals for meat at home
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Piggyphile

Joined: 02 Apr 2009
Posts: 891
Location: Galicia

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 12 8:54 pm Post subject: Killing your own animals for meat at home

I am emotionally struggling with regularly killing my own poultry for meat. I have been doing it (broomstick method) for around 18 months now and I thought I would get used to it. I enjoy eating meat, and we have had pigs (the neighbours killed those) rabbits, ducks, geese chickens and tomorrow my 4 turkeys are to be slaughtered by me, with a mate to assist, which I have grown very fond of. I am dreading it and am not sleeping well.

Once it is done I know I will be relieved and OK, cleaning and plucking is fine, it is just the act of ending a life, looking into their faces (they trust me) and doing it. The method is not an issue, it works for me, they are free range, have the best of food and shelter, have acres to roam in so why do I feel like this? I like to follow permaculture principles where I can so the birds eat pests, I need the manure for the veggies, it all makes sense to eat the excess males. Does anyone else struggle? Does it get better? Does anything help?

Bungo

Joined: 21 Dec 2011
Posts: 354
Location: Wye Valley

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 12 9:56 pm Post subject:
Only kill chickens,sheep go to abatoir , and I cannot say I get pleasure from it and I try and give them the best life possible while there alive , and enjoy their company . But , at the end of the day , the reason we have them is for meat,and I love eating them .Certainly don't loose any sleep over it .

perlogalism

Joined: 27 Nov 2009
Posts: 440
Location: Near Welshpool

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 12 10:14 pm Post subject:

Bungo wrote:

Only kill chickens,sheep go to abatoir , and I cannot say I get pleasure from it and I try and give them the best life possible while there alive , and enjoy their company . But , at the end of the day , the reason we have them is for meat,and I love eating them .Certainly don't loose any sleep over it .

Ditto. The Sheep and the Pigs go to abattoir but I kill all the fowl. No, I don't enjoy it, especially next week when the Turkeys will be offed, but it's a whole lot better than eating mass produced meat.

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9717
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Sat Dec 08, 12 11:38 pm Post subject:

we take our sheep and pigs to the abattoir but kill our own chickens ducks and turkeys.

From my point of view, no it doesn't get easier It is grim and depressing each and every time.

I'm ok with that feeling. I sort of feel it would be wrong if i stopped caring. I am a meat eater by choice, I have thought it through and think it is the right way. And I want to be responsible for my own actions. I know the life they lead, I know the death they have. And I believe they have a better life and a better death than the average birds and animals raised for meat.

Andrea

Joined: 02 May 2005
Posts: 2260
Location: Portugal

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 12 9:21 am Post subject:
I kill everything myself (poultry rabbits goats) and have done so for some years but it's still a horrible job. I grit my teeth and do it quickly. Like CiG, I think that if it didn't affect me then there would be something wrong with me.

Went

Joined: 19 Mar 2006
Posts: 6968

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 12 9:36 am Post subject:
Greenfoot used to participate in the Matanza and slaughter of chickens and has done all of his life until this year. He reached a point where he could no longer be a part of it and as a consequence has given up eating meat. It takes all sorts but you have to be clear with your own conscience and be at peace with your decisions.

Andrea

Joined: 02 May 2005
Posts: 2260
Location: Portugal

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 12 9:39 am Post subject:

Gawber wrote:

Greenfoot used to participate in the Matanza and slaughter of chickens and has done all of his life until this year. He reached a point where he could no longer be a part of it and as a consequence has given up eating meat.

Good for him. I really think that if you eat meat you should be prepared to kill it. Or not.

i try and encourage our volunteers to help me when I do it. Really gives them something to think about. It's amazing the number who are quite happy to eat something I buy in the shops but quail at something that they've been feeding each morning.

Went

Joined: 19 Mar 2006
Posts: 6968

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 12 9:52 am Post subject:

Andrea wrote:

Gawber wrote:

I agree Andrea - as a life-long meat eater and from a family where meat is a staple of every meal, it took a great deal of personal deliberation to come to that decision and he has got a lot of stick for it.

Be comfortable in your own skin - life is too short to be any other way.

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 12 10:08 am Post subject:

I've gone the other way, I gave up eating meat because I didn't like the idea of killing animals for food. The more I learned about it, the more things changed. Sometimes things go wrong in the killing of 'industrial' meat but in terms of percentages I think industrial will turn out better. They can't afford to be inefficient as smallholders can.

The killing of animals should never be easy but knowing more about it makes me feel much easier about being responsible for it.

chez

Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35934
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 12 11:11 am Post subject:

I hate it. I was vegan for a while because I couldn't get my head round the whole thing and felt I shouldn't be eating it if I couldn't be prepared to kill it. Then I realised I was able to kill things and started eating meat again.

Now, I don't eat meat unless I know exactly where the animal has come from and how it was raised.

After I do our birds, I quite often go away and have a cry. It helps that we have quite a good division of labour - Arvo doesn't kill them (although I think it's now fair to say that if I wasn't here and something needed culling he would). Generally though, I kill things then hand them to him whilst they are still flapping and he takes it from there. I didn't used to be able to pluck/skin and dress; but I can do it now without an issue. Once their head's off, I'm fine.

I agree with what other people have said; if you didn't loathe doing it, you'd probably be on the road to psychotic.

I find it much easier if I make a mental distinction as I am bring them up that they are for the freezer. I have a single six week old turkey in the brooder at the moment that I *know* is going to turn in to a pet because it's a) the only one and b) it's enchanting.

Nature'sgrafter

Joined: 22 Feb 2012
Posts: 527
Location: Sanday , Orkney

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 12 12:52 pm Post subject:
I can't just walk out and kill one of my animals unless it's wounded or in pain. I still have to mentally pre-pair myself to do it and the day I stop caring about doing it I will stop because I pride myself on doing it quickly and as painless for the animal as possible and never want to deviate from that.

bulworthy project

Joined: 27 Jun 2011
Posts: 188
Location: Rackenford, Devon

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 12 12:53 pm Post subject:
I kill our chickens. It isn't a nice thing to do, but you know that they had a good life and a quick death. It is easy to shy away from these things and end up buying meat which has had neither. Pete

chez

Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35934
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 12 12:54 pm Post subject:

bulworthy project wrote:

I kill our chickens. It isn't a nice thing to do, but you know that they had a good life and a quick death. It is easy to shy away from these things and end up buying meat which has had neither.
Pete

Yes, that's the thing to remember. My main fear is mucking it up and causing them more distress than absolutely necessary.

ETA: I think if you are preparing your own meat, you probably eat less of it, simply because of the effort it takes - physically and emotionally. My feeling is that that is a right and proper thing. We are meant to be omnivores - meat is a difficult-to-produced high-value resource that is not meant to be eaten every day in large quantities.

Nicky cigreen

Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 9717
Location: Devon, uk

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 12 3:15 pm Post subject:
we certainly never waste meat - witnessing them die for us makes me feel honour bound to make sure it is all used and well.

NorthernMonkeyGirl

Joined: 10 Apr 2011
Posts: 4590
Location: Peeping over your shoulder

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 12 3:27 pm Post subject:

Chez wrote:

meat is a difficult-to-produced high-value resource

Wise words

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