It's interesting that you bring this topic up because wifey and I just this last weekend finally processed the mean old rooster on our land. Prior to this, it had been on our to do list, but kept getting pushed aside. We started wondering if we were subconsciously procrastinating because it was the first time we killed and processed our own chicken. We were both wondering how it was going to go and how we were going to feel afterward. Interestingly, wifey had her eye on me cause I'm so "tenderhearted", but I didn't really feel any different afterward. I didn't feel at all sad for that mean old rooster who gave wifey and myself battle scars in the months we've lived here. But, neither did I do the act with malice. To me, it was just a job that needed to be done. But it was also more than that. It was kind of like an initiation, or graduation of sorts into a more full understanding of what it means to be self-sufficient, to be a homesteader. Overall, I firmly believe it made us into better people.