Slaughtering with kids around?

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Cottie

Cottie

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So far, we've done all the /chopping without the kids nearby. I have several roosters to do, however, and I'm tired of waiting for a night where I'll have help.

Does anyone slaughter with their kids in sight? I am aware this is probably an extremely stupid question. My non-farm upbringing insists my 4 year old will be scarred for life or become a violent chicken slayer.
 
I wouldn't force my kid to help against his will but it's not going to turn a kid into a serial killer. I feel it is good for kids to see where their meat comes from and there is nothing without sacrifice.
 
It used to be very, very common for children to help in various capacities on butchering day. :)

It's not a stupid question, though. We are several generations removed from that being common. We are having to relearn a lot of things nowadays... like what kids are capable of handling. It used to be the job of very young children to carry water from the pump to the house. Obviously, they couldn't carry a lot, but it was something they were capable of, and so they did it.

You can tell your 4-year-old what you are going to do and why, and tell him he can watch, or he can go play where he can't see. Do make sure he knows he is not allowed to butcher a rabbit by himself... he must ask first. Someone on here found their young son with a kit that he was planning to butcher for dinner. :lol: He knew what the rabbits were there for, and he wanted rabbit for dinner.
 
When I was a kid and saw my first chicken get butchered, I was... 10 I think. Well, I found it very gory and started balling. Chickens, in my mind, look to be a lot worse to butcher than a rabbit. Although I have never done a rabbit so I'm not sure of it. But the chicken screams, the head falls off, the head opens it's beak while the chicken is still flapping, and if you do the cone, blood shoots EVERYWHERE and sometimes you have to dig for the jugular with a knife.

Not a pretty scene for children, but when it comes to plucking they can be a big help.
 
Nothing wrong with it at all. :) Just explain in advance that it will move even after it is dead.

Several years ago, a friend raised up several turkeys for a few people, ourselves included. Many had never butchered before, so we all had a communal slaughtering day on Christmas Eve, and all of our kids were there and even helped.

Your son might be very interested in the "insides". If so, make it into a mini lesson in anatomy. "This is the heart, which pumps the blood, here are the lungs that we breathe with..."
 
I was interested with all the guts and gory stuff AFTER it was dead... lol. I broke the legs off, cut the crop to see what was inside, cut open the gizzard, it was all cool. lol

One thing I learned though... is that chickens have testis on the OUTSIDE... LOL!! It was shocking to me.. And that chickens also have hair that is really hard to get off.
 
My niece keeps begging to see me butcher a rabbit. I don't think her parents would approve...

I think I did my first dissection around 10. Didn't bother me at all. Of course no one told me I had to eat it afterwards. If it's a normal child and not OCD like me, the shock will wear off and there will be quite a few jokes around the dinner table.
 
I have an age in my head, and when she reaches it (chronologically or emotionally) I'm going to take her out back and butcher. I'm more concerned about what she will tell her friends in school, and whether that will bring on a visit from the AC.
 
Our nearly 3 year old has been present for butchering of various creatures since the beginning. She's watched us process rabbits and has seen her dad dress plenty of game and fish. I think she is just now getting to the age where she's asking the "big" questions, such as "does that hurt?" and "is he scared?" I try to explain the best I can that Mr. Bunny is ok and that after an animal is dead they don't feel pain or fear. They are made of meat and we eat that meat, and her beloved dog eats the meat. She seems accepting of it. I'm sure that once she's middle school aged she'll go through a conflict between what she's learned and experienced with us and what she hears her peers say about the whole thing. The only thing I can hope for is that I am raising her to be a strong enough person to stand up for herself, her experiences and beliefs when the other kids start telling her it's gross or mean to butcher animals.
 
My grandfather and dad were big hunters and fishermen. They hunted for deer, squirls, and rabbits. So I grew up watching things being gutted and skined out. Now I know how to gut and skin animals. Anyway I think its a very educational practice. Like miss m said just give your kid the choice to stand there and watch or go play. When I first let my girl watch she thought it was very interesting. I named of the different annanomy.
 

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