Raising meat animals can be extremely difficult emotionally. There is a lot of time, effort, and connection that comes alongside working firsthand with an animal everyday. In this post, I’ll share ways to help you learn how to emotionally raise meat animals on your homestead.
I never imagined we’d have meat animals on our homestead one day. It was never something I was interested in, passionate about, and frankly, I didn’t think I could get past the idea of killing something else for my own sake. And yet today, we find ourselves harvesting nearly 100% of our own meat, including by raising pigs, chickens, and cows.
So how have we gotten here? How have we made the jump from never being able to fathom the idea to moving towards harvesting almost all of the meat we eat?
The main reason we are able to raise meat animals is because I’ve learned how to emotionally handle raising meat animals. I’m not saying that it is easy. Let’s be very clear about that! Because working closely with an animal that will one day be slaughtered for your family’s sake is not an easy thing. However, there are some ways you can overcome this difficulty and learn to emotionally raise meat animals, if that’s something you are seeking.
Note: Not everyone will be able to emotionally get past the idea of killing animals for food. On our homestead, we have chosen to eat meat and therefore, we have decided that we would like to have some control over the animal’s life and well-being prior to their slaughter. Our intention is always to raise animals as best we can. More on that below! Everyone has to come to the decision on their own as to whether or not they are comfortable eating meat.
Table of Contents
- Find Out Where Your Food Comes From
- Take Small Steps Towards Self-Sufficiency
- Recognize That It Is Supposed to Be Hard
- Remind Yourselves of The Animal’s Purpose on Your Farm
- Pray for the Animal
- Other Options if You Just Can’t Emotionally Raise Your Own Meat
- Share this Post
- More on Raising Meat Animals
- More to Read
Find Out Where Your Food Comes From
If you’ve been someone who has purchased meat from the grocery store your whole life, take some time to really find out where your food comes from. Are these large-scale meat producers and slaughterhouses acceptable to you? Can you accept the way that these animals are being raised and processed?
If the answer is yes, then good for you. You’ve found a good farm to purchase your meat. But if you can’t find the answer because they’ve hidden it, or if you’ve found out how the animals are raised and processed and you’re unhappy with it, it becomes a lot easier to emotionally raise your own meat animals.
A big thing to remember is that all meat comes from an animal. We sometimes tend to forget that when we are so disconnected from the process that happens from animal to table. Take some time to be a responsible meat eater, and choose to eat meat from a source you know is humanely raising animals for meat. If you can’t find it, then consider raising your own meat animals yourself.
Take Small Steps Towards Self-Sufficiency
You don’t have to jump all in to raising meat animals if you’re questioning whether or not you emotionally can handle raising meat animals. Instead, start small and work your way towards where you want to go. If all you can do right now is raise the animals, but you have to send the animals away to be processed, that’s ok! There’s no shame in that. It may get easier to accept the process the more that you see it happen, and eventually you may be able to start to process the animals yourself at home. In the meantime, take baby steps towards your goals and go easy on yourself if you find yourself struggling with doubts of your abilities.
Ideas for Baby Steps to Emotionally Raise Meat Animals
These are my suggested baby steps for emotionally raising meat animals, but know that it’s going to be different for everyone based upon who you are:
- Start with raising a meat animal that will not be on the homestead/farm long. This helps limit forming a deeper attachment, and it helps keep the animal’s purpose in mind. I recommend raising meat chickens like a Cornish Cross as your first meat animal. There are several reasons for this: they are ready to be processed in 6-8 weeks, they are not cute and cuddly, and they often will start dying naturally after 6-8 weeks anyway because of their large size. It’s a great first animal to start with. Animals like cows are going to be harder emotionally to raise for some because they are with you for a year or so at least before they are harvested, giving you more opportunity to forget the animal’s purpose on your homestead.
- Allow someone else to do the killing. Whether it be that someone experienced comes to your home and kills the animal or it be you taking the animal to a processor, it can be easier on you emotionally if you allow someone else to do the killing of the animal when you’re just starting out raising meat animals.
Recognize That It Is Supposed to Be Hard
People often take their food for granted, but the reality is every single time you eat meat, an animal has had to die. It’s easy to forget this fact when we’re disconnected from the harvesting process by purchasing meat in small containers in the store. But raising your own animals for meat brings this thought back to perspective. It’s a lot harder to waste food when you see firsthand the price that has been paid for the meal on the table. This is the way God intended it to be so that we wouldn’t take our food for granted. The fact of the matter is that raising your own meat is supposed to be uncomfortable emotionally so that we don’t overeat, waste, and overkill.
