Free Range Chicken Eggs

[Twisterdog]

I have noticed a few threads here lately about vegetarianism, testing on animals, and eating animals in general.

I thought I would let you all about some alternatives, if you are interested ... somewhere between ignorant mass consumption and total vegetarianism.

You can purchase free-range eggs, instead of regular eggs. Free-range eggs are eggs that are brought to you the "old fashioned" way. The chickens are free to move about, living a fairly normal, natural life. The eggs are gathered by hand from nests. Yes, they are a little more expensive, but it is nominal - I think they are something like 30 cents more per dozen here than regular eggs. I won't go into it here in detail, because it is VERY disturbing, but trust me - the chickens that produce regular eggs have the worst possible "lives" of almost any animal I've ever heard of. Death would be a far, far kinder fate.

You can also buy dairy products from free-range cattle, although they are little harder to find at times.

Just FYI - there ARE ways to make a difference in the lives - and deaths - of animals without totally giving up all meat and animal products.

[popcornbird]

We always buy free range chicken eggs. They are eggs from chickens that do not live in a cage (free), have no added hormones in their diet, and are basically more healthy and happy. My parents get it mainly because of the no added hormones in their diet..............because they don't like the idea of us getting too many hormones in our food. Even the chickens we buy are corn-fed and free range.

[RICHARD]

something's wrong..

people PAY for FREE-range chicken eggs?????

[babolaypo65]

My local food co-op and my local Wild Oats both have free-range eggs, AND free range egg whites for those on cholesterol restrictions...they also have milk and cheese from cows raised the old fashioned way. Sad that we have to pay more, but it's worth it.

[Miss Meow]

When I was 15 I worked at an egg farm for a day, and never, ever returned to that place. The hens have the ends of their beaks cut off, so they can't attack other hens in the same cage. The stench is unbelievable, and the relaxed attitude of the farmers towards picking up the dead chickens every day was sickening.

The extra money you pay for free range is worth it IMHO.

[CathyBogart]

I get my eggs from my co-worker, who has the most spoiled flock of pet chickens I have ever seen! Yummy, fresh eggs....

[NoahsMommy]

We shop at Whole Foods and Trader Joes for two reasons. #1, for my health, #2 because I can get products that are free-range.

We buy only free range, organic, minimally processed: milk, yogurt, eggs, cheese, icecream, baked goods, meat and produce. (Basically everything we buy) Its healthy and if you're (I'm) going to eat meat, I feel I should at least only buy what has been treated respectfully. I'll pay more any day. Even my Micah only gets free-range, organic chicken.

I probably wouldn't eat beef if I didn't have crohn's. My body requires a certain B vitamin only found in beef to control the inflammation. Even then, I only eat it once a week, if that.

[slick]

Tell me this please?? You take one chicken that roaming free and laying eggs. You take another chicken that inhumany cooped up and laying eggs. How come the free-range are sooo much more expensive??? It doesn't take anymore overhead to raise free-range chickens does it??? Or am I that ignorant....

I'd love to buy free-range products and organic produce but the prices are sooo out of wack that my budget won't allow it. I'm not trying to start an argument or look for any bashings, but if they'd just cut down the price a little bit, I might be tempted.

[Twisterdog]

Tell me this please?? You take one chicken that roaming free and laying eggs. You take another chicken that inhumany cooped up and laying eggs. How come the free-range are sooo much more expensive??? It doesn't take anymore overhead to raise free-range chickens does it??? Or am I that ignorant....

It does take more overhead per egg. A big operation sells umpteen thousands of eggs per day, everything runs like a smooth assembly line. The lights come on, the chicken lays an egg, the eggs rolls down a shute, is washed, checked, put in the carton by machines. The lights go out a couple hours later. An hour later the lights come on. Repeat process. With thousands upon thousands of chickens per day. Very efficient, very cheap, very cruel. Economies of scale. Just like buying a widget a Walmart is usually cheaper than buying the widget a the mom and pop speciality store downtown, because Walmart buys, handles, markets and sells 10,000,000,000 widgets per year, and mom and pop buy 100.

Here a dozen regular eggs is about 30 cents less than a dozen free-range eggs.

[2kitties]

What's the deal with eggs. Do the hens lay them, then the rooster fertilize? Or are they the product of mating? How can a bunch of hens keep producing eggs and what is the rooster's role?

[babolaypo65]

Women "lay" an egg once a month regardless of whether a male is there to fertilize it... wouldn't the same be true for hens?

Originally posted by 2kitties
What's the deal with eggs. Do the hens lay them, then the rooster fertilize? Or are they the product of mating? How can a bunch of hens keep producing eggs and what is the rooster's role?

[popcornbird]

Originally posted by babolaypo65
Women "lay" an egg once a month regardless of whether a male is there to fertilize it... wouldn't the same be true for hens?

Very true. Birds don't need a mate to lay an egg. They need a mate to lay a fertilized egg, but not to just lay an egg.

[2kitties]

interesting. So, if there is no rooster, the hens will lay the eggs, but they would never hatch? And the eggs we eat are unfertilized?

[popcornbird]

Originally posted by 2kitties
interesting. So, if there is no rooster, the hens will lay the eggs, but they would never hatch? And the eggs we eat are unfertilized?

Yep. I do believe some of the free range ones are fertilized though, but the ones from the main egg farms that you get in any store are unfertilized and won't hatch. I had no idea birds can lay eggs without a mate, until I got the cockatiels, and read so much about them. The book I got had a FAQ section, and one of the question was related to females and eggs...........why some female birds would lay when there was no male. Anyway, after that, I asked my mom about chicken eggs.............if it was the same with them, and she said most of the chicken eggs we buy are *not* fertilized. Just eggs laid by females who don't have a mate. Explains why some of the free range egg cartons say *fertilized* on them........because most eggs are not.

[2kitties]

HA! Ya learn something every day!