I live, write, and garden in the PNW with my husband of 27 years, disabled daughter, college-aged son, and my 84-year-old mother. We have paid off $250,000.00 worth of debt (if you include the interest) in the last fifteen years and as of 6/12/2020 are 100% DEBT FREE!!!!One of the things about raising livestock is that despite your best efforts, you can get pretty attached. You wouldn't think you'd come to adore a chicken as much as a cat or dog, but it happens. I may not be particularly fond of some of the girls, but I like them all. Queen just happens to be my favorite chicken.
She is sweet and affectionate and curious and interested in everything you do. She gets into places where you don't want her to be and she was the first one to ever hop the fence. She likes to hide her eggs and gets quite annoyed at you when you find her secret stashes. She rules the roost and is a regular busy body and she has not been herself at all the last few days.
She had been lethargic and laying down more and more and we were really afraid she might go the way of Navi, who died eggbound. Well, after a nice warm bath and the massaging of an area you don't particularly want to massage on a chicken, she seems to be doing much better. She was alert and she very eagerly ate the canteloupe rind and seeds (her favorite) that were offered to her. She'll get two warm baths a day for the next couple of days just to be on the safe side.
Hopefully she will still be chipper come morning. She's one of the original flock, one of two survivors of every racoon massacre we've had. I think it would hit DS pretty hard if she went. Probably even DD (a duck girl) who usually only tolerates most of the chickens who barely tolerate her in return, but likes Queen, would be sad for a few days.
I've rolled off most of the chicken deaths in the past. Oh, they made me feel sick inside, but I wasn't particularly fond of any of them at the time. Queen's been around for a couple of years now though and we've bonded. I've tried hard not to get close to an animal since my cat died when I was 26. Somehow that silly chicken has managed to work her way into my heart though.
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In other livestock news, I can now get within six feet of all the ducks without them having a major freakout. I'd like to be able to walk among them, but I don't know if it'll ever happen. We didn't handle this batch as much as babies and it shows.
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DH and I are considering getting meat birds if we get a large enough lot when we move. Considering how much organic chickens cost these days, the good ones anyway, it would be quite a cost savings. We won't have layers, we'd leave that to Mom. We'd just do broilers. We'd do a chicken tractor and probably just do one ten week raising per summer of 50 birds (or 75 if Mom wanted some), so we wouldn't be tied down year round and still be able to go on vacations. DH thinks he'd be able to do the butchering. I'd be fine once they were dead, but I don't think I have it in me to do the deed, as close as I've gotten with layers.
Either that or meat rabbits. I'm going to get a butchered rabbit from a nearby farm so we can try the meat and see if we like it. Butchering rabbits is faster and easier than chickens and if the meat were similar enough, it might win out over chicken. And we could take the doe and buck over to a temporary hutch at the in-laws to be cared for if we went on vacation. We would plan it so there would be no kits or pregnancy at that time.
I am still a little hesitant, because, well, it's killing your own animals for food. At the same time, it's raising them in a way that you know is humane, feeding them organically, and giving them the best possible life before reaching the table. And you can investigate any farm as much as you want, but when you do it yourself, you KNOW how they lived. It might be a tough transition. But I know I can't raise a steer or a pig. I would totally get attached in the amount of time it takes to grow one to butchering size. With broilers or rabbits it'd not take that long and the chances of getting attached would be much smaller.
And then there are the kids. They would know from the start that only the doe and the buck would be long term animals. But you just don't know if they'd try to attach themselves to the kits. So...I don't know.
It's so much easier to get my meat in neat little packages from a farm that does all the dirty work for me. But...but, but, but, but. Should it be easy? Should that disconnect be allowed? We do want to be self-sufficient as much as we can. It'll be a hard step to take, but I think once we do, we will be okay with it. And we will respect and honor our meat animals for their gift to us. Or I'll do it once and run screaming from it and have to live with making other choices.
We Almost Lost Queen
August 25th, 2012 at 08:46 am
August 25th, 2012 at 12:44 pm 1345898651
Otherwise, you would need to go vegetarian. I think most americans eat way more meat (nearly daily) than is necessary to maintain good health.
August 25th, 2012 at 01:30 pm 1345901409
I think you have valid points as far as raising animals for food. It is part of the food cycle and it will make it real to them as they learn about it not only in textbooks as well as in life. Respect is the important part -- not mistreating the animals as you raise them.
When I was growing up we had chickens, pigs, and a calf we raised and slaughtered. My dad informed me from the start they would eventually be dinner and not to get too attached to them. I think knowing upfront was the easiest. I will say the worst part was when my mom, grandmother, and dad did the chickens...the smell of hot, wet feathers is one of the worst in the world. I hated that more than any other part.
August 25th, 2012 at 06:21 pm 1345918891
August 27th, 2012 at 01:38 am 1346031523
My mom was raised on a goat farm. Her parents let her name the goats.... She never quite got over having to go to the deep freeze and get the lamb chop labeled with the goats name ... So .... I guess if you're going to raise animals to eat, make sure you or your kids don't name them.
August 28th, 2012 at 10:21 pm 1346192518
August 29th, 2012 at 01:20 am 1346203255
August 29th, 2012 at 07:11 pm 1346267468
October 20th, 2012 at 01:20 am 1350696032