I just tried to show my husband the Wiz Bang chicken plucker and let's just say we didn't get past the first few seconds :lol:

He informed me that there was no way EVER that he could raise an animal for food. So that knocks out a lot of things for me. He said he would love to go veg if someone cooked for him (he cooks on the grill every night for us and I do the sides).

So, no chickens for us :wah:

Awwww...you could have someone else process for you. Sometimes they will come to the house, or if it's not really a rural area like that, you could put them in crates in the car and take them to be slaughtered/processed.

One of the reasons I became a veg was because of the at-home processing I saw, of deer. Oh and the frog-giggin that my grandfather took me to witness. That was a looong time ago but still very vivid to me.

I wasn't raised on a farm in any sense of the word. Both of my parents were but took to the city in the '80's when all the "it's about more stuff" generation was working. That said, I only knew food to come from the store nad I am learning tons and having to relearn a lot!

also, one thing I have always stressed to my children is that if they decide to eat meat (none of us do), that I would advise them to either raise or hunt themselves and do the processing so they know where the food comes from.
So far, the only one that can come close is my oldest and he loves fish and doesn't mind working for it.

DH simply won't raise animals for food period. We do have a local butcher that does everything though.

My family on my Mom's side are all fishermean and also hunt. I grew up with freezer full of moose, bear and deer. I never ate it but I still had that influenece.

I am leaning toward veg anyway because it just makes me feel better physically so we'll see how this plays out.

We went veg after my dh caught a fish from our pond and had to kill it to eat it. Now we are vegan and really enjoy the lifestyle!

That may not be a bad thing or even an inconvenient thing. There are other ways to have producing animals or just animals as pets. Dairy, fiber, eggs, breeding...

butchering and killing isn't always a black and white thing for folks. My feelings are changing about it....I'm starting to favor toward home butchering. A year ago? no way. A year from now, maybe. Maybe not. Five years ago I was perfectly content having food come in tidy plastic packaging. I think it's an evolution of feeling and comfort....that can go either way, for or against.

Fwiw, my dh won't ever participate in processing or butchering. Conversely, my oldest son actually gets hunger pains when we drive by a pasture of angus. :o

For me, I want to become fully self-sustaining, growing all our own food, and in northern Vermont, that is not going to happen - vegetarians would starve and/or become malnourished in the winter here. All my veggie friends who are very local-food and self-sustainability savvy, agree with me on that point. ;)

There are other reasons we eat meat, mostly health-related, but I just don't have a problem with harvesting animals for food. I do have a BIG problem with factory farming, which is why we're trying to raise all our meat ourselves or buy it locally from small family farms who raise and slaughter humanely.

I completely respect anyone's decision to be veggie or vegan - I was for years. But for us, for our homesteading goals as well as others, it just isn't on the table as an option (no pun intended).

I would love to produce all of our food someday which is why I thouhgt chickens would be good for us. We don't have to eat other meat (I prefer chicken anyway).

For me, personally, I couldn't butcher something furry. I think fur
=pet. Of course, my father would disagree as his POV was if it was dead in a snowbank that meant it was already refrigerated for him (think squirrel and raccoon).

Way more than you wanted to know about my Dad I bet :lol:

For me, personally, I couldn't butcher something furry. I think fur
=pet. Of course, my father would disagree as his POV was if it was dead in a snowbank that meant it was already refrigerated for him (think squirrel and raccoon).

Way more than you wanted to know about my Dad I bet :lol:
This is very funny about your dad. I think he and mine would get along swell!!
If I were to *ever* decide to eat meat... and similar has happened with the drinking of goat milk and now eating eggs.... it would be the fowl and fish I wouldn't so much mind. I would have to have someone else process it though. Dh nor I could stomach it.

Lauren, I just think what you do is :thumbsup: ! I have tried to change my frame of mind but maybe it will just take time and baby steps!
yeah, I guess with shorter growing seasons, it would be tough to sustain on frozen ground and some eggs.
TN has a longer growing season PLUS I can have a spring and fall cool crop extension with cold-frames.