Louise Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 Apparently this week is Ethical egg Week http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1226562007 Lets hope the message gets through Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 I found this quote rather disturbing from a Mr Dennis Surgenor, secretary of the Scottish Egg Producer Retailers Association, representing over 100 producers and retailers He had the following to say.... "I wouldn't put a free-range egg in my mouth. A problem with free-range hens that people fail to mention is that on wet or windy days they don't want to go outside, so start attacking and de-beaking each other." Really? it seems to be permanantly windy and/or wet here at the Balamory House, and the chickens are more than delighted to spend their days scratching about in the garden - no attacking, no de-beaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted August 6, 2007 Author Share Posted August 6, 2007 Hopefully the positive message from the rest of the article will balance it out You always get one person who has to try to justify the wrongful practices and he is it I suppose The article does mention the hidden egg problem at the beginning though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starboyhull Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 Looks like a good article nice to see ones like this...... I guess there are problems with free range hens, just like hens in any other situation, its the amount of them they keep in the space, if you have 1000's of them there are going to be problems with the pecking order, just like people on here experience...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyBoo Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 He would say that though wouldn't he? It's in his interest for people to keep on buying battery eggs, keeps his customers and clients happy. Never mind the poor chickens! And we're the same, through all that rain and horrible weather it didn't make ours any more horrid than my kids! Makes me SO cross when idiots like that get in the papers. What a damaging and sweeping statement to make. Mrs Bertie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susiepoos Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 "I wouldn't put a free-range egg in my mouth. A problem with free-range hens that people fail to mention is that on wet or windy days they don't want to go outside, so start attacking and de-beaking each other." What a plonker - no offence but my girls love being outside in all weathers infact it's me who worries that they maybe getting too - wet they couldn't give a t**s Tell me - what happens to chickens raised in barns with no access to the outside world By his reckoning it's a wonder they come out of it alive - they probably don't Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starboyhull Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 I think that person probably has a point about the problems with free-ranging.....Like I said in my previous post we are not talking about 3 or 4 hens in a back garden, we are talking of 100's or 1000's.......I imagine the pecking order never resolves itself with flocks as large as some of these farms...... I dont agree with battery farming at all, and his point of " I wouldnt put a free-range egg in my mouth" is obviously utter rubbish, but I am sure free-range hens can have a tough time in the size of flocks they are kept in..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ladylucan Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 Well he made me mad so i put a comment on the site of the paper. . I HAD TO DO IT... Jumped up know it all... ......... Sorry folks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popcorn Posted August 7, 2007 Share Posted August 7, 2007 I have to agree with Karl/Andy. Dennis Surgenor does have a point in amongst his ill chosen words! Large numbers of free-range hens when cooped up in big barns do suffer from awful pecking and probably get so cramped due to the large numbers. It is a very real problem. I'm not convinced that he is saying that all free-ranging is bad, it's just that he hasn't made a very good job of making his point valid and stand in it's own right. He's just tarred all free-ranging hens with the same brush, when we know from experience, it's just not true. He's not clarified his point very well, and he's not made any comparison to the alternative battery option, although it would seem fruitless to discuss which is more humane; to be kept in a battery cage to protect from pecking and over crowding, or to be barn reared and allow for leg/wing stretch amongst a constant pecking order blood battle amongst the thousands of birds. Isn't the answer obvious? Mr Raven added: "Hens producing organic eggs are kept in smaller flocks, making it easier for them to venture outside, and licensees are encouraged to provide adequate shelter. One good thing to come out of his statement - the discussion we are having now. It helps us look to the alternative options to raise happy hens as well as good egg production for the farmers to earn a living, which has been covered in the article. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
