I killed a chicken yesterday

Susie_Q · 28-09-2011 08:06AM #1

Well, not directly, but I ordered it's death. Actually, my interpreter did. I'm like the Hitler in this equation; not murdering anyone myself but sending the orders down the ranks to do it. I'm the subcontracting corporation.

I went to the local market (no Tesco here! Am in Asia) where there is a cage full of mangy-looking chickens and asked to buy one. No problem - the man chopped off its head with a machete and then chatted amiably to us while the headless chicken wriggled and writhed around on the counter in front of us, surrounded by flies. Blood everywhere. He hacked off the feet and then deftly removed the chicken from its skin in one move, like pulling a wet glove off a too-big hand. He pulled out all the guts and at this point looked at me and laughed. He must have seen the look on my face. I forced myself to watch the whole thing, I figured it was only fair if I'm going to eat the chicken to see the process that goes into making it ready for consumption.

I have been a meat-eater all my life and love eating meat. But I have to say, seeing the chicken killed and butchered in front of me was a bit much. I cooked it at home and between the poor quality of the meat and the queasiness in my stomach I couldn't eat it.

Would you eat chicken if this was the only way you could get it? i.e. If you had to watch the animal be killed, skinned butchered etc. If, hypothetically, it tasted good.

allanb49 · 28-09-2011 08:12AM

Did it taste good?

If so whats the problem?

Poor Uncle Tom · 28-09-2011 08:13AM

Susie_Q wrote: »

Well, not directly, but I ordered it's death. Actually, my interpreter did. I'm like the Hitler in this equation; not murdering anyone myself but sending the orders down the ranks to do it. I'm the subcontracting corporation.

I went to the local market (no Tesco here! Am in Asia) where there is a cage full of mangy-looking chickens and asked to buy one. No problem - the man chopped off its head with a machete and then chatted amiably to us while the headless chicken wriggled and writhed around on the counter in front of us, surrounded by flies. Blood everywhere. He hacked off the feet and then deftly removed the chicken from its skin in one move, like pulling a wet glove off a too-big hand. He pulled out all the guts and at this point looked at me and laughed. He must have seen the look on my face. I forced myself to watch the whole thing, I figured it was only fair if I'm going to eat the chicken to see the process that goes into making it ready for consumption.

I have been a meat-eater all my life and love eating meat. But I have to say, seeing the chicken killed and butchered in front of me was a bit much. I cooked it at home and between the poor quality of the meat and the queasiness in my stomach I couldn't eat it.

Would you eat chicken if this was the only way you could get it? If, hypothetically, it tasted good.

Newsflash, all meat has to die to be eaten, I've never seen a cow walking around with bites taken out of it, it has to be dispatched so I can enjoy it's meaty goodness......

soniasharma · 28-09-2011 08:14AM

oops i can't eat.. I am pure vegetarian girl.

mongoman · 28-09-2011 08:14AM

Susie_Q wrote: »

Would you eat chicken if this was the only way you could get it? If, hypothetically, it tasted good.

It doesn't kill itself you know, so how else is it gone to end up on your plate?

Mr. CooL ICE · 28-09-2011 08:17AM

soniasharma wrote: »

oops i can't eat.. I am pure vegetarian girl.

You are missing out on such awesome food

texidub · 28-09-2011 08:21AM

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

Newsflash, all meat has to die to be eaten, I've never seen a cow walking around with bites taken out of it, it has to be dispatched so I can enjoy it's meaty goodness......

Not exactly. In deepest Africa when times are hard, poor families will slice some meat from their cow (if they are lucky enough to have one) and then stitch it back up.

:eek:

soniasharma · 28-09-2011 08:21AM

LordChessington wrote: »

You are missing out on such awesome food

No problem Buddy..

jester77 · 28-09-2011 08:22AM

I had to kill a chicken once. It was a team building exercise and we were taken to a forest and spent the day on a survival course. After the course was over we were taken back to camp and we thought we were done for the day and could go on the beers. However they blindfolded us, split us into groups, loaded us onto trucks, drove us into the middle of the forest, dropped us off, gave us some utensils, told us we would be putting the training into practice and drove away. Dinner was a chicken tied to a tree somewhere in the forest and we had to find it and kill it.

