Happy Egg Co.

[sophie_1003]

How free range are the chickens used by The Happy Egg Co.? I checked their website but it is very similar to the possibly meaningless waffle they use on the TV adverts?

[sophie_1003]

As I've said hc I won't stop buying eggs or chicken on the basis that farm practises aren't the best and wouldn't go mad at anyone not buying free range but I still find it sad that the chickens (or any animals subjected to poor living conditions) are kept cooped up and squashed for the first 20 weeks of their lives. And I still don't think "They don't know any better" is a good enough excuse for them having these living conditions.

[hc4361]

What does annoy me is how precious people have become over their own space.
My mother lived in a small terraced house in Birmingham, with a long, narrow garden. Right up until the 60s she kept a pig and chickens. The pig went to the abattoir and came back as pork. Most of her neighbours did the same.
You try it today and be ready for neighbours complaining loudly, yet is probably the most 'green' thing to do - feed the pig and chickens the kitchen waste, use the manure on the growing veg, eat the eggs, the pig, the chickens, the veg.....

Probably though the children would be in hysterics at the thought of eating the porker. How on earth has things changed so much in a short life time?

[sophie_1003]

Agree with you there; we have chickens (down to 2 now because of the fox) but think anything else would be pushing it. However; wouldn't eat either of ours as they were bought as pets. If we hadn't named them and had bought them with Sunday dinner in mind wouldn't be too worried as long as I wasn't present when they were being killed. Also; think children are a lot more open to eating something they've kept than adults are; as long as they know it was being raised for meat (wasn't there a bit of controversy over a head teacher allowing the children at the school to raise a goat for slaughter when the children were fine with it?)

[wildwood]

An unhappy hen will not lay eggs.

Free range hens will lay yellower yolked-eggs because of the greens they eat but the taste, nutritiousness and 'fluffyness?" is no different from caged hen eggs - Culinary experts have been embarrassed.

Having said that, I do prefer to see hens pecking in a field rather than in a cage but that is my human emotion speaking.

Now, when it comes to purposely keeping animals under stress so their meat is lean and tender IS cruel. Google how lean bacon and veal is 'manufactured'.

[sophie_1003]

Fair enough wildwood; it still seems that one of our chicken's eggs whisks up to much more than a shop bought one; perhaps they are just bigger in general! Can't stand the thought of veal; wasn't aware of lean bacon will have a look on Google tomorrow, but am off to bed now!