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.

Nope. That’s why I only eat fish.

No

Yes and I have done. Don’t kill lambs myself but I do poultry. The trick with lambs is to kill at least 2 at once and then you don’t know who you’re eating. I would much rather it’s killed at home than go to an abattoir.

No, and that's why I've been vegetarian for 45 years.

No and that's one reason I won't eat animals.

I think I could if I had to.

But I'm very pleased I don't have to!

Yes. I've done it with rabbit and fish, and although I'm not even sure how to butcher a pig I'm sure I could learn. Chickens should be fairly easy.

I would if I could. I.e if I had the land to keep livestock.

I would HATE the killing part, but I would ensure it was humane, and that the animals lived an impeccable life whilst in my care.

I think this is far better than the alternative - abbatoirs are horrific places full of fear. I am ashamed to say that I eat meat, even though I know this.

This thread has made me question my values. I think it's time to stop eating animal products. I just can't reconcile the cruelty of it.

Yes. I think squeamishness and skill would be a short term barrier but humans have been doing this since the dawn of time, for longer than we could outsource it to someone else so I expect I could follow suit.

Totally. Keep guinea pig commune for just that purpose.

Yes, I grew up on a smallholding and we would process our own poultry. Larger animals (sheep, pigs, the occasional cow) would be sent away for processing, and returned to us to eat. We'd also swap with friends and neighbours - half a sheep for half a goat etc.

Although I've moved out, I'd say 90% of the meat I get still comes from the farm. I feel much more comfortable eating meat that I know was reared (and dispatched) in an environment that conforms with my personal ethics.

Yes. I try to use offal and bones in my cooking to fully utilise all the meat available and feel it's more respectful of the animal than just picking say steaks and breast meat. I don't keep pet animals and never would.

No. We used to keep chickens for eggs, when we had the space, and when a couple had health issues and obviously weren't going to make it, we had to bring them to the vet to have them put to sleep. I couldn't even handle dispatching them in a 'putting them out of their misery' sort of way. The vet seemed nonplussed.

We're both far too soft to handle it.

I don’t think it’s hypocritical to eat meat but not be prepared to kill it yourself. There are lots of jobs that include things I wouldn’t want to do but whose services I use. What about working at a sewage plant or a rendering plant or nurses.

Id be fine killing an animal but I really wouldn’t want to deal with some of the things nurses or care workers have to deal with.

Absolutely not.
I've been vegetarian for 36 years, and verging on vegan now.

Probably not now given my vastly pampered urban lifestyle but I’m sure if I was raised in a different place and context it would be no problem. My neighbour used to have chickens in her garden, when she decided she couldn’t keep them any more her mother (raised in the Caribbean) just wrung their necks like it was nothing. Most people around the world will be familiar with the process.

I would rather not and I don't have the skill to do it, but if I absolutely had to I probably could

In day today living, no.