We were just discussing this issue in another thread so I thought it was worthwhile to explicitly come back to this thread which involves raising your own chickens.
For years I have wanted to raise my own chickens, to have eggs and to take care of them. However I would never be able to kill them. I would also be traumatized when they died, and I believe chickens have an average life span of four years. We have many coyote and fox where we live so it would probably not be a long life despite my best efforts.
I think I need to accept that I am not well suited for chicken raising. There are many types of people in the world and chicken raising would be too traumatic for me. There are other people who handle it much better, which is great! There is a place for each type of person, and an environment each type of person thrives in.
So I am gently accepting that my place is not in a chicken farm. So my task therefore is to support those people who do thrive in a chicken farm, and buy my eggs and chicken from them.
I am putting on my goals for 2011 to end the year with at least 25% of our household meat being free rage, and all eggs. I realize it will be a financial burden and I will find ways to cut back on other expenses to make this happen.
