Chicken Memorials

[Richard]

I've been trawling through some of the regs regarding poultry keeping. I've come up with some guidance that says;

 

You can sell your own eggs, ungraded, direct to the consumer for their own use only from your own farm, where the eggs were produced. from your own stall either at a car boot sale or in your local public market including Farmers Markets. (However, from 1 July 2005 eggs sold at any markets will be required to be stamped with the producer's distinguishing number.) by local door to door selling

 

You must not use Weight or Class descriptions but you should show a 'Best Before' date with all the eggs you sell.

 

If you sell your eggs in any other manner you will almost certainly need to be registered by the Egg Marketing Inspectorate

 

Now I have no problem with any of that apart from showing a Best Before date. I have no idea what the best before date of an egg laid today is - any ideas?

[Shirl]

There was a thread on this recently. Essentially it's 28 days after it'slaid but shops have to put a sell by of 21 days. I'm sure that's right. I'm assuming ours would all be so fresh putting 21 days would be fine.

[Richard]

Hey - I think I've found my own answer!

 

DEFRA guidance (explanatory leaflet) on labelling, para 7(b) basically says you can set your own Best Before Date, taking into account the condition of the egg, storage etc. However the maximum best before date period is 28 days from lay. The eggs must reach the consumer (i.e. 'sell by date' I presume) within a maximum of 21 days of being laid, or 7 days prior to the declayed Best Before date.

 

So, taking into account all the factors you have at your production and storage unit (ho ho - my Eglu and kitchen fridge) you can set a best before date of up to 28 days. However you must sell them to the consumer by 7 days before then - obviously telling the consumer the Best Before date.

 

Wow - I bet my OH wouldn't keep eggs in the fridge for 4 weeks after Georgie has laid them. Or maybe she would - I'll have to ask her.

[Richard]

Thanks Shirl - I didn't see your answer, saying exactly what I said but in a far less verbose posting

[Richard]

Trading Standards say;

Free range eggs

Eggs described as ‘free range’ must be produced in poultry establishments in which the hens have:

continuous daytime access to open air runs;

access to ground mainly covered with vegetation;

at least four square metres of ground available per bird.

 

Do you reckon that means access to vegetation covered ground ALL day? Mine are in the run most of the day (earth, some nettles, bits and stuff, trees, bushes etc. but no grass) but get out into the rest of the garden (grass and stuff) for an hour or two a day.

 

there are also regs regarding the housing and the fixtures and fittings - but I haven't found them yet so I don't know if my Eglu/Cube comply

 

What do you reckon - Free Range or not?

[Shirl]

I thought sfore mentioned post included something that said we aren't allowed to use the term free range because it's a trade description.

 

Why I bother to read all this when the only eggs I have come from Tescos is beyond me

[Richard]

yes but it won't be long, and then you'll have more hens, and then you'll have more eggs, and then you'll give them away, and then someone'll ask you if they can buy them ...

 

 

suddenly you're an egg producer ... but probably not worrying competition for Tescos

[Shirl]

Well that's how it goes in my dreams

[Snowy]

I think it's the phrase 'continuous access' that makes ours not liable to be called free range. The fact that a lot of so called free range birds are still so crowded that they never make it outside is beside the point.

 

I have a poster on my door that says the eggs are from 'happy garden hens' kept in a large run with perches and with a minimum of 3 hours free ranging every day, fed on organic pellets supplemented by kitchen s"Ooops, word censored!"s and whatever they can catch. I also invite people to come and visit the hens before buying the eggs!

[Aunty e]

ahem I know the chief egg marketing inspector, and asked him about this point. Essentially, unless you have fifty laying hens or more, you don't need to worry about registering or stamping, BUT you shouldn't call them free range or organic really. I call mine happy eggs from garden hens, which seems to lure in my punters quite well. Snowy probably has it right.

 

I could ask him if you had any questions about it all. He's a very nice man.

[arowland17]

I think the description for free range eggs is bad since the majority of hens in those big barns with 'access' to grass outside never actually get out - and I'm sure they don't have 4 square metres of space per hen, they never seem to on those undercover chicken farming programs anyway....

[James H]

would we have to stamp the Best before date or could we write it on with a marker like a sharpie pen???

[Snowy]

would we have to stamp the Best before date or could we write it on with a marker like a sharpie pen???

Pencil is best James - ink can be absorbed into the shell. I write the weight and date laid on mine in pencil.

[Olly]

I know the chief egg marketing inspector

 

Respect!

 

In any other circles, that would be met with hoots of derision - here, we are all impressed and amazed. I'm desperately trying to think of an intelligent question to ask. Does he have a bald, slightly pointy head - no, that would be too good to be true!

[Guest]

Here are the facts (taken from various sources):

 

Yes the "best before" date is really only up to 28 days (1 month).

 

However that is provided that they are kept refridgerated which is why stores only allow 21 days because they are kept at room temperature and that gives customers time to consume them.

 

Also refridgerator stored eggs can help kill certain bacteria and stop some strains from developing at all.

 

An egg ages more in one day at room temerature than it does in a week in the refridgerator!

 

And as far as the "free range"/"organic" decripstions go I am fairly cerain that it is illegal to descibe your eggs as such without an official inspection and you are awarded "free range" or "organic" status.

Edited September 4, 2007 by Guest

[urbanchick]

Eggs can in fact be kept at room temperature for up to 18 days. The EU rules are explained here:

 

http://www.yellow-egg.com/wEnglish/frische_eier/index.shtml?navid=5

 

They only have to be in the fridge from day 18. This explains why the eggs are not refrigerated in the supermarket but they tell you to keep them in the fridge when you get them home.

[James H]

ahem I know the chief egg marketing inspector, and asked him about this point. Essentially, unless you have fifty laying hens or more, you don't need to worry about registering or stamping, BUT you shouldn't call them free range or organic really. I call mine happy eggs from garden hens, which seems to lure in my punters quite well. Snowy probably has it right.

 

I could ask him if you had any questions about it all. He's a very nice man.

respect for the chief egg marketing inseptor and respect for how you think buisness! :D

[Aunty e]

He doesn't have a bald, slightly pointy head. When I first met him, I told him I kept chickens he looked quite wry and said 'and I bet you call them 'the girls' and they all have their own name, and you can recognise each egg individually'. I think he'd met omleteers before

 

I saw that Nicky Clarke in the market the other sunday. he didn't buy any eggs. Rotter.

[Olly]

He doesn't have a bald, slightly pointy head. When I first met him, I told him I kept chickens he looked quite wry and said 'and I bet you call them 'the girls' and they all have their own name, and you can recognise each egg individually'. I think he'd met omleteers before

 

I saw that Nicky Clarke in the market the other sunday. he didn't buy any eggs. Rotter.

 

disappointed to hear he doesn't have an egg-head! I'm glad that Omleteers are so uniform in their little quirks, though - I fail to see anything wrong with being able to recognise individual eggs.

 

Seriously, this post is very useful information. I still puzzle over why 'free-range' hens can be called that even if they never actually get outside. I know that eggs from my hens taste much better than anything I've ever bought in a supermarket, even if it's marked 'organic, free-range'!