Could you raise, slaughter and process your own meat?

[Soubriquet]

I don’t know why, but I’ve been watching a lot of homestead field to plate videos

People rearing chickens and rabbits.

Whilst I think I could keep them, and maybe process at a push, I don’t think I could kill them.

No. Im vegetarian so eat other sources of protein - unless I was living in a famine and had no other options then absolutely no way.

@Soubriquet I’m not sure. My husband and children did but I just couldn’t do it.

I’ve plucked and gutted home reared chickens and turkeys. It’s why I’m now pescatarian.

edited for typo

Yes. We did when I was young.
It's actually pretty great because you absolutely know how your meat and fur lived. Imho best way to eat meat (and wear whatever comes from the animal too).
I wish I had the time and space now really

Yes, I think so. They are delicious.

Raised on a croft. Yes but I would still cry

Never - been vegetarian for over 40 years - even if I was on a desert island I would rather starve to death then murder a living creature for me to survive!

Nope! I’m eating less and less meat, probably chicken once or twice a week and fish the same, gradually phasing it out of my diet altogether.

Yep here.
We have just started raising quail. They live in a huge outdoor aviary with loads of forage and digging, certainly no tiny cages. But the boys have to go, so at 6 weeks I process them and they go in the freezer, either for us or for the dogs who are raw fed.

Took a while to do the first few, but it becomes easier mentally the more I do it. Its horrible still, but I understand that it has to be done, until there is a way of sexing fertilised eggs!

Didn't they just shit all over you?

If i had to, I'm sure I could.

Tbh if it was that or starve, I'm not sure people would be safe.

I'm not sure it's good for people to be so far removed from what's it takes to put food on their plate that they couldn't take care of it themselves.

My uncle would cry every time he took a pig for slaughter, but he still did it. Always used to wonder why he cared so much about his pigs but had a barn full of battery hens. To me, that was far more cruel.

Absolutely not. That's why I'm a vegetarian.

Absolutely not. I’d rather starve.

Yes . turkeys.

Technically yes - I can and have 'necked' chickens and rabbits in the past, can draw game birds / gut fish etc.

I'm not sure if I could stab a pig, in the old school sense.

Ideally, if I could just shoot wild game (I'm a very good shot) I'd be fine.

@Kendodd They wore home made chicken nappies

Absolutely not, I'm afraid. I would have to become a vegetarian.

I’ve been a strict vegetarian for the last thirty years, but I grew up killing chickens (and eating the annual calf, though I wasn’t the one killing it). I’d do it again if the alternative was starvation. I’m not sentimental about animals being humanely reared and slaughtered.

Nope. If I tried they would end up living with me forever, receiving the best medical care possible and eventually dying of old age.

We raise our own pigs. We don’t slaughter them ourselves and realistically I don’t think I could (I was a vegetarian for 20 years and I’d be fine being one again if that’s what it came to). Could process them though if needed (not currently allowed by abattoir I don’t think). We take them to the abattoir ourselves though and go collect the meat. We have fully butchered a whole lamb and deer before (deer came like literally a deer, with head and fur on, the kids actually did that one!).

Very happy to raise and butcher them, but I think it takes a certain sort of mindset to slaughter, and even in more traditional societies, that isn’t done by everyone.

Not if the meat is not sold. I can slaughter my own sheep providing they are properly stunned (they are). I just can't sell or give away the meat.

Yes, I've reared meat and egg chickens and pigs, before now.

The chickens I kept for eggs (for just family) had names and were kept as pensioners, though.

They all had a fabulous free range life in our wood and meadows, and a very quick death.

We ate our home raised meat, though.

Chickens yes, rabbits no. Anything bigger than a chicken? Maybe a sheep if I was starving. Definately a pheasant!

Yes. My dh's family have land. We used to raise, slaughter and pluck the chickens ourselves. We raised pigs and sent them for slaughter, made all our own sausages. Also Turkey at Christmas and a few geese at times.
This was just for the family to use and in spare time, we all have normal full time jobs and him and I live in a tiny house with no proper garden.
My mum has a few pigs and she's just dropped off some chops.

I don't find it weird at all and am actually repulsed by some of the meat we buy in the supermarket. Once you've seen how it's supposed to look it's a wonder anyone eats it.

I've not killed anything, but I've butchered a whole deer before and that was okay. Needs a bloody sharp knife though and it was a bit grim. Was tasty though and kept us in meat for ages.