Originally Posted by quiltnchik
Originally Posted by Jingleberry
I would only eat fruits and vegetables if I had to kill anything, watched my Mom wring chicken's neck when I was about 6, never left me. Made a bad impression.
We never wring necks - too much chance of them not dying and ending up being in pain. We just chop the heads off and then drain them over a bucket. I honestly feel sorry for a lot of people if, heaven forbid, something really bad happens and we have to fend for ourselves (no grocery stores, etc.). Quite a few wouldn't make it, sorry to say.
Also, a lot of people have no idea what goes into store-bought chickens, cows, pigs, etc., or that most eggs bought in stores are approximately 3 months old when they reach the store - YUCK!
After yesterday's lessons I can't imagine why anyone would wring a neck. It's much easier and less trauma for the bird to just get the neck cut. We actually hung some orange road cones (bought new) upside down and cut a little larger hole in the top. Put the chicken in head first so just the head and neck was coming out the top. Cut the neck and they stay put with no flopping around since they're wedged down in the cone. It's a quick death.
It's unbelievable what goes into commercially raised meat. These chickens down the road live in the nastiest conditions, no access to fresh outside air or light, their feed is made from ground up leftover chicken parts and the day of collection is so brutal. They come in with big cages with spring loaded doors. They sling the chickens head first into the cages and many of the birds suffer broken wings, legs, etc. They ride on the back of those flatbed 18 wheelers, in whatever the weather condition is, to wherever the processing plant is. I have no idea what goes on from there but what I know is enough.
My next step is getting a little weanling steer and raising him up. Right now all we have is an electric fence for my horse and that's definitely not enough for a cow, but someday we'll get a better fence put up.
Milk is the one area I'm stuck on. I can't be here every morning and evening to milk a cow and it's illegal to buy/sell raw milk in the state of MS (and many other states for that matter).