Need Help - Wife is apprehensive about harvesting our livestock

[Linebacker]

I need advice on how to help my wife understand the concept that we raise livestock to provide healthy safe nutrition to our family.
Background: My wife and I have been married for twenty years this December. We were both raised in a very rural small town, with both our families heavily involved in farming and livestock. Both families putting up homegrown stock in the freezer. We finally realized our dream of buying a home and acerage in the country. This we have always talked about, not just me, but both of us.
Last night I found two weaned mixed breed kid goats and arranged to purchase and pick them up this weekend. The goats are needed to clean off some overgrown fence rows and then they are to be butchered. You would have thought I told her we were going to cook the cat after the mice in the barn were gone!
I can only imagine what will happen when the quail, rabbits, pigs and calves are ready to be slaughtered. I thought the hard part would be convincing our children, but they took "you know where food comes from" talk well.
Anybody have any suggestions?
Brad

[Ardie/WI]

No, I ave no advice. I can only tell you that my DH, Roger would be the same way!

I knew that if we got a cow or steer or chickens or anything to raise to butcher they would all end up as pets! I imagined a cow following him around the land, along with all the other "meat" animals along with it, all spoiled rotten and useless!

[Cheribelle]

My first 2 calves went to the sale barn. I could not eat them. That was almost as bad as eating them.... Seeing them herded into the ring and treated as "livestock'! I bawled.
The next calf did go to the butcher, but I didn't eat any for a month. Finally DH could take no more and grilled up some steaks. Oh Man. Delicious! It was very hard, and still is, but we do it.
My son asked What are we going to name these rabbits? I said Supper, Supper, Supper, and Supper. BUT MOM, I like them. I said I know, but remember we liked George, but we really love steak? He said "Well I was never really that fond of george"
Good grief.
Good luck.

[Runestone]

Sorry, I can't help either. MY DH is a vegetarian, and I'm close so any livestock we have will be used for other purposes...eggs from the ducks, milk & fleece from the sheep, etc.
I know...I'm a horrible 'farmer' but that's the way it goes here

[HilltopDaisy]

Poor thing. No help here, I'm afraid, I'm another vegetarian with a pasture full of "useless" pets . I cry when a chick or poult dies or disappears. Can't even begin to imagine killing one of my goats.........

[moonwolf]

Originally Posted by Linebacker

I need advice on how to help my wife understand the concept that we raise livestock to provide healthy safe nutrition to our family.
Background: My wife and I have been married for twenty years this December. We were both raised in a very rural small town, with both our families heavily involved in farming and livestock. Both families putting up homegrown stock in the freezer. We finally realized our dream of buying a home and acerage in the country. This we have always talked about, not just me, but both of us.
Last night I found two weaned mixed breed kid goats and arranged to purchase and pick them up this weekend. The goats are needed to clean off some overgrown fence rows and then they are to be butchered. You would have thought I told her we were going to cook the cat after the mice in the barn were gone!
I can only imagine what will happen when the quail, rabbits, pigs and calves are ready to be slaughtered. I thought the hard part would be convincing our children, but they took "you know where food comes from" talk well.
Anybody have any suggestions?
Brad

My suggestion? Don't get any livestock. People do make pets out of them, but that's really not what livestock was intended for. To each their own, but if you want companion animals, get something that isn't considered so much as a 'normal' meat edible, like a horse or ornamental birds and such.
Get a hedgehog. lol. They are useful, eat insects, too. I could see having a goat for a pet also, but you also could milk them and never feel the need to butcher them if you don't want to. Get more than one goat, though. If getting herd animals, always get more than one.

[gccrook]

Do you guys eat meat now? Does she know that that meat was someone's pet? OK maybe a little too much, but it is true that the meat you now eat was once an animal that belonged to someone. I have found that goats, as they get older and bigger, lose much of their "pet" appeal, at least to me. We have a bottle fed wether from lat year, that we all swore would not get butchered, but just yesterday, my wife and I were saying how we were ready to take him to the butcher. Maybe time will work to your advantage with the goats.

[Christiaan]

I would suggest that you be adamant that the animals are to be butchered, but don't let her participate in the butchering in any way. Then, as you eat them over time she will learn to accept the fact that this is how both of you had planned to live your lives. My DW won't have anything to do with most of the slaughtering around here, but since she has pushed me into selling fryer chickens she knows she will have to help with the butchering. BTW she's a fantastic gardener.

[wildhorse]

Brad the only advice I can give is dont give them names and help her stay unattached as possible which will leave you with there care and processing your not alone my hubby cant stand the thought of killing anything at all.

