Ask Not for Whom the Bell Tolls
Part of the homesteading life also revolves around taking life to feed man and dog alike. We tend to keep our birds longer than normal. We also give them the best life we can. But as winter approaches we need to lighten our load.
For the next couple of months we'll be dispatching many of our birds.
It's not pleasant work, but we do it as quickly and as humanely as possible. Nothing goes to waste. Even the feathers are put back into the compost. That in turn will grow the feed that will feed future generations of chickens.
How do you feel about taking life to feed yourself? (That is, if you're not a vegan.)
Greg says that I'm almost obsessive about cleanliness and a sterile environment when I dress any animal. It's true. I can't control what the USDA allows, but at least I'm sure about the meat I process here.
Comments
Given a choice, we'd rather eat the meat we've raised than meat from a commercial processing plant.
PS: Thanks for the tweet. :)
Just kidding around. I'm one of those who doesn't want to see how the animal is "dispatched". Big strong horror writer, right? *laughs* I like my blood shedding only between the pages. Ick!
-Jimmy
I wonder if we've become a world over-convenienced and that will be out downfall?
Re: over-convenienced
This reminds me of bagged lettuce and peanut butter and jelly swirled in the jar.
When I've gone to country fairs, I'm struck by some of the kids who raise cattle, pigs or poultry for show can differentiate between pets and food. It's got to be hard for them on some level, but then I suppose they're raised to know that every piece of bacon comes from a live animal.
It's sobering.
I would probably have to have someone else do it for me.
Once, a friend asked me to get her a chicken from a local CSA. The chickens were already killed, plucked, cleaned, etc. But it was hilarious to get a phone call from my friend, who was very disturbed to see a head and feet still attached to the chicken! I had a good laugh over that.
I'm sure if I was forced into such a situation, it would be different. I pray I'm never forced!
I tend to eat more vegetarian but because of health reasons not animal rights reasons.
Me? I have an innate need to know how something is done even if I never do it for myself again.
Re: chicken head
Oh, that is funny! I remember the first whole chicken I saw was at my grandmother's kitchen table. She was chopping off the feet to make soup.
Another time she made a blood soup from goat blood. I was very little, but I was fascinated at how she used every bit of the animals she killed.
And she killed and dressed them herself. My mother didn't have the stomach for such work, but I used to sneak away and watch my grandmother work. She was an amazing woman.
Re: dress a bird
It's not hard. It's just that people don't have the practice unless they hunt or raise their own.
I'd like to see kids learn how to it's done at least once. It'll give them a little more respect for their food the next time they bite into a piece of KFC.
I try very hard to use up whatever is in the fridge/pantry. On the rare occasions when I goofed, it'll at least go to the chickens or the compost.
Re: copperhead
Those are bad ones. I'd call a neighbor too if I could. You don't want to get bitten by one of them.
Hope you have a nice big freezer! But if you need someone to take some of that meat off your hands let me know ;)
Heck, I couldn't even flush dead fish down the toilet. I always buried them carefully.
For someone like me, it's extremely hard not to get attached, especially since I raised most of them from babies. But I remind myself of their purpose and my responsibility and carry on.
I missed watching them swim in the tank, but I didn't miss cleaning that monster. :)
Thanks for adding your voice to this post!