I had no problem killing it (pull the neck and twist). You would be surprised how easy it can be once you're starving.

Chuck Stone · 28-09-2011 08:24AM

I've killed and gutted fish so I think I'm a wee bit desensitized so I reckon I could eat it.

I love me some southern fried chicken.

Susie_Q · 28-09-2011 08:27AM

mongoman wrote: »

It doesn't kill itself you know, so how else is it gone to end up on your plate?

I mean if you had to watch it be killed, skinned, butchered etc.

Bruthal · 28-09-2011 08:30AM

Poor Uncle Tom wrote: »

Newsflash, all meat has to die to be eaten, I've never seen a cow walking around with bites taken out of it, it has to be dispatched so I can enjoy it's meaty goodness......

The op might of meant if you had to have it killed and processed in front of you, its not the same as picking one off the shelf in tesco, even if both were obviously killed.

nicechick! · 28-09-2011 08:31AM

Reminds me of a a story as children we had chickens one day we arrive home and noticed the chickens weren't there we sat down to a delicious dinner of chicken someone mentioned where did the chicks go? my mothers replies ''your eating them''

we didn't eat the chicken thereafter!

We have the luxury of having everything displayed nicely for us so don't blame your reaction!!

sbsquarepants · 28-09-2011 08:36AM

Don't feel bad OP.
I've choked manys a chicken - never felt a seconds remorse for it either;)

Davidth88 · 28-09-2011 09:08AM

At least you knew it was fresh !!!!

I would have no issue with that , I have eaten Lobster, where they pull it fresh out of a tank.

Corvo · 28-09-2011 09:20AM

Least he died a quick death!

txpjl · 28-09-2011 09:22AM

Susie_Q wrote: »

I forced myself to watch the whole thing, I figured it was only fair if I'm going to eat the chicken to see the process that goes into making it ready for consumption.

I have been a meat-eater all my life and love eating meat. But I have to say, seeing the chicken killed and butchered in front of me was a bit much. I cooked it at home and between the poor quality of the meat and the queasiness in my stomach I couldn't eat it.

Very hard to do. Better off not sitting through that again.
I would eat it, if it was the only way, but would not sit and watch the prep process.

I've seen my grandfather kill and prep rabbits and geese/chickens when I was younger, hasn't put me off meat but I don't need to see it either.

28-09-2011 09:24AM

I heard the cat and dog i ate being killed.. Didn't affect the taste though.

facemelter · 28-09-2011 09:35AM

I found that a fish youve gone out and caught , gutted , seasoned and cooked your self tastes nicer cause you can appreciate the effort involved , alot more work than just buying one !

Bruthal · 28-09-2011 09:38AM

facemelter wrote: »

I found that a fish youve gone out and caught , gutted , seasoned and cooked your self tastes nicer cause you can appreciate the effort involved , alot more work than just buying one !

A lot more work than having one picked from the tank and killed alright.

facemelter · 28-09-2011 09:45AM

robbie7730 wrote: »

A lot more work than having one picked from the tank and killed alright.

Worth it though :P imho

Bruthal · 28-09-2011 09:47AM

facemelter wrote: »

Worth it though :P imho

It is for sure. Althought picking from a cage is what happened in the OP.

28-09-2011 09:47AM

Susie_Q wrote: »

Would you eat chicken if this was the only way you could get it? i.e. If you had to watch the animal be killed, skinned butchered etc. If, hypothetically, it tasted good.

Not unless I was stuck for food
My conscience is slightly appeased about eating meat by the fact they're well dead by the time they get anywhere near me
killing them outright, no

Mr. Presentable · 28-09-2011 09:50AM

Susie_Q wrote: »

I cooked it at home and between the poor quality of the meat and the queasiness in my stomach I couldn't eat it.

