Why does the crew kill the cattle?

Winds prevent Odysseus and his crew from leaving Helios for a month, and their store of food thins. The men are hungey, and while Odysseus prays to the gods in isolation one day, Eurylokhos incites the others to sacrifice the oxen. Odysseus returns and sees what has happened, and quickly Lord Helios asks Zeus to punish them. After the crew feasts for six days, they set sail. Zeus whips up a storm for punishment and shoots a thunderbolt at the ship, wrecking it.