If you've only a few animals they all seem to get names even if they don't start out with any - I've a sheep with a big head, hence 'Big Ed', then Titchy Odd Ears (tagged the wrong way round), Hedgepoker (obvious really), TIC (short for second in command - always second in the food queue), Mr Tumnus (started out as Mr Timid, then changed character)...the list goes on and on...
The way I manage it is by treating them as food animals from the outset - so I tell Big Ed that he's got a great set of chops on him, that sort of thing. That doesn't mean that it's easy to let them go when the time comes, it's not; and actually I don't think it should be either, but it's how I deal with it.
