Comments on: Free Range Chicken

by: miles

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 21:33:07 +0000

Elsie,
Interesting comment thankyou, I have recently discovered that Quail is also subject to intensive farming so that’s another to strike off the menu.
Miles

by: Elsie Nean

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 19:33:59 +0000

Miles,
I read that the RSPCA is calling for a ban on cheap chicken. It is urging supermarkets to sell only free-range, organic or Freedom Food varieties by 2010 and has set up an online petition. It says: “If people knew how the average chicken was treated…they would probably be disgusted”.
It will be interesting to watch how this theme develops.
Elsie

by: miles

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 19:23:03 +0000

Rod,
You’re right about the omelette-never fails!
Miles

by: Rod

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 18:38:44 +0000

Miles
thanks for the info on what exactly does define a free range chicken.

Again it’s a con on the public:
I suspect most imagine free range chickens, ergo eggs, roam around happy and normal eggs are battery farmed.

I should also point out a notable exception to my egg cracking rule.
When cracking an egg to make an omlette the yolk will never break

by: miles

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:52:39 +0000

Wow,
There’s a response! Rod, good point about ‘free range’- this is currently calculated by a weight to area ratio, so the legal indoor stocking allowance is 27.5 kg per square metre which is only 6.5kg less than those raised in intensive breeding environments. The outdoor allowance comes in at a square metre per bird, there are varying degrees of the free range label but this shows how intensive so called free range can be or is.
Cid we get through at least a thousand eggs per week depending on business levels but that’s about minimum.
Elsie, many chickens are pumped with proteins and additives making them watery and tasteless in the name of size and cost cutting.
Thanks for the comments, an interesting selection of views.
Miles

by: Rod

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 15:00:42 +0000

It’s also worth mentioning that nowadays if you buy ’standard’ eggs you need 3 Michelin stars just to be able to crack one without breaking the yolk !

by: Christine

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 14:37:20 +0000

Miles,
Great photo - a good poser.
Perhaps you ought to keep some chickens? You grow plenty to go with them. But then, I guess, not too good for neighbourhood relations, hey?

by: Cid

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:36:59 +0000

Miles,

I use Old Cotswold Legbar eggs whenever possible, sometimes Burford Browns. Both are tasty but will cost more that the others. £1.80ish for 6, but that’s still only 30p each and that’s the way I look at it. In the great scheme of things eggs for the average household are usually not much of a drain on resources, it’s just that we’re all used to paying so much less. Surely it’s what the chickens eat that determines the taste. I once ate at a village pub that kept their own chickens and fed them on left-overs like steak … fabulous taste they had. How many eggs does the restaurant get through in a week Miles? Wonder if it’s worth me setting up an egg business to supply your fine dining establishment … Legbars and Snipe with hand painted lions on

Cid

by: Elsie Nean

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 10:38:38 +0000

Miles & Rod,
Now isn’t that the truth? Very little tastes as it used to. I stopped eating boiled eggs years ago and used to love them. I have no idea what I am picking off the shelf. It is all very depressing and disheartening. But then, how much is our own fault? Chicken used to be a special treat. They seem to have got bigger than ever with much less taste.

by: Rod

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 09:42:36 +0000

Miles
great post and something I’m interested in.
Another problem today is …
What does Free Range etc actually mean.

I found out recently there are numerous definitions and that free range chickens are not quite as free range as one might imagine.

When I buy eggs in Sainsbury’s I look at:
Standard, organic, free range, barn eggs, woodland eggs, organic barn, taste the difference golden yolk etc etc !

I have no idea what I’m eating anymore, except now I have a Kitchen Garden so this year a few times I did know what I was eating (100% organic btw)

Great Post
Rod