rehoming some exbatts

[Glutton4...]

I ate the eggs my Batties gave me. Technically, I guess, they were still 'Battery' eggs for a few days, but I was so amazed that their poor little bald bodies could produce such perfect eggs, that I treasured every one of them.

[Glutton4...]

Sorry, congrats, Petal on your new Girls - I hope they bring you as much pleasure as mine do!

[Bramble-Poultry]

Chris we call them freedom eggs in this house - you are advised when you get ex-batts that they will not lay but usually we do, and yes we eat the eggs, you are correct the eggs journey started in the battery system but was laid into the big wide world of freedom - hence freedom eggs!!

[polo]

http://www.rspca.org.uk/ImageLocator...12119&mode=prd

Found this - useful!

[ChrisB]

That is a lovely way to describe the first eggs laid in their new surroundings - freedom eggs.

I feel if they have gone to the trouble of laying an egg, we should have enough respect to eat it, even though they can't stop the process.

Enjoy your girls. They will make you laugh, they will make you cry, and they will thank you by giving you wonderful tasting eggs.

[petal]

This is what I think, right or wrong:As battery eggs appear to be a hidden ingredient in many products the only answer is for the government to out right ban this type of farming. Food prices are going up regardless. If we are willing to pay more for bread, then people will be forced to pay more for eggs and products with egg in them. There are also many consumers out there that cannot be educated as they just don't see a chicken as a real animal so they have to have someone to force them to make a choice. Supermarkets and farmers are not to blame for the selling of these products! If the government or eu prevents cruel practice then birds like beaky and bella need never suffer.

[petal]

2 more eggs this morning! I was half membrane - a result of shock moving or lack of calcium?

[Bramble-Poultry]

well done beaky and bella. yes the softy is probably shock from moving.

The government is signed up to teh Cged Hens directive for 2012 meaning that all eggs from barren battery cages will be banned. however, europe are dragging their heals.

the supermarkets are to blame. they respond to the customer wanting cheap food. Why do you think they buy in chicken from South America not britain? why do you think that steak in Asda comes from paraguay not britain? because its cheaper than british but the british follow government advice on welfare and the south americans dont as they are outside of our control.

Even McDonalds, for all its "buying birtish beef" advertisng is getting its chicken from Peru, where the standard of welfare for the chickens makes our battery hen system look the best!!

[Hilary B]

Some supermarkets (the more expensive ones, like Waitrose) have a policy that all 'own brand' foods containing egg, it will be Free Range egg. They do still sell Barn eggs and Cage eggs, but I am happy to say that the non-Free Range portion of the display is less than 20% of the total (and the hardest to spot). The price difference is not so great either!

[petal]

but if some supermarkets refuse to change - could legislation not force them to? I also worry about the plight of pigs - such intelligent animals being abused - i never buy porcine products unless it is outdoor reared on the label.

[Bramble-Poultry]

and at this point you open up a complete can of worms .... the actual worst animal for welfare in this country currently is the dairy cow - They are kept inside on mats in stalls so small they can stand or lie down but not turn around, they are fed silage and pre measured concentrates, they never have nor never will see daylight or a blade of grass. they are intensively milked beyond the normal natual milk yield. Now obviously to give milk you need a pregnant cow - once a baby cow is born it is taken from its mother within the 1st 24 hours as a cow that is "breast feeding" is of no commercial value. If the baby is a girl it is reared on a fake teat system also indoors until she is old enough to be weaned, at this point she does actually go outside to finish on grass (but only cos its cheaper) but if its are a boy it is of no commercial value - not even for breeding as it's a a mongrel so it is shot dead, usually before the day is out! Systems do vary and some cows are not kept like this but those farmers who farm for large chains usually do farm like this due to quota levels and product comformity!

As for pigs as long as you buy british pork you can guarantee a certain level of welfare as the pig industry has also started to change - outdoor reared is obviously much better - never ever ever buy Danish pork!!

With food labelling you have to be carefull too - you need to read where it is from - but also where it was reared, they can be different, as long as it is brought into the UK before the agreed age for the animal type and then slaughtered and processed in the UK you can label it as UK meat - even though it was raised in Hungary and only "finished" in the UK. Also be careful when it says Irish, southern Ireland again have different welfare standards to the UK - so just cos it says Ireland doesn't mean it comes from NI who are controlled by our standards!!

Food labelling is not at all simple!! whilst fresh produce must state its origins, processed food such as cakes, cereals, soups etc have no requirement to do so - therefore with these products you have absolutley no idea!!

Told you it was a can of worms!!

[motherhen]

I'm not going to get on my soapbox there is not enough roooooommm...
My father was a farmer and went bust (bless him, no longer with us), he would be fashionable now as he was very green and caring! we continuously whinge about the price of food so drive this sort of farmer out of business.
While we are on this subject we all buy chinese shoes, clothing and poultry houses!!
We interviewed a poor man once that made greenhouses he had lost his job because the laws in this country had closed his! he was expected to go to China to train the manufacturers that were going to sell their product back to the UK!!! anyway the point is the CHILDREN that were spraying the paint on the frames had no masks or protective clothing and their noses and mouth's were green!! or the colour they were using at that particlar time.
Can anyone see the irony in this!!

[Suechooks]

My feed supplier keeps pigs so I get as much as I can from him. Bacon is second to none! Yummy! You can see his pigs (and ducks and turkeys and geese) all wandering about the fields or HUGE runs as you drive up the path.
Jenni/Mike have you tried Calon Wen milk? Produced by a farming co-operative in Wales. Milk is comparable to eating home produced aggs versus shop bought! Its not homogenised so gets the cream on top!! Luvverly!

[chris]

Some supermarkets (the more expensive ones, like Waitrose) have a policy that all 'own brand' foods containing egg, it will be Free Range egg. They do still sell Barn eggs and Cage eggs, but I am happy to say that the non-Free Range portion of the display is less than 20% of the total (and the hardest to spot). The price difference is not so great either!

Tesco have recently advertised this too..

The government is signed up to teh Cged Hens directive for 2012 meaning that all eggs from barren battery cages will be banned. however, europe are dragging their heals.

Even McDonalds, for all its "buying birtish beef" advertisng is getting its chicken from Peru, where the standard of welfare for the chickens makes our battery hen system look the best!!

What are barren battery cages? Does that mean then in 2012 that we'll have no battery eggs? What about battery meat (is there such a thing?).

Peru?! *how* can that be cheaper than rearing stock over here? With all the shipping etc? My gosh they must be going for pennies..

and at this point you open up a complete can of worms .... the actual worst animal for welfare in this country currently is the dairy cow

Indeed - I watched that programme Jamies food factory about that 'super' dairy - man, shocking. And a dariy farmer had the cheek to say the cows looked happy..

Jenni/Mike have you tried Calon Wen milk? Produced by a farming co-operative in Wales. Milk is comparable to eating home produced aggs versus shop bought! Its not homogenised so gets the cream on top!! Luvverly!

We buy that milk, in the bags. but recently, due to the snow we switched to Cravendale or something - that seems to last ages?

[Glutton4...]

Petal, I have to say I'm surprised 'Beaky' was rehomed. With a deformity like that, I would have thought she would be a 'special case' and, as such, kept back for monitoring.

I hope she can eat OK!?