[Linebacker]

cheribelle: Great Antidote! Thanks "poor George" lol

gccrook: Yes we eat meat now. Back about 22 years ago I first ask her to marry me after she helped me dress a bunch of squirrels I harvested one morning. (she said yes!) and has helped me dress both fish and wild game since. Its the whole mothering instinct. Not that I want that to go away she's a great mother and wife.

Christiaan: I hope that she will come around also. We both have full time jobs and I hope her's can be replaced with our market garden, fish, and nursery and eventually our organic livestock!

Wildhorse: I really like the idea of not naming.

[EDDIE BUCK]

Talk with your slaughterhouse or processer about trading yours for theirs. And work out the weight difference. My BIL would not eat any meat from two steers my father in law butchered, until my FIL convinced him they were eating the mean one. LOL

[GrannyG]

Wow, it is hard. We had two tom turkeys once upon a time. One was named Thanksgiving and the other was named Christmas. However, Christmas got injured and had to be become dinner before Thanksgiving. My daughter has never forgiven me ! She still talks about pulling out the pin feathers, and she did not eat any meat that year. We had Thanksgiving for Christmas. LOL

[5webbkids]

Brad,
Semi-Seriously:
Buy some broiler chicks.....by 6 weeks the little devils are such eating machines they will convince her they would eat HER if she fell in.....she will be glad to see them on the table and not chasing the feed bucket! LOL
Seriously:
If you take on the feeding and watering chores and distance her from the care of the animals you are going to eat it will help. If she's not looking into their big brown eyes every day it's less heart wrenching to eat them. Butcher the first ones yourself or send them out.....after eating it, it will be easier to want more! Worse comes to worse, sell them when the fences are clear and recover at least the purchase price, but make sure she knows they are going one way or another. If she is money minded keep track of all expenses regarding them, offer them OBO (or best offer) in the paper or board at the feed store and let her hear what the best offer is....not close to what you have invested....figure water, labor, the whole 9 yards on the cost....it's kind of free to you when you eat them, but it looks different when you are giving that to other people! Also you could translate 50% of their live weight into meat prices and let her compare. The first ones are always the hardest and being a Mom I know I hate killing anything, but I also know I love what it tastes like being home grown. Point out that the idea is to better your diet by eating things you know were raised well, humanely butchered and aren't full of chemicals! The best gift you can give to something you are going to eat is a good home, good food and a clean death....mega raisers don't do that, and even sending it to a sale barn won't garauntee that. You can be a great steward of your blessings and reap the rewards of that by having good, healthful food on your table!
Good luck! If she can't come to see the "light", you really would be more satisfied having pets or maybe dairy animals and buying your meat someplace else, it's not worth going to bed being known as the Mean old Grim Reaper Guy...or sleeping on the couch! LOL

[Linebacker]

Very interesting 5webbkids maybe the cost analysis will help.
thanks

[Oggie]

This winter, when it starts to get a little cold, bring all the livestock into the house to keep them warm.

After a week or so, she'll probably shoot them herself.

[piglady]

It does get easier with time. The first is the hardest but by the third animal or so, she won't feel the same. My DH didn't have a problem with the small animals but a calf that he is raised was a little different. We now drive them to the butcher, and drive away. Later, I fill the freezer with wraped meat and we all pretend I went to the grocery store except this tastes a whole lot better. No teasing at the table allowed. It may be a joke to some but to others it is upsetting. The first few meals, keep the subject away from the farm or animals. It's a good time to hear about the kids football team etc. After awhile, it's just no big deal.

[Linebacker]

Originally Posted by Oggie

This winter, when it starts to get a little cold, bring all the livestock into the house to keep them warm.

After a week or so, she'll probably shoot them herself.

It will probably be me that gets shot!

[MullersLaneFarm]

Meat chickens are a good suggestion. They are eating machines and aren't cute little pets once they get rid of the fuzz. They finish off quickly (6-8) weeks and become expensive to feed for nothing in return (except eating.)

I know it will be hard for us when our Jersey milk cow (only 9 now) stops becoming productive and will have to go to freezer camp, but I won't think about that now.

Oggie - I liked your suggestion!

LB, if you're afraid you'll be shot, start out small with just keeping those meat chickens in the house for a bit - the stink alone will make them less appealing.

[CGUARDSMAN]

if like most people they have to have names name them after food. my pigs are ham hock and pork chop

[YuccaFlatsRanch]

When you get ready to butcher one of the goats or sheep, or a steer, get another to take its place. Needs to be young and cute and then she/he can lavish attention on that one and forget the other.