.

This is wrong. If you are going to kill an animal you ought to eat it. Otherwise, as in this circumstance, the poor creature has died for nothing.

Me? I have had butcher training and learned to respect the source of food and repeated preparing of animals for the pot naturally becomes mundane, and it will for you if you go to the market every week.

Bruthal · 28-09-2011 09:56AM

Mr. Presentable wrote: »

This is wrong. If you are going to kill an animal you ought to eat it. Otherwise, as in this circumstance, the poor creature has died for nothing.

Me? I have had butcher training and learned to respect the source of food and repeated preparing of animals for the pot naturally becomes mundane, and it will for you if you go to the market every week.

There is the difference, not everyone had that training, and if someone feels sick or a bit off after witnessing the event, they cant make themselves feel better instantly. And if the meat is in fact very poor, should the OP still eat it so the animal didnt die in vain?

A good percentage that eat chickens every week from the supermarket shelf would struggle to do so in the OP`s scenario.

Gyalist · 28-09-2011 10:02AM

I've killed more chickens than I can remember.

Also, the expression "running around like a headless chicken" is actually true. One of the first times that I killed a chicken, I took my foot off the bird thinking that it was dead, only to see it get up and run blindly around for a few seconds before eventually collapsing. I was only about 9/10 at the time and after that I always ensured that the chicken's feet were securely tied together.

Although I didn't mind killing them I absolutely hated plucking the feathers.

Sky King · 28-09-2011 10:09AM

I think we are all waaay too detatched from where our meat comes from. People are just so used to seeing it wrapped in cellophane that they don't realise that someone actually ends the creatures life!

Then again you could be too far the other way, like a mate of mine who casually remarked to me when discussing the leftover bullets on his kitchen table after a day's target shooting

'I'm saving those spare rounds for my dinner. Each one of those bullets is an animal's life'.

Knowing in detail where meat comes from does not make me want to eat it any less, but it does make me very concious about not wasting the food.... hate wasted food.

Ever been in an abbatoir? Now THAT'S an eye opener!

epgc3fyqirnbsx · 28-09-2011 10:12AM

The most honest way to eat meat is to see it be butchered and to rear it yourself if possible. There's nothing quite as sobering as leaving some animals that you reared, and in some cases handfed until they were strong enough, to a factory. It's not pleasent but you sure as hell respect your food more

arybvtcw0eolkf · 28-09-2011 10:27AM

jester77 wrote: »

I had to kill a chicken once. It was a team building exercise and we were taken to a forest and spent the day on a survival course. After the course was over we were taken back to camp and we thought we were done for the day and could go on the beers. However they blindfolded us, split us into groups, loaded us onto trucks, drove us into the middle of the forest, dropped us off, gave us some utensils, told us we would be putting the training into practice and drove away. Dinner was a chicken tied to a tree somewhere in the forest and we had to find it and kill it.

I had no problem killing it (pull the neck and twist). You would be surprised how easy it can be once you're starving.

I hate that kinda crap, killing another living thing for the craic.

I'm in the army 27 years and have done countless courses & training exercises on the ground and have never had to kill anything for dinner, or for a laugh.

OP I worked in a slaughter house when I was a teenager so I'd have no problem looking at my dinner killed and fed to me.

biko · 28-09-2011 10:30AM

Yeah I've killed animals for food, growing up partly on a farm.
Not sure I could do it today but it's the natural order of things.

sensibleken · 28-09-2011 10:35AM

Um all meat is killed! I hate this congnitive dissonance some people have that they are perfectly happy to eat the muscles, fat, veins, tendons, liver, kidneys of an animal as long as they dont have to see how its actually gotten. Either accept that blood goes everywhere when you kill and butcher an animal or become a vegan

I killed a chicken yesterday

Comments