Ingrid Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 My only problem would be eating a roast 3yo chicken, in food chain terms that is quite old and you may find it a bit tough ! I grew up a country girl, we always had chickens for eggs and when they stopped laying they went in the pot, we were very popular with the neighbours if more then one needed replaicing cos there weren't any freezers. We had a husge garden so my Dad grew all his own fruit and veg too. As kids we were expected to help out with chores and that meant plucking etc. chickens if necessary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSDFan Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 It makes perfect sense to me. When I kept poultry either myself or the dogs ate it. I would much rather eat 'a friend' that has been carefully and lovingly reared and had a good life pecking around in the sunshine than eat something which has been mass produced in less than ideal conditions and then terrified by a trip to the abbatoir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EGAR Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 I think alot more peeps would be vegetarians if they had to kill their own animals or if they would know them *personally*. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EGAR Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 I believe in Zoology the *don't eat a friend* theory is called *Burgfrieden* in German - no idea what the English translation is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alison Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 Hang her well so that her flesh is good and tender - the action of enzymes is essential. To eat a bird reared in such circumstances as she lived (and died) is exactly the way things should be IMHO. Given the choice I would prefer to be vegetarian but regrettably haem iron issues preclude this option for me - I become severely anaemic without it. I do, however, insist that the meat that I have to eat is from a source which I am confident has been raised and slaughtered in the most welfare-friendly manner possible. Living where I do, this invariably means that at some point I'm eating a cow or bison whom I've befriended. On one level it seems ghastly but on another, I know how that animal has lived, how and where it died. I would never purchase meat from any other source than that which I do - my local butcher who slaughters the animals himself in his small abattoir and sources them farms no more than 6 miles away so that they are not stressed by travelling long distances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melp Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 Helen did you kill her yourself? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happylittlegreensquirrel Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 Helen did you kill her yourself? I thought she just died Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanishPastry Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 My dad had ducks in his garden for a few years. He fed them well, they had free range of his large garden and a shed for night time. He would slaughter them himself at christmas time and give/sell them to family and friends. They tasted so good! I have to say though, that I am a total hypocrit.... two of the ducks had names, and I refused to eat any those two Helen, I just wish all animals for consumption (be it for humans or other animals) had lead a life as great as the one of your chicken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tegk68 Posted December 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 Helen did you kill her yourself? Yes. There is a nack to it and shouldn't be performed by those who don't know. I was taught it I learnt because I wanted to be the one who did it. That way I knew they had had a very quick death etc. That was extremely important to me. I thought she just died No, see above It's slightly odd to me, that as a vegetarian and huge animal lover I am able to sometimes segregate this in my mind i.e. pet/food when the time comes. My dad had ducks in his garden for a few years. He fed them well, they had free range of his large garden and a shed for night time. He would slaughter them himself at christmas time and give/sell them to family and friends. They tasted so good! I have to say though, that I am a total hypocrit.... two of the ducks had names, and I refused to eat any those two Helen, I just wish all animals for consumption (be it for humans or other animals) had lead a life as great as the one of your chicken Very similar to my grandfather's set up that Anne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooandboo Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 We used to eat our poultry, killed quickly and expertly by my Dad. I was very fond of Arthur the cockerel though and couldn't eat him We also ate two of our billy goats - sent to slaughter and then my Dad expertly cut them up into chops, steaks etc. - they were beautiful in life and tasted equally as good. We stopped breeding them from then on so it obviously had an impact on my Dad. I do think that seeing all of this, as well as hearing my Dad's tales of how it was done (often not so expertly) in the outside world led my Mum, brother and me to turn vegetarian ( now vegan in my case and my brother is heading that way). My Dad, other brother and sister still eat meat. We were always made aware that the meat on the table at home was once a living creature. On the other hand, if I was able to peacefully and quickly end the lives of all of my animals when the time came I would choose to - what my Dad did was far more preferable to me than anything I've witnessed at the vets There is a tribe (can't remember their name) who will eat animals living wild but as soon as an animal is brought into their home (outside or in) it is never eaten by them as they see it as part of their family. Helen do what works for you, if you try to consider everyone's views you'll end up completely (Please excuse waffled post, haven't got time (or the ability) to organise my thoughts ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wickychoo Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 Slightly O/T(ish) but I think you can be a veggie/vegan and do that Helen. Surely one of the greatest kindnesses (sp?) you can bestow on an animal is a quick and painless death. If you see what I mean that's not come out quite right... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ingipops Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 I am a meat eater, but there is now way I could eat something I'd considered a 'pet' and I couldn't keep an animal and not consider it a 'pet'. Each to their own..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melp Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 I don't think it's wrong at all but it's not something I could do personally. Like Ingi I couldn't care for an animal and not consider it a pet but then I couldn't kill a wild animal either. It's not that I consider it wrong, I don't, it's just not something I could do. I don't know the first thing about chickens but I am intersted to know why she was killed. Is it because she was bought/reared specifically for food or was she ill? I see other people have said she was fairly old at 3, I assume they're usually killed before then. If thats the case how come she was kept for so much longer than is usual? [this is OT so apologies, I'm just interested] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 I couldn't kill a wild animal either. It's not that I consider it wrong, I don't, it's just not something I could do. Yes, I'm like that. I don't like it, because its a totally illogical feeling: I eat meat, so I ought to be able to take responsibility for that properly but I am totally crap at killing things. I don't even like composting entire plants, that's how wussy I am. I get nightmares if I pour boiling water on ants, and I even struggle to kill poor myxomatosed bunnies, even though I have been shown how to do that and I know it's a really merciful release. Something in my brain isn't joined up right, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmandaUK Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 I couldn't do it and think it's pretty awful. But that's just my perspective. I couldn't kill a perfectly happy little hen that I'd looked after for years, but then I would look on it as a "pet" and I obviously couldn't/wouldn't kill a pet, unless it was for health reasons and on vet advice. I can see where your friend is coming from when she said it was "sick." I agree up to a point, but can also see your point too. This hen was obviously livestock to be culled and eaten when the time was right, she was not a pet. Who killed her? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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