Chickens & Free Range Eggs

[Hazell B]

Yesterday my dog's birthday presents arrived - 4 chickens from a good quality, certified free range farm.

Unfortunately they weren't the fat, feathery, happy hens I had pictured. They all look like they've been semi-plucked, mauled by a dog then half starved and driven mildly insane. In fact, they're about what you'd expect a battery hen to look like.

They were dropped off at the sunday market I do in a small wodden box, three of them attacking the fourth within an hour. We split them up and gave them a drink, but they couldn't work out how to drink from a bowl.

When we got them home they couldn't work out how to walk to the food, they simply stood waiting for it to be pushed towards them, pecking at the ground at their feet pointlessly. When we worked out they'd only been fed and watered via a conveyor, we managed to arrange feed so they could find it and the poor things ate three days worth of corn, a pear and a plum the first night.

This morning we let them out and they had their first grass and we had our first good look at them. They're thin, shockingly so, and frankly scared of the outdoors.

After a while they've started to scratch about and by this afternoon they've all begun to work as a team digging a hole (named Tom by us, as their great escape seems inevitable) but the second I put them in the henhut they went back to being robot-like.

It seems there's 'free range' in the eyes of the law and there's real free range chickens. Be warned, when you buy eggs please, please try and buy from a farm with some sort of range for the chickens to be free on :(

On the good side, I had eggs for lunch :D

[Donney]

Wow it seems they lived a jailed sort of life. I hope you get them straight Hazell.

[Eki]

So Naburn didn't just settle for a new squeaky rubber chicken?

[Dave B]

I'd never realised until recently that the Paul Simon song Mother and Child Reunion drew its title from a meal he'd seen on a Chinese restaurant menu. I don't know if that's tragic or genius.

[Mark]

They had the exact same thing on countryfile last Sunday. Except the bloke on there bought battery chickens and just put them out in the yard and they were off and feeding as normal.

[Daniel]

I'd never realised until recently that the Paul Simon song Mother and Child Reunion drew its title from a meal he'd seen on a Chinese restaurant menu. I don't know if that's tragic or genius.
Am I the only one who thinks of Homer losing his mother when I hear that song? Strange thing is I feel more sad when I think about fictional Homer losing his fictional mother than I do about real people losing someone :mark:

As for chickens it's good that you're treating them well Hazell. Makes you wonder though whether free range is just a couple of words :mark:

[Mark]

As for chickens it's good that you're treating them well Hazell. Makes you wonder though whether free range is just a couple of words :mark:

Like when they keep them in giant sheds with 36,768 chickens per square metre and they call it free range?!

That being said, am I prepared to pay more for my chicken? no!

[schmenke]

Personally, I really don't give a rat's bottom where my eggs come from :mark:

[Daniel]

Like when they keep them in giant sheds with 36,768 chickens per square metre and they call it free range?!

That being said, am I prepared to pay more for my chicken? no!
Your loss :) Free range tastes far better.

[pino]

Your loss :) Free range tastes far better.


I agree, I love eggs and their taste for me is very important :D I have a friend who has chickens in his garden, I always get fresh eggs when I visit him and when I go back to the normal eggs, I can taste the big difference right away.

[Daniel]

I agree, I love eggs and their taste for me is very important :D I have a friend who has chickens in his garden, I always get fresh eggs when I visit him and when I go back to the normal eggs, I can taste the big difference right away.
I think coming from an Italian that means a lot ;) No one outside the UK ever opened up a Canadian or a British restaurant now did they? :p

[Hondo]

Let's see here. A battery chicken is in a confined, crowded space. the lights are kept on to keep egg production up. Food, water, and probably some form of chicken healthcare is provided to them to prevent infection and disease. This is probably the only life they've ever known so they have nothing to compare it to, if they were capable of making the comparison. They are protected from the weather, predators, and real world hazards that could result in accidental death or injury.

Free range chickens hop around exposed to the weather, predators, and hazards while they hop about pecking and scratching their food off the ground. Along with their feed, they ingest sand and small pebbles. Because of the energy they expend looking for food, I would guess their egg production is lower, inconsistant, and of varied quaility. I would guess they also receive some sort of chicken healthcare.

I confess I don't know the lifespan of a laying chicken. I also don't know what chickens do in their spare time when they aren't working. I've never seen any at the bowling alley, hanging around the pool with shades on catching some rays, or taking the family out for a Sunday drive.

I also don't know a happy chicken from a cheesed off chicken. Sounds like chicken life is alot like people life. The more security you have, the less liberty you have because that security has to be paid for somehow, in this case continuous and consistant egg production. If you opt for liberty keep your eyes open for those that wish to feed upon you, be prepared to defend yourself, accept that you might eat a bit of rat poison, and be prepared to pass the odd pebble through the system. Bear in mind you may spend all day putting together a decent meal and if your production becomes too erractic, an early trip to the stew pot or oven may be your future.

I'd think your average chicken would rather be indoors eating with the girls than outside fighting off a fox.

[Eki]

Personally, I really don't give a rat's bottom where my eggs come from :mark:
I prefer eggs coming from a chicken's bottom over those coming from a rat's bottom.

[MrJan]

Your loss :) Free range tastes far better.

That's scientific fact, free range food has approximately 50% more smug which is what adds the flavour :P

Seriously though I do actually agree with this, but when I'm buying stuff it just has to be cheap :)

[Hazell B]

I'd think your average chicken would rather be indoors eating with the girls than outside fighting off a fox.

Indoors they tend to attack (and really badly maul) each other, so either way they live in fear if they are over crowded. All of the UK systems allow over crowding and therefore the lowest animal is pecked, often to death. Then the next lowest and so on. Sadly more animals are added and so the cycle continues. It's not as fun or easy as you make it sound. That's why mine arrived all tatty and chewed up. Now they don't bother.

Anyway, foxes are no worry if the animals are enclosed at fox hunting times. Mine are.

They're all learning to scratch properly now, so they're eating loads of insects from the soil.
The result is that the eggs are better today than the other days.

To be honest, I'd have said those claiming to know real free range from battery were fooling themselves, but now I know it to be true. The eggs are better today than monday by a fair margin. Better shells, more colour to them (I'm not feeding colour enhancing feed, either!) and somehow more eggy :)

[Hondo]

Sounds like you'll be in better shape when the food riots begin.

[schmenke]

Pah. I'll be munching on soylent green :D

[Hondo]

Pah. I'll be munching on soylent green :D


At my age, that'll be me, if Sweetie doesn't get me first.

[Hazell B]

..... if Sweetie doesn't get me first.

My money's on the smart dog ;)