Incubator

[Swede]

Most of us do eat our chickens. When they quit laying, they then feed us. Lest you think me some sort of a barbarian, I say a prayer over each chicken, thanking God for the chicken and thanking the chicken for giving up her/his life that we might eat. I kill it quickly and humanely in a cone and don't let it flop around.

I do not run an old folks home for chickens. My feed bill is high enough than to carry an animal that doesn't contribute. For those that do want to keep a bunch of old chickens for pets, I am happy for them and their chickens.

My 2 year old grand daughter loves MEAN Rooster Soup!

I don't even care if the roo is mean, I still love him and I won't cook him

 

[Hinotori]

That's your prerogative.

I've been spurred and had the infection that comes from a dirty puncture wound, as well as the scars that remain. Aggressive males here are taken care of immediately. They do pass it on genetically to their offspring. You can breed for friendliness.

To improve livestock breeds, there are always way to many males and no pet homes. The best solution is humane slaughter. This also provides the highest quality meat from birds who have had happy chicken lives.

If you cannot slaughter, do not breed chickens. I know some people just cannot do it themselves. I bawled the first few I did. Hubby was insistant that if I wanted to raise chickens, I take care of them.

 

[sumi]

I don't eat my own chickens, or any chicken meat, haven't for about 9 years now. But I am considering starting again, because it makes sense to. It's meat (food) and it's a nice versatile meat too. I'll find it hard to eat my own flock members, but at least knowing how they were raised and treated will be nice.

Back to the ostriches. They can be aggressive and can kick the heck out of you if they have a mind to. Especially during breeding season, when they have a nest of eggs, or chicks. Apart from that they are lovely, curious birds. They love pecking at and eating things, so watch jewellery, watches, etc when you go near them. Their meat is really nice, but I can't tell you more than that. We never raised any ourselves, we bought the meat off the abattoir or local butchery.

 

[Beekissed]

To improve livestock breeds, there are always way to many males and no pet homes. The best solution is humane slaughter. This also provides the highest quality meat from birds who have had happy chicken lives.

If you cannot slaughter, do not breed chickens. I know some people just cannot do it themselves. I bawled the first few I did. Hubby was insistant that if I wanted to raise chickens, I take care of them.

Or even raise them at all. Eventually there will come a time when a chicken needs a merciful end, even if they aren't going to be eaten. Knowing when to kill and then killing is an important part of raising animals, if you don't have that capacity or someone nearby who does, it's best to never take on the care of another creature. IMO, love that allows suffering is not love that I would want for anything or anyone.

I love every chicken on my place, love them from chick to the last day and even past that, when I consume their energy into my body. Loving an animal does not preclude killing them and consuming them. I'd rather kill a chicken in its prime of life, when they are feeling wonderful and their meat won't be wasted than to let them live long enough to suffer from illness due to old age, then are thrown away like an old shoe.

I also enjoy the privilege of being the one who insures each chicken has a quick death conducted in a quiet manner and place, with as little drama and fear as possible. I wouldn't entrust any of my chickens to anyone else for that.

On a homesteading forum, it's likely that there will be many who love the taste of the livestock they raise and so will also kill them for food...that's the whole point of raising them as a homesteader, isn't it? To be more "self sufficient"? How can one become more self sufficient if they depend solely on the grocery store for their food?

 

[baymule]

I don't even care if the roo is mean, I still love him and I won't cook him

I have 2 scars from my mean rooster. I have grand children and no way was he or any other animal going to be a threat to them. Mean animals don't stay. My husband, for the first time, did the deed. I had the roo snugged down in a cone and DH cut his throat. Then tears trickled down his cheek. He has never, to my knowledge, ever killed any living creature on purpose. He cried when he ran over a squirrel. He called me, crying and just a mess because there was a cardinal stuck in his radiator. He has never, ever gone hunting. So for him to take the step to kill the rooster was HUGE. I hugged him. Then we cleaned that mean rooster and he fed us, our grand daughters and the leftovers fed 3 neighbor boys we watched while their dad worked late and their mom took a night class. And I still have two containers in the freezer.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Ya know, I understand that some folks will tolerate mean roosters. When I first got chickens about 40 years ago - I was the same way.

Not too many years after I started raising chickens I had a big ol' red rooster. One day, to my dismay that rooster flogged me when I wasn't looking. Isolated incident right? I was sure he'd never do it again. But - he did. I always kept an eye out for his mean a$$. I started walking backwards in the chicken area so he couldn't sneak up behind me. I wouldn't let my kids go into the pen with him.

And yet, that rooster would still get me... he did it again....and again...and again.

One day when I had my hands full with two buckets of feed he came at me again - from the front this time. He'd gotten so much bolder. I have to admit that I screamed like a little girl and threw a bucket full of feed in his direction. The bucket hit him and he went down. I didn't really think I could hit him - but I did. And when he jumped back up I was horrified - he had a broken leg. I felt awful. I cried. I picked him up and splinted that leg and put him in a cage and fed him treats and nursed that rooster like he was one of my children. I kept him up for about 3 weeks and when he finally got released from that cage he was a much nicer rooster. He was still wearing a splint and couldn't move very fast so he sure wasn't a threat anymore - until he was again. About a month later that piece of crap rooster flogged me from behind again. He got both of my legs and I had blood running down into my shoes.

Separated his body from his head about 5 minutes later.

Moral of this story - don't tolerate a mean rooster!