Remind Yourselves of The Animal’s Purpose on Your Farm
From the beginning, it’s important to remind yourselves of the animal’s purpose on your farm. Constantly keeping this in your thought process will protect your mind and help emotionally with the process.
Try to think of it as a fact of life
As you’re working with your animals, remember the circle of life that you are a part of. Notice it in nature around you and recognize that you are a part of this natural world that God created. Killing and eating other animals exists all over in the animal kingdom, and we are a part of that same kingdom, doing our best to survive. Keep this perspective in mind as you work with the animals each day.
Don’t name the animal
Naming the animal brings a sense of relationship and connection that you don’t want to have with your meat animals. It’s important not to name the animal so that you don’t start to view it as a pet, and instead can keep its purpose on your farm in mind.
Keep these animals separated from “pet” animals
On the note of pets, keep meat animals separated from your pet animals. It can make it more difficult to set the boundary of meat animal vs. pet, which ultimately will make it harder for processing. To help yourself emotionally, try to keep the meat animals in a separate location from your more permanent animals.
If another family member can care for them, let them.
If someone else in the family who is more comfortable emotionally raising meat animals will take care of the animals, let them! When we started our raising meat animals, I didn’t want anything to do with the meat chickens or pigs to protect myself from getting attached. And still today, my husband does the majority of that work. However, as time passes, it’s become easier to accept and so, easier for me to also work with the animals.
By trying some of these strategies, you can keep the animal’s purpose on your farm at the forefront of your mind, which helps you to emotionally raise meat animals.
Pray for the Animal
No one finds joy in the killing, but there is pride in harvesting. One way that you can find some peace during the process of raising animals for meat is to take time to pray thanksgiving over the animal, and pray that God grants the animal a life of contentment. When it is time to process the animal, pray that God helps the kill to be quick, that the animal might experience no stress or pain, and thank God for the gift of this animal’s life. Pray for yourself, too, that you might never take this animal’s sacrifice for granted.
Other Options if You Just Can’t Emotionally Raise Your Own Meat
If you are just really struggling with the emotional side of raising your own meat, then there are other options. You don’t have to settle for purchasing meat from unknown sources.
Here are some ideas to help you out if you cannot emotionally raise your own meat:
Barter with neighbors
Perhaps your neighbors down the road are able to raise meat for you in exchange for something else. Some ideas to consider as creative bartering ideas are snow plowing for a winter, raising vegetables, providing milk from a milk cow, or exchanging maple syrup.
Hunt More
Hunting and killing animals can sometimes be easier than raising your own meat at home. For this reason, some people find it easier emotionally to hunt and kill an animal that they don’t “know”, making this another option for those who struggle to emotionally raise meat animals.
Purchase from a Small Local Farmer
If you can’t emotionally raise your own meat, consider purchasing your meat from a small local farmer that you know is raising their animals well. Tour the farm, see how the animals are being cared for, and purchase your meat from them. You’ll be supporting a small business and small farmer who is trying to provide for their family, while making sure the meat you are eating was raised humanely. It’s a win-win for those who struggle emotionally with raising their own meat animals but still want to eat meat.
Eat less meat (or no meat at all)
If you really can’t get past the idea of raising your own meat, another option is to simply eat less meat, or just stop eating meat altogether. Recognize what you have chosen each time you make meat at your home, and decide for yourself if it’s worth it or not to you.
Share this Post
Save for later and share this post with someone!
More on Raising Meat Animals
If you’re ready to start raising meat animals, check out some of these posts:
RAISING CORNISH CROSS CHICKENS FOR MEAT: THE ULTIMATE MEAT BIRD
HOW TO GET STARTED WITH RAISING PIGS
More to Read
IS IT BETTER TO BUY CHICKS OR HENS?
CAN I MAKE A PROFIT OWNING CHICKENS?
NUMBER OF CHICKENS YOU’LL NEED FOR YOUR FAMILY HOMESTEAD
TOP 5 BEST CHICKEN BREEDS FOR EGG PRODUCTION
SHOULD YOU FREE RANGE CHICKENS ON YOUR HOMESTEAD?
GOAT VS. COW: WHICH ANIMAL IS BEST FOR YOUR HOMESTEAD DAIRY?
WHAT IS THE BEST MILK COW FOR A FAMILY HOMESTEAD?
HOW TO MILK A COW ANY TIME BY CALF-SHARING
Leave a Reply